In retrospect, the signs were there. The vintage arcade games on proud display in his 2008 episode of MTV Cribs; the 2011 album inspired by steampunk aesthetics; the impulsive commission of a $400,000 meme in the form of a chain that said “BIG ASS CHAIN” (which is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History for a forthcoming exhibit on hip-hop jewelry). But it isn’t until I step into the basement of T-Pain’s suburban Atlanta home — a neon-lit bunker with both a theater-size main gaming station and a separate arcade room with soundproof doors (“for screaming and sh-t”) and distinct areas for Atari,…
