The fifth track "I Got It" is a skit about people who have been diagnosed with this disease, called HIV. The sixth track "Suicide" is the following song about people who are thinking suicide after dealing with being diagnosed with HIV.
The album's second single, "Bartender" was released on June 5, 2007. The song features guest vocals from musician and his then label-mate Akon, with T-Pain, who also produced this track. The song peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Epiphany received generally positive reviews from music critics, who drew comparisons to fellow R&B singer R. Kelly. Gentry Boeckel of PopMatters credited T-Pain on his production and use of various characters on the songs he wrote. He also said that his career will last more than other past R&B artists like Case, Joe and Tyrese concluding with, "T-Pain does seem posed for more success than those other guys. He may even be worth the verbiage, too."[3] John Hanson of Sputnikmusic also praised the album for its production, complimenting the songs (specifically the singles) saying, "T-Pain is starting to establish himself as a lasting source of entertainment in the vein of R. Kelly."[6]Vibe writer Chris Ryan also agreed with the R. Kelly similarities, praising the different facets of love and changes in genre, concluding that "Like any modern machine, T-Pain takes what he wants, strip it down, and gives it the voice of computer love."[7] Meka Udoh of HipHopDX credited songs like "Time Machine" and "Suicide" for bringing out a semi-serious T-Pain but was put off by his use of multiple characters throughout the album saying, "While Epiphany has its moments, it is also its schizophrenic nature that bogs the album down."[2]AllMusic editor David Jeffries questioned the album being 'mature', finding that side not mixing together with the party side of T-Pain's music.[1] Norman Mayers of Prefix criticized the album for bringing out "the worst stereotypes of black music and culture" in the R&B genre saying, "Epiphany is a profound statement on the poor quality and embarrassing content found in mainstream urban music."[4]
Commercial performance
Epiphany debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 171,126 copies in its first week. As of September 2008, the album has sold 819,000 copies in the United States.[8][9]
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