Everything about Timbaland totally explained
Timothy Z. Mosley (born
March 10,
1971), better known by his
stage name Timbaland, is an
American record producer,
composer,
rapper, and
singer. Primarily known for his work in
urban pop, Timbaland has produced albums and singles for a number of artists from the mid-
1990s to the present day.
Timbaland's first production work was
Ginuwine...the Bachelor for
Ginuwine, in 1996; the album was both a commercial and critical success. He was later contacted by
Aaliyah to help produce her second album,
One in a Million, which went on to sell over 11 million copies worldwide. In 2000, Timbaland produced several hit songs including
Ludacris' "
Rollout (My Business)", and contributed three singles to Aaliyah's
self-titled third album. Embracing an international audience, he helped produce three tracks for Japanese Pop star
Utada Hikaru's debut English album,
Exodus and produced
Dima Bilan's "Believe", which won the
Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
In 2006 Timbaland collaborated with
Nelly Furtado and
Justin Timberlake which resulted in multiple million selling albums and singles for both artists. In 2007 Timbaland released the album
Shock Value, a commercial success, while 2008 saw Timbaland help produce
Madonna's new album,
Hard Candy.
Biography
Early life
Mosley was born and raised in
Norfolk,
Virginia. Originally a
disc jockey known as "DJ Timmy Tim" or "DJ Tiny Tim", Mosley began making hip-hop backing tracks on a
Casio keyboard. Rapper
Missy Elliott heard his material and, taken by Mosley’s unique sense of rhythm, began working with him . She and her R&B group Sista auditioned for
DeVante Swing, a producer and member of the successful R&B act
Jodeci. Devante signed Sista to his
Swing Mob record label and Elliott brought Mosley and Barcliff along with her to New York, where Swing Mob was based. It was
Devante who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after
Timberland construction boots, which were popular in hip-hop fashion.
Sista, Timbaland, and Magoo became part of Devante’s stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists such as R&B singer
Ginuwine, male vocal group
Playa, and the girl group Sugah.
1996–1999
In 1996, Ginuwine released his debut album,
Ginuwine...the Bachelor, which was produced by Timbaland. While work was being completed on
Ginuwine...the Bachelor, R&B artist
Aaliyah contacted Timbaland and Elliott to write and produce songs for her second album,
One in a Million. The tracks that were crafted for Aaliyah featured musical arrangements similar to those on
Ginuwine...the Bachelor.
Asian instrumentation is present through much of his early work (Xscape’s "My Secret" remix, especially, with a sitar outro and Timbaland ad-libbing "Let’s take a little trip...to India"), but was most successful and prevalent with
Jay-Z’s "Big Pimpin'" in 1999, which borrowed directly from the song "Khosara" by Egyptian composer
Abdel Halim Hafez. Elliott's 2001 hit single, "
Get Ur Freak On" from her third album,
Miss E...So Addictive, also used a speedy
Tabla drumline typical of
Hindustani classical music.
He is very close to his mother, AKA Momma Timba
2000–2002
Timbaland produced songs including
Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)", Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito",
Petey Pablo's "Raise Up", and
Beck's cover of
David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" during this period. He also contributed three songs, all eventually released as singles, to
Aaliyah’s self-titled third album, the exotic lead single "
We Need a Resolution" (featuring himself rapping a verse), "
More Than a Woman", and the ballad "
I Care 4 U".
Timbaland & Magoo’s second album together was slated for release in November 2000.
Indecent Proposal was to feature appearances by
Beck,
Aaliyah, as well as new Timbaland protégés -- some from his new Beat Club Records imprint--
Ms. Jade,
Kiley Dean,
Sebastian,
Petey Pablo, and
Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed for an entire year, finally released in November 2001. It was a commercial disappointment. Beck’s vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the final version, which instead featured Timbaland singing alongside
Steve "Static" Garrett of Playa and Aaliyah.
The first release on Beat Club was the debut album by
Bubba Sparxxx in September 2001,
Dark Days, Bright Nights. The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland, whose work was less omnipresent after 2001. In a phone call to the
MTV show
Total Request Live, Timbaland said:
2003–2005
Timbaland contributed three tracks to Tweet’s debut album,
Southern Hummingbird, and produced most of Elliott’s fourth and fifth LPs,
Under Construction and
This Is Not A Test!. He also produced tracks for artists such as
Lil’ Kim ("The Jump Off") and southern rapper
Pastor Troy during this period. Collaborating with fellow producer
Scott Storch, Timbaland also worked on a number of tracks on former
*NSYNC lead singer
Justin Timberlake’s solo debut,
Justified, including the song "
Cry Me a River".
Late in 2003, Timbaland delivered the second Bubba Sparxxx album,
Deliverance, and the third Timbaland & Magoo album,
Under Construction, Part II. Both albums were released to little fanfare or acclaim even though
Deliverance was praised by reviews and embraced by the internet community.
Timbaland continued to produce hit singles and albums for artists; in 2004 Timbaland-produced singles by
LL Cool J,
Xzibit,
Fatman Scoop, and
Jay-Z became staples on urban radio, and he produced the bulk of
Brandy’s fourth album,
Afrodisiac. The Timbaland-produced song "I'm So Fly" on
Lloyd Banks’s 2004 debut album
The Hunger for More is significant in that it was the first official Timbaland production bearing a co-production credit from
Danja, who would go on to become a requisite collaborator with Timbaland in the future.
