Tank Says Jamie Foxx Once Allowed Him To Record In His Home Studio When He Was On The Verge Of Homelessness

Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer and songwriter Tank said Oscar Award-winning comedian, actor, and singer Jamie Foxx once allowed him to record in his home studio while on the verge of homelessness.

Tank, whose real name is Durrell Artaze Babbs, revealed the exciting tidbit during a recent episode of the hit REVOLT show, Drink Champs.

“I’m standing in Jamie Foxx’s kitchen–him and his sister Deidra–and he’s like, ‘What [are] we doing, what’s going on? I said, ‘I ain’t doing nothing. I’m about to go home. I’m about to do the church thing, move back into my momma’s house,” Babbs recalled. “He’s like, ‘You can’t go home, no, you can’t…who is [going to] inspire me?’ [Then] his sister said, ‘Ain’t no way you’re going home…you ain’t going nowhere, we’re gonna fight this.’ At this time, I’m kind of homeless. [Jamie] said, ‘This is what you’re [going to] do: You’re [going to] use my studio, and you’re going to live in my house until you figure it out.”

“Wow, Jamie Foxx is a real n***a like that?” Drink Champs host, rapper Victor “Noreaga” Santiago, Jr., asked the 46-year-old.

“1,000 percent. If Jamie Foxx didn’t say that, there would be no Sex, Love, & Pain.”

Sex, Love, & Pain is Babb’s third album, which Blackground Records and Universal Motown Records released in May 2007.

The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards and spawned the hit song, “Please Don’t Go,” which garnered over 33 million views on YouTube.

Babbs also collaborated with Foxx, whose real name is Eric Marlon Bishop, on several other songs, including the 2005 single “Wish U Were Here” and the 2015 track “In Love By Now.”

The Milwaukee-born singer made his debut in 2001 with the hit song “Maybe I Deserve,” which appeared on his first album, Force of Nature. Previously, he was a background singer for legendary R&B artists Ginuwine and the late Aaliyah.

During the Drink Champs interview, he mentioned that Ginuwine, whose real name is Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, introduced him to Aaliyah, whose full name is Aaliyah Dana Haughton at their rehearsal studio.

“‘You’re really dope,’” Babbs recalled Haughton telling him. “She’s asking me questions like I’m the main attraction… I’m like, ‘This is Aaliyah, and she’s concerned about me.’”

The two worked together on the songstress’ posthumous hit 2002 record, “Come Over.”