T-Pain and Clinton Sparks on How Their Love of Video Games Led to an E-Sports League With Ne-Yo: ‘Dope Doesn’t Chase Money, Money Chases Dope’

When T-Pain and Clinton Sparks call in to Billboard, Pain is on his tour bus, and Clinton is in his car on his way to meet Howie Mandel. Yes, Howie Mandel — the former Deal or No Deal host and current America’s Got Talent judge. According to Sparks, Mandel is secretly an avid gamer and was interested in talking about the Global Gaming League — T-Pain, Ne-Yo, Sparks’ and Jeff Hoffmann’s new e-sports community.

The idea was simple: Competitive e-sports teams have long been reserved for elite, top-tier gamers, but what if there was a league comprised of just average people who love video games — and a random celebrity?

“I mean, everybody games, from the Jonas Brothers to Terry Crews to Snoop Dogg,” Sparks says. “None of those people are gonna stop what they’re doing and be hardcore e-sports players. They’re not quitting their day jobs to compete for years, but they all game! There was nothing built for them to be a part of.”

On Wednesday (Oct. 29), Mandel was announced as another celebrity team owner, along with Million Dollaz Worth of Game hosts Gillie and Wallo267. Mandel’s “Howie Do It” team will face off against “Million Dollaz Gaming” in Las Vegas on Nov. 18. However, neither of these teams are comprised entirely of celebrities; in fact, most of the players will be just average gamers from around the world.

“There could be a team where it’s T-Pain, a 12-year-old from Madagascar, and a 41-year-old from Cleveland,” Pain explains. “Everybody games, it’s for everybody, and I’m trying to make it where everybody can get to this.”

This communal approach to gaming also doesn’t mean corners need to be cut regarding fanfare. The Global Gaming League hosted its first event in Las Vegas earlier this month, and it was as high-budget a celebration as any other gaming event. As T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Grizzlies faced off against Ne-Yo’s Gentlemen’s Gaming Team with back-to-back rounds of Call of Duty, Tetris and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Rich the Kid popped out for a halftime show, and Flava Flav, who is also a team owner, even stopped by to hype up the crowd.

Even without all the celebrity glamour, the event itself was incredibly high stakes. Ne-Yo and T-Pain were forced to face off in the event’s closing moments for a tiebreaker. Unfortunately for T-Pain, the game of choice was Tekken, which Ne-Yo is apparently unbelievable at playing. Pain never stood a chance.

“Being part of the Global Gaming League as a team owner has been incredible,” Ne-Yo says in a statement. Billboard could not reach him for an interview due to his hectic tour schedule. “I’ve always had a passion for gaming, but this league is really taking the competition to another level while bridging the intersection between gaming and entertainment in a creative way. The championship match is going to be a special one, but I really believe this league has the potential to shift the entertainment landscape and open new doors for gamers worldwide.”

Below, T-Pain and Clinton Sparks talk about how the Global Gaming League came together, what it means to bring celebrity culture and gaming under one roof — and why Pain lost so badly to Ne-Yo.

Tell me about how the idea of Global Gaming League came together, and why did you guys feel so enthusiastic about committing to this program in such a big way?

T-Pain: [Clinton], you can give him the interview version.

Clinton Sparks: [Laughs.] God d–n it, Pain. Alright, here comes the AI version. We both are in the entertainment space, we both care about people. We both enjoy bringing opportunities and people together, so nothing really does that quite like gaming does. As you know, Pain’s been a gamer for a long, long time. I had experience building gaming companies from FaZe Clan to other organizations, and when I was building those I recognized that as big as gaming is, it’s still disconnected form mainstream pop culture and definitely the streets.

How is it so big and we’re all connected to it one way or another, and there isn’t anything set up that we can have an authentic footprint within it in a more communal way, that’s not just in our own streaming set up? How do we create something where [everyone] can participate and be a part of it just like any other sports, where you start in football and go to high school and go to college and hopefully make it to the NFL? There isn’t anything like that [for gaming].

So what’s the non-interview version, Pain?

TP: The non-interview version is: We saw e-sports and we were like, “Bro, why the f—k aren’t we doing that with the homies?” We saw a part that just was missing. E-sports seemed so unattainable. You have to be a pro, you have to be amazing at this s—t, but what about the guys that are just there? That just play all the time because they want to?

Once I got into this part of my career where I became independent, like — no shade to where you work at — but I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to chase Billboard No. 1s anymore.’ I can actually just f—kin’ do this s—t because I like doin’ it and still be in the ranks with the people that are hitting No. 1 on Billboard. I can still be around them and do s—t with them. So I was taking that approach back to gaming, something we all love and when we think about music and are really good at it, We do this s—t for free. But how cool would it be to get paid for it?

What are the kind of conversations you want to see the music industry having?

TP: When you bring this conversation of e-sports to celebrities, the first thing they say is: “How do I make money off of this?” When we bring them the Global Gaming League they say, “Oh, s—t, sounds fun, we outside!” It’s such a casual thing that we don’t even care if we make money. We’re going to, but it’s such a turn-key thing. We want the conversation to turn away from, “How do I make money from video games?” into “How do I make this bigger than what it is right now and still get the bonus of making money?”

Like I lived with an e-sports team for two days for a journalistic piece, and I got out of there immediately. It was supposed to be five days and I was like, “All right, that’s enough of that.” They gotta wake up at 7:00 a.m., work out, work on their hand-eye coordination, it’s crazy bro. I was like, “Yeah, I only brought leather pants with me, I’m not doin’ this s—t.”

