T-Pain Claims He Received A $40M Advance For His First Deal But The Record Label Had The Upper Hand With A 15/85 Split

T-Pain had reportedly become a multi-millionaire at 18 due to his first record deal.

Following the success of his popular single “I’m Sprung” in 2005, the artist was able to secure a record deal with Jive Records, Hot97 reports. The deal presented him with a $40 million advance, and many around him encouraged him to sign the deal. However, the deal also included a 15/85 split, in favor of the label, which he didn’t know at the time. He didn’t learn about it until 2022 when people started showing interest in buying his catalog, he said during a podcast interview on “Good Compenny.”

“My first deal that whole first joint was 15/85 but they gave  me crazy money,”  he told rapper LaRussell on the podcast. “So, I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t care. Like, bro, they, like, straight up was like, ‘Alright, deal’s done. Here you go.'”

T-Pain added, “So publishing, we worked around that. After probably about 10 years in that deal I was like ‘Yo we need to restructure this it’s crazy.’ So, I still get, I still get a lot of royalties. I’m probably never going to be trying to not get royalty checks, but that initial label deal was 15/85, and I was like ‘ Bro, that’s there’s no way.’ And they’re like, ‘There’s all the way because here’s your signature, you stupid piece of sh-t.’ That was just from greed, and a bunch people were like, ‘Bro, this is a lot of money. You need to take this.’ It was a huge advance. It was $40 million, but then $40Ms to complete zero, $40Ms to like negative.”

While T-Pain suggests he was mishandled in his initial business contracts, today he has established greater financial security that is not fully dependent on his work in music. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, he has taken interest in the gaming industry using platforms such as Twitch.

“I’m making more money off of video games than I have made in the last four years,” T-Pain said, according to HipHopDX. “Just playing them. Playing video games.”

But just how much is T-Pain making from gaming? While speaking with music executive Jerry Clark on his podcast, “Storytime With Legendary Jerry,” T-Pain said he earns between $50,000 and $60,000 per hour from the comfort of his home. Now, he refuses to leave his house to perform for any less than that amount.

“When people try to get me to go do shows I’m like, ‘In order to get me out of this house I got to be making more than I’m making playing video games down the hallway,” he explained to the host. “When you making $50, $60 grand an hour playing video games in your draws it’s kind of hard to get me to go out the country.”