T-Pain Took Part In 'The Masked Singer' To ''Prove'' Himself

T-Pain took part in 'The Masked Singer' to ''prove'' himself as a singer who doesn't need to rely on Auto-Tune.

The 33-year-old singer has always been known for his use of vocal-tweaking software Auto-Tune so thought competing in the celebrity contest - where stars concealed their identities in heavy costumes - was a good chance to show what he can do naturally, and the response to his unmasking has felt like a ''second win'' after he triumphed over Donny Osmond and Gladys Knight.

He said: ''I feel like there's been a weight lifted off my shoulders and now that everyone knows what I can do, I feel like it's giving me a second win.

''When you hear the name T-Pain, you automatically think Auto-Tune. I just wanted to get rid of that.

''I've been proving this for years and years and people still said I was only famous because I used Auto-Tune. But now, you know, that's not true.

''It's something I wanted to prove to people really quick, I don't need to use my real voice for lack of a better word, but it was to prove a point to everyone that thought that I don't have a natural voice.''

Though he enjoyed taking part in the show, the 'Bartender' hitmaker admitted learning to perform in his elaborate costume was tough.

He told People magazine: ''It was the biggest costume and I couldn't move. [It was a] terrible contraption.

''I could only put my arms up in front of my body and I could only see right in front of me. I just always had to have people helping me, but everybody else had just a mask and clothes, so it wasn't easy.
''I couldn't walk and it was very hard to do.''

T-Pain - whose real name is Faheem Rasheed Najm - also had to have a microphone taped to his face for the show, which made things even trickier.

He explained: ''Everybody was singing live, they wouldn't let us pre-record. Mine was the worst because there was no way to get a microphone close enough to my face. ... It was not easy.''

While he had the hardest costume to navigate, the 'Buy U a Drink' hitmaker chose the monster because it was the ''silliest''.

He said: ''That was the only one they couldn't come up with a name for, so of course that's the one I wanted.''

While ''a tonne of people'' recognised T-Pain as the man behind the monster, he was surprised when Lil Wayne was the first to realise it was him.

He said: ''Lil Wayne was the first, so that was good. I don't know when Lil Wayne would even have time to watch.''