We've had it all wrong: T-Pain isn't actually Teddy Penderazdoun. They're two different people ... well, entities. Pain is still Pain, but Teddy P is about a foot taller and North Carolina Tar Heel blue.

Pain introduced the mascot to MTV News last week on the set of his album photo shoot. Pain's LP Thr33 Ringz is due in September. DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and Pain's partner in crime, Lil Wayne, are all present and accounted for on the record. T-Pain also told us that [article id="1589461"]his project with Weezy[/article] is definitely taking shape.

"He's sending me blank tracks, I'm sending him blank tracks," Pain elaborated on the project. "He's sending me tracks with hooks, I'm sending him tracks with hooks. It's just our hectic schedules are keeping us from recording. ... But we both have studios on the bus. So we take that tour bus anywhere we go — it's a done deal."

Pain and Wayne collaborated on the next single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money," as well as the first official single from Thr33 Ringz, "Can't Believe It."

" 'Can't Believe It,' I just wanted to simplify things," he said. "Basically I got a lot of stuff on my albums that's not that simple. I'm not getting away from the simplicity of things, it's just basically a way to calm things down. Then I put Wayne on it and he keeps murdering tracks I'm sending him. It's just another world, it's unexplainable."

Pain describes the meaning of Thr33 Ringz as music being a three-ring circus with him as the ringleader.