Embracing an international audience, Timbaland lent a hand to three tracks off bilingual Japanese Pop star
Utada Hikaru’s debut English album,
Exodus. He continued working on tracks for
Tweet and for Elliott’s sixth album,
The Cookbook: "Joy (feat.
Mike Jones)", and "Partytime" and continued to expand his reach with production for
The Game and
Jennifer Lopez ("He'll Be Back" from her fifth studio album,
Rebirth.)
2006–2007
Timbaland started a new label distributed by Interscope,
Mosley Music Group, bringing some talent from his former Beat Club Records label. On the new label are
Nelly Furtado,
Keri Hilson, and rapper
D.O.E.. During 2006, Timbaland had seven singles receiving airplay worldwide by Nelly Furtado and
Justin Timberlake. Additionally, Timbaland also appears in most of the videos.
In early 2007, Timbaland was
accused of plagiarism regarding his work on the
Nelly Furtado track "
Do It". He is alleged to have plagiarized elements from the song "Acid Jazzed Evening" by Finnish artist Tempest, without giving credit or compensation.. Further allegations of plagiarism have surfaced in both fan publications and music editorials (see
Main Article).
Timbaland provides vocals on the singles the
Pussycat Dolls's "
Wait a Minute", Nelly Furtado's "
Promiscuous" and "
Ice Box" by
Omarion, all of which climbed the U.S. charts. In an interview published in August 2006 in the UK, Timbaland revealed he was working on a new LP by
Jay-Z and that he'd been working on tracks with
Coldplay’s
Chris Martin.
Timbaland worked on seven songs for
Björk’s new album, including "Earth Intruders", "Hope", and "Innocence", and he later worked on tracks for the new
Duran Duran album,
Red Carpet Massacre, including one featuring his frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake. Later in the year, Timbaland produced songs for Bone Thugs N Harmony's LP,
Strength & Loyalty and the song "
Ayo Technology" on
50 Cent’s album
Curtis. Timbaland also produced most of the tracks on
Ashlee Simpson's third CD,
Bittersweet World, including the song "
Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)".
On
April 3,
2007, Timbaland released a collaboration album featuring artists such as
50 Cent,
Dr. Dre,
Elton John,
Fall Out Boy,
Nelly Furtado,
Missy Elliott, and others called
Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The first single, "
Give It to Me" featuring Nelly Furtado and Timberlake, topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and received a nomination for the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The fourth single from the album, a remix of the
OneRepublic song "
Apologize", was in the
Billboard Hot 100 top ten for 25 weeks, the longest any song of the 2000's has spent in the top ten of the chart. The song is currently in its 42nd week on the chart .
A rivalry flared up between Timbaland and record producer
Scott Storch in early 2007. The tension initially started on the single "
Give It to Me", when Timbaland anonymously called out Storch, rapping, "I'm a real producer and you just the piano man". Timbaland confirmed that he was talking about Storch in an interview with MTV personality
Sway Calloway. Storch responded with the track "
Built Like That" on
February 26,
2007, featuring
Philadelphia rapper NOX. The end of the feud was confirmed by Timbaland in the final issue of Scratch Magazine.
In November 2007, it was confirmed that Timbaland has become a father to a baby girl. The mother is publicist Monique Idlett, who works at Timbaland's Mosley Music Group record company. They have been dating for two years and will marry in 2008. Timbaland proposed to Idlett at their baby shower in October.
2008–present
Currently working with British Female Singer
Lisa Maffia of the
So Solid Crew, Timbaland has also helped produce
Madonna's new album,
Hard Candy.
Bittersweet World by
Ashlee Simpson, and other untitled albums and songs by such artists as
Chris Cornell,
Beyonce,
JoJo,
Teairra Mari,
Keithian,
The Pussycat Dolls,
Nicole Scherzinger,
Missy Elliott,
Jonas Brothers,
Jennifer Hudson,
Lisa Maffia and
Sugababes. He produced several songs for
Usher's new album,
Here I Stand. Timbaland also produced some of the tracks on Swedish singer
Robyn's self-titled album set for released on
April 29,
2008 in the United States.
On
February 8,
2008, it was announced that Timbaland would be releasing an album solely on a mobile platform for
Verizon Wireless's
V CAST cell phone service and was designated its very first "Mobile Producer in Residence." Timbaland will be joined by
Mosley Music Group/
Zone 4 singer/songwriter
Keri Hilson to begin work on the mobile album’s first track aboard the fully-equipped Mobile Recording Studio. The only track to surface so far is "Get It Girl." In his first effort within the
video game industry, he's working with
Rockstar Games to produce
Beaterator, a music mixing game for the
PlayStation Portable to be released in the summer of 2009.
Timbaland has also expressed an interest in working with Justin Lorick on a new website for music track mixing online.
Timbaland is also working on his third studio album
Shock Value II. It was also stated by band Straylight Run that that'll be recording 2 new Hip Hop songs together.
Further Information
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