Singers do better with T-Pain relief

Tuesday, December 11th 2007, 4:00 AM

The T-Pain sound is getting around on top 100 list.

Want a hit? Feature T-Pain on your record and no matter how rote your music, it'll bolt up the charts. That's been happening with enough regularity to make this singer/rapper/producer music's go-to guy of the minute.

In the last two weeks, T-Pain finessed four songs into the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 song list (appearing on singles from Kanye West, Chris Brown, Baby Bash and Plies). That's the most any artist has managed since 50 Cent pulled it off three years ago. But Pain has made no fewer than nine appearances on Billboard's Rhythmic Top 10 chart, beating 50's record.

Over the last seven weeks, he helped steer seven songs into the Hot 100 list, setting a record for a male artist in the SoundScan era (namely, since 1991).

To bring this down to earth, the only female performer with as many simultaneous Hot 100 mentions is Hannah Montana. So this isn't necessarily epic talent here.

Some observers consider T-Pain's contribution to these tracks something of a gimmick. His calling card is a vocal trick: He sings through an Auto Tune machine that gives his voice a catchy quaver. It's not even an original tic, but elaborates on an electro-vocal effect created by R&B; star Roger Troutman in the '80s. The sound returned in the '90s as a frequent sample on L.A. gangsta records.

"It's easy to laugh at [T-Pain]," admits Vibe's music editor, Jon Caramanica.

At least at first it is. Caramanica says even pure hip-hop fans are starting to come around. "He's more sophisticated than he appears," he says.

Elliot Wilson, editor of the rap mag XXL, says, "He has a good ear for music and writes catchy hooks."

A major turning point in winning over detractors was T-Pain's collaboration with Kanye West on "Good Life." "He felt super-validated," says Caramanica.

Now other artists are starting to imitate T-Pain's style. Snoop Dogg just cut "Sexual Eruption" with his own Auto Tune effect, and Lil Wayne is using the Auto Tune on a new mix tape. Meanwhile, T-Pain has collaborations coming up with Akon, Rick Ross and Usher.

With so much of his sound around, might the market get saturated? "It will last until next spring," Wilson predicts. But Caramanica insists, "T-Pain innovated one style. Who's to say he can't innovate another?"

jfarber@nydailynews.com