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Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has made the unusual move from tech entrepreneur to musical artist, thanks to an unusual collaboration with singer T-Pain.
The 40-year-old, who has recently been praised by Donald Trump for “staying out of the election” and saw his plans for a nuclear-powered AI centre scuppered by bees, is now trying his hand at singing.
He and T-Pain have released a cover of the 2002 hip-hop classic “Get Low” by rap group Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, under the name of Z-Pain, all in tribute to Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan.
On Instagram, Zuckerberg wrote: “‘Get Low’ was playing when I first met Priscilla at a college party, so every year we listen to it on our dating anniversary.
He adds: “This year I worked with @tpain on our own version of this lyrical masterpiece. Sound on for the track and also available on Spotify.”
The post included a photo of lyrics, an album cover in which T-Pain and Zuckerberg are both holding up acoustic guitars, and several photographs of the pair in a recording studio.
The US entrepreneur shared his wife’s reaction to the song on his Instagram story, which saw her laughing and describing it as “so romantic”.
Responding in the comments, Chan herself wrote: “Can’t get quite as low anymore but more in love and grateful for that love than ever. Love you MZ.”
Meanwhile, singer-songwriter and music producer T-Pain, real name Faheem Najm, wrote on Instagram: “Z-Pain has arrived. Get Low by @zuck and me out now.”
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Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
The song, which sounds nothing like the original, is an acoustic rendition of the track and features all of the often very explicit lyrics, with Zuckerberg approximating emo vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on a Blink-182 album.
Reactions to the song have so far been a mix of hilarity and amazement. Journalist Taylor Lorenz wrote: “ULTIMATE wife guy power move.”
The culture and entertainment website, Pubity joked: “We got Zuck on a track before GTA 6.”
Another person wrote: “This is actually extremely sweet and thoughtful!”
Meanwhile, Spotify wrote: “Best anniversary gift ever.”
Elsewhere, T-Pain is set to feature in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade along with reality TV’s Ariana Madix, Broadway belter Idina Menzel, members of the WNBA champions New York Liberty and country duo Dan + Shay.
Additional reporting by PA.
