Raphael Saadiq says long live R&B, death to Auto-Tune

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Raphael Saadiq’s longevity in the music business cannot be questioned. Starting in the 80s as a member of the multi-platinum group Tony! Toni! Toné, they created classic songs like “Anniversary” and ”(Lay Your Head On My) Pillow.” Later, he formed the super group “Lucy Pearl” and now he is solo with a new album “The Way I See It.”

Saadiq sat down with theGrio and told us why we should not look for a reunion tour with his former bands and why some R&B singers who use Auto-Tune should start looking for day jobs.

Auto-Tune is a software program used by music producers to correct flat or sharp notes, but it can be manipulated to make a singers voice sound robotic. It’s similar to the “Talk Box” effect Roger Troutman, lead singer of Zapp and Roger used for “Computer Love” and “I wanna be your man”.

Cher used it in her 1998 hit “Believe” and everyone from Country star Tim McGraw to Britney Spears and most notably, rappers T-Pain, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. The tool became so widespread rapper Jay-Z made a song called “D.O.A. Death of Auto Tune” to express his belief that it was being overused in music.