VMA performer also chats about remix contest, reveals why he'll only give R. Kelly and Chris Brown permission to use voice enhancer.
Besides the paparazzi flashing bulbs while they were camped outside the studio, VMA 2007 performer T-Pain says working with Britney Spears was relatively event-free. He was in the lab with Spears a few months ago - right in the wake of her head-shaving episode, although Pain describes the pop superstar as normal. So normal they were able to knock out three songs - "Cold as Fire," "Boyfriend" and "One of a Kind" - in a short amount of time.
When she met up with Pain in the studio, "she had a wig and cowboy hat on," he told us last week while in town for Screamfest '07. "She came in there, shook my hand and went right into the booth. She was smiling the whole time. In an hour we had a song. I sang it first and she sung over what I did ... in key and everything! Then did a whole 'nother song. She was about her business.
"I came out the studio and ... across the street [were] people with cameras on top of the building and waiting for her to come outside," he continued. "I come out, they are like, 'Oh, oh ... stop.' I was like, 'What about me? I got hits.' "
Indeed Pain does. Earlier this year it looked like Akon or R. Kelly would easily take home the Nate Dogg Award for Collaboration King, but Pain has slid in there with an endless array of winning guest spots for Kelly, Bow Wow, Plies, Fabolous and DJ Khaled. Pain's cameos have been so big that they have dominated his set on the Screamfest. During last week's stop in New York, Pain was one of the most popular attractions, inspiring the youth to scream at the top of their lungs.
"Only ones that are not competing on this tour is me and [Yung] Joc," Pain said. Joc, T-Pain, Lloyd and Yung Berg are the tour's opening acts, while Ciara and T.I. are co-headlining (see "T.I., Ciara To Headline Latest Scream Tour"). "I don't really do no songs off my album. I do 12 songs in 25 minutes and they all hits. I come out to '[I'm] Sprung,' do [Bow Wow's] 'Outta My System,' [Kelly's] '[I'm a] Flirt,' [Huey's] 'Pop, Lock & Drop It,' [Plies'] 'Shawty.' We run through it. It's continuous, nonstop. We stop maybe one time so I can drink some water."



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