CS: You’re here for the fun. We know the business of it is gonna happen. Dope doesn’t chase money, money chases dope. We’re building dope and bringing other dope friends along with us so that not only is it giving them an outlet to do something they’re passionate about and excited about. For the universal community that have been waiting for an opportunity to compete, to make money, to build business, that’s what we’re creating with our entire league system.

How did you guys make that model sound appealing to celebrities though?

TP: It seems unbelievable, you know what I mean? Because when people come to celebrities like that they’re like, “Alright, how many f—kin’ days do I have to show up in this. How much money do you want me to invest?” So when you do that initial pitch you have to let these people know they don’t have to spend any money, and they get to own part of the company. We’re not looking for any money, we’re looking for you to come have fun. That’s it, you know what I’m sayin’? It’s honestly unbelievable because the gaming industry has gone so deep into, “How do we make money off of this?”

CS: From a celebrity standpoint, I totally agree. From an investors stand point, it’s educating them and making them understand it’s the biggest entertainment platform in the entire world that makes more money than music, movies and television combined.

TP: That’s even harder! Cause when you get the celebrities and say we don’t want your money, then go to investors and say we got a team with T-Pain, Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart, the first thing they say is, “Why the f—k didn’t you take their money?” Bringing those two parts together was the worst.

T-Pain, you’re no stranger to streaming or gaming at this point. How has utilizing these new age entertainment platforms changed your life and your career?

TP: I mean, I’ve been on Twitch since 2014, and I’ve been streaming since then. From 2014 to 2019 I was streaming to like 20 to 200 people. Nobody knew I was doing it, nobody understood. Then when the pandemic hit and I got to make my production value real dope, I started getting interviews about being on Twitch. I’m like, “Man, it’s six years I’ve been sitting here doing nothing…”

But I was already in it, I was already taking my PlayStation and Xbox everywhere. I was already playing games in my hotel rooms, and I would talk to myself. I would be screaming at my screen, raging out in my hotel room, security is getting called. Then when I went and did an interview with PlayStation, while we were doing the interview we were playing a game and also streaming on Twitch. I was like, “Well, what is that now? How can they see what I’m sayin’?”

But the thing that caught me is that [on Twitch], they’re like minded people. A community of people who actually like the s—t you’re doing. It kinda gave me an out, it gave me more expression. It gave me a way to let out this side that my managers at the time thought was the corniest f—kin’ thing in the world. If I pulled out a PlayStation or a handheld gaming thing in the studio, I would literally get reprimanded like, “You’re supposed to be making music! Put that s—t down, you’re supposed to be making us money. These video games are gonna kill your f—kin’ career.” Once I got rid of my managers all of my gaming s—t has been this whole other side of me.

What were some of the most influential games from your childhood?

TP: 007 GoldenEye. That was the first one. When we got that game I never got to play it cause my brother, it was his game. He wasn’t about to let his little brother play the new s—t. But then, he had to get a job. So every time he went to work I finally got to load that thing up. Ah man, that s—t… [and] SEGA’s Lion King, that was the f—kin’ Elden Ring of the SEGA days. That was the toughest game in the world.

CS: Mine ranges a lot, ’cause I’ve been gaming since the ’80s. I remember getting my first Atari and just being hooked on Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Frogger, Pitfall! Then moving into the Nintendo days we see Super Mario, Street Fighter, and honestly I still play Tetris every day. I could be on the toilet, and I’m playin’ Tetris.

TP: That’s why Clinton’s so big on the business side, ’cause all the games he play actually help your brain.

As 2025 comes to a close, what is your game of the year pick so far, and what game were you surprisingly disappointed by this year?

TP: Black Myth: Wukong was bats—t. I think that changed my blood pressure medication, in sort of an Elden Ring way. I wasn’t big into Souls-type games, so it wasn’t really on my radar, but man the sound design, presentation, everything that went into it I was hooked.

As for disappointed? I think I wanna get further into Borderlands 4 before I start talking s—t. But Borderlands 4 is teetering that f—king line right now with me.

CS: I’ve been so busy building this thing, but I will say Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Mario Kart World—

TP: Yeah, Clinton’s more of a cozy guy.

After watching you and Ne-Yo face off on Episode 1, I gotta ask — what happened man? Were you surprised at all by Ne-Yo’s gameplay?

TP: Honestly, not at all. I’ve watched Ne-Yo stream and I was hoping we wouldn’t have to play each other. When it came to the tie and we actually did, I was like, “Oh, we lost guys, it’s over.” Before we even picked up the sticks [I knew]. Ne-Yo is cracked at Tekken, bro. I was really hoping that part of the show wasn’t gonna happen.

Well, either way, episode 1 was a wild spectacle. You guys pulled out all the stops. I’m excited to see what you guys got in store for episode 2.

CS: Look, if you invite someone to a party, the first thing they’re gonna ask is: “Who’s gonna be there?” It’s not just about the party! So we wanted to converge music with fashion, sports, celebrity, competition, culture. We may have a rocker, rapper, influencer, do a halftime show, because when you bring in an audience to a “gaming event,” you’ve already limited that and made a lot of people say, “I ain’t goin’ to that s—t.” But maybe they’re coming cause some girl is a fan of Bryce Hall, or they’re a fan of the halftime performer, or a fan of someone playing on the teams. Gaming is here to bring communities together.

So Pain, will fans see you bust a move at Ne-Yo’s next show now that you lost the bet?

TP: Yep, I gotta do it, but joke’s on him I woulda done it without the bet. I was ready to go, but I’ve been on tour with Ne-Yo four times already and I’ve kept telling him, “I’m comin’ up there one day bro!”

CS: We gotta set that s—t up man!

TP: It’s gotta happen.