Early in his career, T-Pain inked a deal with Akon‘s Konvict Music. It was the catalyst that birthed some of T-Pain’s most memorable classics, but according to Akon, his signee could have become a bigger artist if he would have followed the formula. During a recent interview, Akon was asked to share his opinion on why he believed Future slid into T-Pain’s lane and took over, leaving the “Buy U a Drank” star in the dust.

Akon, T-Pain, Konvict Music, VladTV, Twitter
Rich Polk / Stringer / Getty Images

“I think one of the major reasons is that T-Pain never left the hood. He just confined his music to urban music… That was it,” said Akon. “I saw T-Pain as another me, to be able to cross outside of urban. Go into pop, go into EDM, go into Latin—I still think ’til this day he still can do it.” He added, “You and I know better than anybody, urban audiences aren’t loyal.”

T-Pain clearly was made aware of his fellow artist’s remarks and issued a classy response. “The very ppl that held me back is tellin y’all how I could’ve been bigger 🤦🏿‍♂️,” T-Pain wrote on Twitter without naming Akon directly. “I’m not angry at all. I’ve grown. I’ve learned how to keep moving forward and not look back. Some ppl don’t and that’s ok. They’ll get there at their pace. But I’m no longer gonna to allow my past to determine my future. I’m in control. See y’all on the brighter side. Love y’all.” Check it out below.