T-Pain shares reaction to fanfare following success: “What’s the big deal?”

T-Pain is years into his music career, but it seems he’s still not used to fans’ reaction to his fame and stardom. In an interview with GQ, he says he began experiencing fanfare “a little bit before that, kind of the ‘I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)’ era” but that it made him ask questions like, “What’s the big deal?” and “Why do you think I’m important?”

His reaction has remained the same over the years. “Even still to this day. I’m a person like you. If we’re both in the same airport, on the same flight, there’s nothing special about what I’m doing. It’s not a big deal that you get to see me,” he says.

“It’s become a thing that people know about me. They know how I feel about pictures and videos and stuff like that. I installed in everybody like, Chill the f*** out,” T-Pain continues. “We’re all doing this together. I’m only as important as you make me. I get it, and I appreciate it, but we’re all supposed to be chilling together. I just get to be on the other side of the camera more than most people.”

While he notices “the appreciation is there and the love is there,” T-Pain says that “trying to make me more important than anyone else that’s also waiting on their flight…just doesn’t make sense to me.”