Record producer, songwriter, rapper and Auto-Tune enthusiast T-Pain joined Twitch earlier this week, and while he spent a night playing the new Doom, the musician has since found his game of choice: Overwatch, which he's spent several hours livestreaming this week.
Fans of songs like "Buy U a Drank," hero-based shooters, celebrity Twitch streams and all of the above have filed in to watch T-Pain play Overwatch. Some have even had the chance to join his group or play some rounds against him. Throughout the streams, viewers have learned more about T-Pain's gaming history (like how he spent over $10,000 while playing Madden NFL), fondness for Twitch and plans to cosplay as Overwatch characters at future TwitchCon events.
But in his latest broadcast, seen above, T-Pain goes deeper. Around the one-hour, 46-minute mark, the rapper gets real about how he finally feels able to revel in his true, game-loving self.
"For many years, I've been led to believe that we should all be hiding the fact that we're gamers," he says. According to him, the music industry has stifled his love of video games over the years, considering the hobby "uncool."
But "being a nerd, being a gamer, that's something to really be proud of," he argues. "That's something that people strive to be, but since they can't do what they think they wanna do, they make fun of it."
The speech — about wanting to be yourself, whether or not others around you think you're cool — goes on for several minutes, with occasional Overwatch-related interjections interspersed. T-Pain ends it by reiterating his appreciation for fans, especially those checking into the streams, until he ultimately gets distracted by dying one too many times.
Whether or not T-Pain will continue to play Overwatch or other games live remains to be seen, but the archived broadcasts on his Twitch channel make for a long, oddly emotional watch. If you now feel compelled to start playing Overwatch yourself, check out our review of and guide to the hero-based shooter.
