It’s hard to take T-Pain seriously.

Maybe because of his goofy style, entrenched in his donning of sparkly top hats, golden grills and over-sized sun glasses, all of which are articles of clothing that seem to lend themselves more to a controversial bar mitzvah DJ than the pimping, party-boy character he has tried to create.

People’s perception of him may result from his use of lines like “We in the bed like ooh ooh,” “Two hundred b——, and I bet ain’t none of them hot” and the classic and classy “When I whisper in your ear your legs hit the chandelier.” All of these lines are cringe-worthy in their absurdity and general lack of artistry.

Most likely, the perception of him as not being a serious artist stems from him being one of the founders of the Auto-Tune craze. His first album, in 2005, “Rappa Ternt Sanga,” makes it hard to tell if a robot or T-Pain did most of the singing.

When Tulane students heard T-Pain was coming to our campus, many laughed. Other students groaned, sad the opportunity to see an artist wasn’t occupied by someone more talented and serious.

What message has T-Pain sent to the world? The platform for change granted to him by his fame has been wasted, and perhaps that is something that has contributed to his spiral into laughable irrelevancy.

His artwork or songs rarely speak out on politics or religion. In an article on The Hollowverse, he spoke on his views regarding religion.

“I don’t think I like religion,” T-Pain said. “I think it’s another form of separation … I try not to put a label on my beliefs. I believe in God, I believe in Jesus. I was raised Muslim. I believe in everything. I believe in Buddha. I believe in whatever it is … I like free will.”

In stating this the rapper has made it clear that he is not a fan of divides and enmity between religious groups, yet he does not portray this message in his music. In the same interview with The Hollowverse, he mentioned politics as well.

“… I don’t give a shit about politics because no matter who is in office, YOUR life is no different,” T-Pain said.

As a Muslim and black man, it is hard to believe that he does not see how politics affect our lives. He has wasted his platform, never making political statements, instead only explaining his religious views.

T-Pain explains he is happy to just write songs about partying, girls and drugs because he believes that it will make other people happy. If that’s his goal, then he is doing great. Even just hearing his name inspires smiles in listeners. Smiles, followed by snickers, but still smiles.

This is an opinion article and does not reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo. Helen is a freshmen at Newcomb-Tulane College. She can be reached at [email protected].