Epiphany is the second studio album by American R&B singer T-Pain, It was released on June 5, 2007, by his record labelNappy Boy Entertainment,. The albummarks as a first for T-Pain, who launched his own record label Nappy Boy Entertainment. Critics gave the album positive reviews for T-Pain's production and his use of various characters throughout its track listing. Epiphany debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and spawned three singles: "Buy U a Drank ", "Bartender" and "Church".
Singles
The album's lead single, "Buy U a Drank " was released on February 20, 2007. The song features guest vocals from a fellow southern hip hop rapper Yung Joc. T-Pain provides the production on this track. The song peaked at number one on the US BillboardHot 100, making it his highest-charting single as a lead artist. The album's second single, "Bartender" was released on June 5, 2007. The song features guest vocals from musician and his then label-mate Akon, with T-Pain, who also produced this track. The song peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Critical reception
Epiphany received generally positive reviews from music critics, who drew comparisons to fellow R&B singer R. Kelly. Gentry Boeckel of PopMatters credited T-Pain on his production and use of various characters on the songs he wrote. He also said that his career will last more than other past R&B artists like Case, Joe and Tyrese concluding with, "T-Pain does seem posed for more success than those other guys. He may even be worth the verbiage, too." John Hanson of Sputnikmusic also praised the album for its production, complimenting the songs saying, "T-Pain is starting to establish himself as a lasting source of entertainment in the vein of R. Kelly." Vibe writer Chris Ryan also agreed with the R. Kelly similarities, praising the different facets of love and changes in genre, concluding that "Like any modern machine, T-Pain takes what he wants, strip it down, and gives it the voice of computer love." Meka Udoh of HipHopDX credited songs like "Time Machine" and "Suicide" for bringing out a semi-serious T-Pain but was put off by his use of multiple characters throughout the album saying, "While Epiphany has its moments, it is also its schizophrenic nature that bogs the album down." AllMusic editor David Jeffries questioned the album being 'mature', finding that side not mixing together with the party side of T-Pain's music. Norman Mayers of Prefix criticized the album for bringing out "the worst stereotypes of black music and culture" in the R&B genre saying, "Epiphany is a profound statement on the poor quality and embarrassing content found in mainstream urban music."
Commercial performance
Epiphany debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 171,126 copies in its first week. In its second week, the album dropped to number five on the chart, selling an additional 82,000 copies. In its third week, the album dropped to number ten on the chart, selling 56,000 more copies that week. As of September 2008, the album has sold 819,000 copies in the United States.
Track listing
All tracks produced by T-Pain
;Sample credits
"Tallahassee Love" contains a sample of "California Love" performed by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre.
