Posted by Katherine St Asaph on 02/15/2012 at 4:46 PM News

The Popdust Files: heath ledger, mixtapes, t-pain, too soon

T-Pain’s preparing a new mixtape called The Heath Ledger Project. Hmm. Whatever could this be about? An elaborate 10 Things I Hate About You takeoff, with extra Shakespearean intertextuality? Something about A Knight’s Tale, where he’s the knight? A gutsy, possibly groundbreaking take on Ennis Del Mar? No–try The Dark Knight, and if you’re dreading where this is going, you’re about to have your dread confirmed. T-Pain told Rap-Up:

“Well, you know how he died. He kind of went crazy because he was so into being the Joker. After they finished shooting [The Dark Knight], he couldn’t stop being the Joker. I think he went so crazy trying to master his craft that he died for what he loved doing. He died mastering his craft.”

Or, you know, maybe Heath Ledger’s death wasn’t due to any meme-friendly downside of Method acting but chronic insomnia and very possibly addiction or drug abuse of some sort. You know, very real and very painful issues that’ve gotten a bit of press lately. Something to think about, you know? A time to think about how you’re talking about celebrity deaths, perhaps.

Take heart, though: The Heath Ledger Project isn’t some overly dark, Rebirth-like screed about wanting to watch the world burn, but a light, T-Painified project that just happens to allude to Heath Ledger because of his deathly passion for music, a passion T-Pain happens to share without the inconvenient death part. All better! Actually, no. Still too soon.

Oh, also, T-Pain’s next single is the Ne-Yo-aided “Turn All The Lights On,” and he promises no model-types. So, uh, there’s also that.