Sleek music app is entertaining but iffy for kids.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this recording app uses auto-tuning, first widely heard in Cher's 1998 hit, Believe. Auto-tuning corrects pitch and adds a distinctive warble to the voice. That's cool. What's not so great is the trashy rap music of 35-year-old Faheem Najm, aka T-Pain. The lyrics are smutty and demeaning to women. The app features profanity, sex, and drug references.
Language
a lot
"Damn," variations on "f--k," the n word.
Did you know you can flag iffy content?
Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Interspersed with the bundled songs are 13 premium T-Pain tracks for purchase. These include "Buy U A Drank" and "Met Her in the Club." Users who agree to the terms get emails asking if they'd like to watch the music video of "Take Your Shirt Off."
Sex, Romance & Nudity
some
The lyrics for "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" are highly suggestive, referring to wanting to do "the night thing" with a pole dancer who "spreads it wide." The T-Pain songs that users can be heard performing via the Web site feature even more graphic sex talk and references to the female anatomy.
Did you know you can flag iffy content?
Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Recording is very easy. Just tap the chosen track, sing, and press a button to share the link. What's much less convenient -- but entirely understandable given the language -- is that only one of the 11 bundled T-Pain instrumentals comes with lyrics.
What a great concept: an app that lets you record and auto-tune your voice just like the pros. I Am T-Pain is sleek and easy to use. You can sing along with any song or a capella, and the effect is quite good. But most of the bundled songs have tasteless titles and raunchy lyrics. A lesser beef: You can't save your recording, only a link to where it resides on the Smule site.
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