T-Pain recently told his Twitch followers just how he lost $40 million over 9 years.
You probably know T-Pain from his music, but you might be surprised to find out that he's also an avid gamer. His most recent album, 1UP, is full of songs that discuss games and gamer culture.
Not only that, he broadcasts his session over on Twitch. His current games are the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. And the channel's name? Nappy Boy Gaming, a reference to his record label, Nappy Boy Entertainment.
When he's not streaming the latest games, T-Pain can get oddly reflective on his Twitch channel. Recently, T-Pain took the time to discuss how the fortune of fame can be fleeting, especially when you don't keep track of your money. That's how he lost $40 million.
"It wasn't like I lost $40 million like I just took off my pants one day," said T-Pain. "Between the time I had $40 million and $0 was 9 years."
T-Pain achieved great success in music in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He'd go on to appear on TV shows and other artist's albums throughout that time, accumulating a fortune as he went. But consistently poor financial decisions left him destitute "because I wasn't paying attention."
"I kept taking suggestions from other people," he said, "I was like--'Pants with underwear already in 'em sounds innovative as f!@$.'" Then he'd simply lose all his cash.
T-Pain goes into greater detail in an interview with The Breakfast Club, admitting that he went from $40 million to being so poor he "had to borrow money to get my kids Burger King."
These days, T-Pain is a lot smarter with where he spends his money. He also prioritizes his family, describing how he’d rarely see his wife and three children during the height of his music career. A better work-life balance combined with not spending his cash on frivolous purchases has done wonders for his financials.
That and he makes a significant chunk of change by advertising on his Twitch channel.