'I'm coming home': T-Pain concert in Tallahassee is 200 years in the making
In just a few days, Tallahassee's famous son is coming home.
T-Pain — a two-time Grammy-winning artist whose chart-climbing hits changed the sound of hip hop with his unique use of Auto-Tune — is set to headline Leon County's bicentennial concert celebration Nov. 10 at the Adderley Amphitheater in Cascades Park, where fans, family and friends are expected to show up and show out for one of their own.
It's the moment so many have been waiting for and have been buzzing about for months since the concert was announced this summer. Tickets sales, ranging from $63 to $99, sold out in one day.
This won't be just another tour stop for T-Pain, whose real name is Faheem Najm. The concert was born out of 200 years of progress in Florida's capital city and an attempt by local leaders to ease years of hurt and anger for the rapper. His performing name stands for "Tallahassee Pain."
In November 2023, the "Buy You a Drank" rapper aired out grievances in a 45-minute, five-part series on Instagram and TikTok, and took aim at concert organizers, city and county leaders and the Tallahassee Democrat when he opted not to participate in a "50 Years of Hip Hop Celebration " concert that had featured his image on promotional flyers.
In the videos, though, he expressed enthusiasm about possibly headlining a bicentennial concert.
"Two hundred years of my hometown, call Tallahassee-Pain back for that!" he said.
In a July 15 post on X, T-Pain alerted his followers about ticket sales and said four words that echoed throughout the city: "Tallahassee, I'm coming home."
Finally, the boy who grew up on Ridge Road and found fame as the youngest member of the Tallahassee-based rap group Nappy Headz is coming home to perform and receive what he's always wanted and deserved — recognition.
In addition to headlining the concert, a portion of Pasco Street from Orange Avenue to Tucker Street that ends at Bond Elementary School will be named "T-Pain Lane" by the city of Tallahassee. Details have not been released on when the renaming ceremony is occurring.
It's a welcomed gesture considering the powerhouse brand T-Pain has built, which includes being a writer, producer, hardcore gamer, restaurant owner and entrepreneur .
He's also appeared in movies like "The Boss" and "Furious 7." In a surprise twist, he was crowned Season 1 winner of "The Masked Singer," where T-Pain masterfully showcased his crooning talents as an R&B singer in a "monster" disguise.
For people like DJ Dap, the hometown recognition and concert can't come quick enough. It's long overdue, he said.
"Believe me, as he loves home, but at the same time, he can hate home too because of the pain he experienced at home," said Dap, program director for Cumulus Radio and WWLD-FM and an on-air personality on Blazin' 102.3 FM. "For some of the stuff he's upset about is because he never really ever got the respect that he should have got."
Dap said he's known T-Pain since the late 90's and recalls the first time they met.
He said T-Pain and other members of the Nappy Headz were trying to convince him to play their new song, "Robbery," on air at a previous radio station he worked at. There, in the parking lot of the McDonald's on South Monroe Street, they convinced him. Dap was one of the first to play the song that catapulted the group's short-lived fame.
He's been following T-Pain every since, knowing the ascent of his career is a point of pride by all those who've supported the artist.
"He's a brother. He's a cousin," said Dap, who performed in Florida A&M's Marching 100 band with T-Pain's dad. "He has relatives here all over the place. He has friends here who went to high school and elementary school and middle school with him, and he made it."
He added he anticipates "everybody definitely showing up super early, super excited" for the concert. "You're probably going to see a line ahead of time, whatever the start time for the show."
Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: T-Pain 'coming home' with Tallahassee bicentennial concert in Cascades
