T-Pain Says He Accepted a 15/85 Split and $40M in First Record Deal: 'It Was a Huge Advance'

T-Pain made a huge bag in his first record label deal, although the R&B and rap artist blew through it in a short amount of time.

While on tour with West Coast rapper LaRussell last month, the artists, and fellow rapper Tietta, sat down for a Free Game Friday session to openly talk about label deals. According to the "Buy U a Drank" crooner, his first multi-million dollar label deal was favorable, since he was 18 at the time. But he spent through so much of the amount that he was eventually in the "negative."

"First deal, that whole first joint was 15/85 [split]," T-Pain said. "But they gave me crazy money, so I didn’t even care. Like, bro, they straight-up was like, 'Alright, deal’s done. Here you go."

LaRussell asked if T-Pain had ever gotten a royalty check, which the Tallahassee native confirmed. "Oh, yeah. A lot. I still get a lot of royalties. I’m probably never gonna not get royalty checks," he continued.

"I had to go look at my deal, I was like, 'Oh, I’m about to get paid.' And they was like, 'No, the fuck you not,'" T-Pain said. "And I was like, 'Bro, there’s no way.' And they were like, 'There’s all the way, ‘cause here’s your signature, you stupid piece of shit.'"

The 39-year-old acknowledged that he was pressured by his circle to "take" the money due to it being "a huge advance" at $40 million. But soon, the amount went to "complete zero." "$40 m’s to like, negative," T-Pain admitted. "…Like what do you think I’m going to do with this money? Save it?"

Although T-Pain can’t fully "Blame It" on his former label, he’s spoken earnestly via Twitch about the enormous offers he received at the beginning of his career. During one streaming session, per Afrotech, T-Pain said that he was offered a $900,000 and $700,000 signing bonus from Interscope and Atlantic, respectively, before agreeing to a $20,000 advance through Akon’s Konvict Muzik.