(AllHipHop News) R&B and hip-hop star T-Pain fights off writer’s block by playing video games non-stop.
The “Bartender” hitmaker is a huge fan of online gaming service Twitch, which offers gamers around the world the opportunity to flex their skills and share tips with each other, and he uses it whenever he gets stuck with a lyric or melody.
“The gaming is therapeutic,” he tells Glixel. “While I’m playing, it’ll be a flash of a few lyrics and, ‘Oh s**t, I just came up with a smash (hit)’. I’m not concentrating on making a smash or making a hit or making any kind of music – I’m just sittin’ here living.
“If it’s like a GTA (Grand Theft Auto) V or like a Watch Dogs 2 (video game), you’re gonna think about these things… you’re gonna think about fking chicks and tasing the fk out of people, and you’re gonna make a song about it! There’s no writer’s block when you’re playing video games, man.”
T-Pain, real name Faheem Rashad Najm, confesses he is often dissed by his peers for his round-the-clock video game habit, but he doesn’t care about the critics, citing the hobby as a huge source of inspiration.
He is so fond of gaming, the star even brings his console into the studio with him, so he can play violent video games while he’s recording tracks with other artists.
“I have my laptop and my gaming sessions in the studio,” he laughs. “I use it to write. A lot of people don’t understand; they just feel like I’m in the studio ‘playing games’. But it’s kinda therapeutic. To be in the studio, have your mind free and playing games, not thinking about the song that you’re about to make.
“I’ll tell the producer, ‘Play this beat while I’m playing this game, and I’ll have a song in, like, 10 minutes’. Pause the game, get on the mic, full song, and then go back to the game. Every night!”