When Jay-Z declared the "Death of Auto-Tune" in the summer of 2009, with the Blueprint 3 single "D.O.A.," the hip-hop star may have jumped the gun. Afterall, at the time, artists like Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and of course, T-Pain, were using the popular vocal effect with much success.
In 2011, its popularity has died down quite a bit. Pain, who helped bring its popularity back to the mainstream, recently vowed to ditch Auto-Tune.
Instead, he is opting to use, exclusive, his own new, vocal processor.
"I vow right here, right now, to never use Auto-Tune again," T-Pain told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive statement. "I'm onto something that I think is bigger and better called 'The T-Pain Effect.' "
According to AHH, the Florida singer/rapper has partnered with a company called Izotope, an audio technology company who will become the exclusive provider of the new "T-Pain Effect."
Auto-Tune was originally created by Antares Audio Technologies, and made its debut in the pop world in 1998 on Cher's hit single "Believe." Since then, everyone from Snoop Dogg and Janet Jackson to Weezy and Chris Brown have utilized the effect, which has become T-Pain's trademark.
T-Pain and Izotope are set to unveil the new technology on during the annual E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles next week, at the NOX booth.