Credit: T-Pain / Drake

Artists often collaborate behind the scenes without much of a spotlight on it. Whether it’s Drake writing Kanye West’s ’30 Hours’ or Frank Ocean singing on ‘New Slaves’, some of the smallest of contributions play a major part in a song’s success. Another little-known fact is that T-Pain collaborated with Drake in the early stages of the Toronto rapper’s career.

Drizzy released his second album, Take Care, in 2011, which is often considered his magnum opus in a stacked catalogue consisting of eight solo LPs. Love him or hate him, it was a revolutionary moment for the artist to deploy the hip-hop/R&B formula from his So Far Gone days, combined with everything from Stevie Wonder features to Jamie xx samples.

One of the highlights, and potentially a bucket list moment for Drake, was ‘The Real Her’. With it, he was able to collaborate with his mentor, Lil Wayne, and another formidable MC: Outkast’s legendary André 3000. The song finds Drake praising a stripper for being a strong, independent woman and professing his love for her.

Despite not being named in the credits, T-Pain allegedly appears throughout the song on backing vocals. Longtime Drake producer, T-Minus, revealed this fact during an interview with Billboard for the 10th anniversary of Take Care. The Canadian producer behind ‘The Motto’ claimed the auto-tune singer can be heard behind the verses and chorus.

“With ‘The Real Her’, I loved what 40 did on those keys,” he began. “I was at the studio, and I remember T-Pain pulling up and adding some vocals to the record. A lot of people don’t ever notice it. T-Pain is kind of a ghost on the record, he’s in the background singing low melodies. I was blown away watching Drake direct Pain and telling him what to write about. I really saw his intelligence as a songwriter.”

Drake and T-Pain’s relationship has soured in recent years, at least as far as the Florida artist is concerned. Earlier this year, he claimed Drizzy should take his own advice and “gracefully” exit the music industry, stating he had become the person “he didn’t wanna be.”

Speaking on Drizzy’s comments, Pain said, “Like, when he said that, ‘I wanna gracefully bow out and not get kicked out,’ I was like, ‘You know what? I’m out this bitch.’ I’m out this motherfucker. I’m not trying to impress y’all n*ggas. Y’all n*ggas don’t give a fuck if I live or die. Why the fuck would I keep trying to impress y’all? I’m out. I’m done. I did everything that I’m trying to do. I changed the game. I made a sound. What else?”

It’s unclear why T-Pain has such a serious problem with Drake and whether working together on ‘The Real Her’ has anything to do with it. When Drake came across his comments, he said, “This guy has always had resentment for me. You can hear it every time he speaks on my name.” Even if they never collaborate again, they will always have that one jewel from over a decade ago.