T-Pain says he experienced depression after Usher said he 'f‑‑‑ed up music' by using Auto-Tune

T-Pain is opening up about a dark time in his life that all started with, of all things, Auto-Tune.

In an exclusive clip from the forthcoming Netflix series This Is Pop, the singer and rapper reveals that he fell into a depression after fellow musician Usher told him he "f‑‑‑ed up music."

In the video above, he recalls, "Usher was my friend. I really respect Usher. And he said, 'I'm gonna tell you something, man. You kinda f‑‑‑ed up music.'"

The Masked Singer season 1 winner (we miss you, Monster!) says he thought Usher was joking at first, so he laughed. "And then he was like, 'Yeah man you really f‑‑‑ed up music for real singers,'" he recalls. "I was like, 'What did I do? I came out and I used Auto-Tune.' He was like, 'Yeah, you f‑‑‑ed it up.' I'm like, 'But I used it, I didn't tell everybody else to start using it.'"

He continues, "That is the very moment, and I don't even think I realized this for a long time, but that's the very moment that started a four-year depression for me."

This Is Pop is an eight-part series exploring untold stories from some of the biggest moments in pop music history. In addition to T-Pain, it features interviews with ABBA'S Benny Andersson, Shania Twain, Brandi Carlile, Chuck D, Babyface, Orville Peck, Hozier, members of Boys II Men, Backstreet Boys, Blur, and many more.

The series will be released in full June 22.

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