Timbaland is similar to producers such as Norman Whitfield in that he helped to redefine the sound of an entire genre of music with an immediately recognizable production style. The songs he produces feature unusual arrangements, sounds, and instrumentation, tied together by a trademark sense of rhythm. Like Spector and Whitfield, Timbaland's production sometimes overshadows the credited performer and becomes the actual "star" of the song. With songwriters Steve "Static" Garrett and childhood friend Missy Elliott, Timbaland has helped to create some of the most successful songs in modern pop music and urban music, including singles for Aaliyah, Ginuwine, SWV, Total, and 702.
Mosley grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, where he became acquainted with Missy Elliott and Melvin Barcliff, whose MC name was "Magoo." Originally a disc jockey known as "DJ Timmy Tim," Mosely began making hip-hop backing tracks on a Casio keyboard he owned. In 1993 Elliott heard his material and, taken by Mosley's unique sense of rhythm, immediately began working with him.
Elliott and her girl group Sista auditioned for DeVante Swing, producer and member of successful R&B act Jodeci. Devante signed Sista to his Swing Mob label, and Elliott brought Mosely and Barcliff along with her. Mosely began working under Devante, who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after the Timberland boot popular in hip-hop fashion.
Sista and Timbaland & Magoo became part of Devante's stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists and groups such as male singer Ginuwine, male vocal group Playa, and girl group Sugah. Timbaland did production work on a number of projects with Devante, including the 1995 Jodeci LP The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel, and Sista's debut LP, which was shevled and never saw release.
Timbaland was also friends with Pharrell Williams, and had dabbled in projects with him as S.B.I., or Surrounded By Idiots. Pharrell recalls in an interview: "“In seventh grade I met Chad. That’s twenty years ago by now. Like I said earlier, we started producing beats together. But then again, I also played with this famous group which consisted of Timbaland, Magoo, myself and some other guy. Chad wasn’t a part of the group, so I was in The Neptunes and in Surrounded By Idiots at the same time.” A few tracks produced by the group float around on the internet, the most distributed being "Big White Spaceship".
In 1995, most of Devante's acts broke their ties with the producer and went their own ways. Elliott, Timbaland, Magoo, Playa, and Ginuwine continued to collaborate, and began working on individual projects of their own. Elliott began receiving recognition as a songwriter and guest artist for artists such as 702 and MC Lyte, and Timbaland was sometimes assigned to produce remixes of Elliott-penned songs. One of these, the remix to 702's "Steelo" in 1996, became Timbaland's first important production credit.
Also in 1996, Ginuwine released his debut album, Ginuwine...the Bachelor, which was produced entirely by Timbaland. The album was both a commercial and critical success, and its first single, "Pony," was the first example of what would later become the signature Timbaland sound.
The track for "Pony," which Timbaland had created two years prior during the Swing Mob days, was characterized by a shifting, syncopated rhythm, similar to samba or jungle music, which used snare and kick hits on typically non-accented beats in the measure. Stuttering high-hats typical of southern bass music accompanied the basic drum sounds, which were, unusual for hip-hop and R&B of this period, severely gated to create short, strong sounds. This use of the "short snare" is in marked contrast to the "long snare" sound in New Wave music in the 1980s, which featured a heavily amplified, almost white noise snare drum put through reverb. Accompanying the unusual rhythm were melody lines created by playing odd sound effects (vocal effects and cartoon slide whistles) through a sampling keyboard. The other tracks on Ginuwine...the Bachelor also featured similar production and arrangements. On many of the tracks, Timbaland can be heard either rapping or providing ad-libs, similar to what both Elliott and Puff Daddy where doing at the time; Timbaland's deep voice was usually vocoded to give it an electronic sound.
While work was being completed on Ginuwine...the Bachelor, R&B artist Aaliyah contracted Timbaland and Missy Elliott to write and produce most of her second album, One In A Million. The tracks that were crafted for Aaliyah featured innovative arrangements similar to those on Ginuwine...the Bachelor. One In A Million went on to sell over two million copies, and made superstars out of not only Aaliyah, but Elliott and Timbaland as well.
Elliott and Timbaland became one of the most successful and prolific songwriting/production teams of the late-1990s. By the end of the decade, Timbaland's sound had been heard in records from artists such as SWV, Destiny's Child, Nicole Wray, Jay-Z, Nas. Most of his production work during this period was reserved for his original stable of collaborators: two Missy Elliott albums (Supa Dupa Fly and Da Real World), a second effort by Ginuwine (100% Ginuwine), and Playa's debut album (Cheers 2 U). Timbaland produced much (if not all) of the material on many of their albums during this period, and also made two albums of his own: one with Magoo, and one solo album. Timbaland's own raps, which were usually ghostwritten by Elliott, Magoo, or his younger brother Garland Mosley (AKA Sebastian), were almost always accompanied by other MCs, including his main collaborators and numerous guest artists.
Timbaland spawned a plethora of imitators, some of which went as far as to sample sections of his work to create similar-sounding tracks. The popularity of the "Timbaland sound" marked a shift in hip-hop music from rougher, sample-based tracks to simpler, more synthetic musical accompainiment (unlike many hip-hop producers, Timbaland rarely sampled older records; most of his tracks were crafted by him and his in-house band). Since Timbaland worked in both hip-hop and R&B and often combined elements of one in tracks for the other, his work aided the blending together of the two genres, which became less and less distinct during the first half of the 2000s.
Foreign, especially Asian, instrumentation is present through much of his early work (Xscape's "My Secret" remix, especially, with a rollicking 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'" (1999), which borrowed directly from the song "Khosara" by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi. Missy Elliott's 2001 hit single, "Get Ur Freak On" from her third album, Miss E...So Addictive, was also likewise a smash, using a speedy dhol drumline typical of Bhangra. His borrowing from these cultures has resulted in mixed reactions, with many critics embracing his musical adventurousness and eclecticism and more esoteric, purist factions reacting catiously, and sometimes negatively. In an interview with Missy Elliott in RayGun Magazine, he mentioned a diverse base of influences, from UK Drum 'N Bass to Garage.
Timbaland-produced songs such as Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)," Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito," Petey Pablo's "Raise Up," and Beck's "Diamond Dogs" were recorded and released during this period, and he contributed to Limp Bizkit's 2001 remix album, New Old Songs. He also contributed three songs--all eventually released as singles--to Aaliyah's self-titled third album.
Timbaland & Magoo's second album together, Indecent Proposal, had been scheduled for release in November 2000, and was to feature appearances by Beck, Aaliyah, and new Timbaland proteges--some of whom were signed to his new Beat Club Records imprint--Ms. Jade, Sebastian, Petey Pablo, and Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed until for an entire year, finally being released the following November, and was a commercial disappointment. Beck's vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the final released version, which instead featured Timbaland singing alongside Static (Steven Garrett) of Playa and Aaliyah, who had been killed in a plane crash three months before the release of the album. The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland, whose work was less omnipresent after 2001.
The first release on Beat Club was the debut album by Caucasian MC Bubba Sparxxx in October 2002, Dark Days, Bright Nights. Timbaland contributed three tracks to Tweet's debut album, Southern Hummingbird, and produced most of Missy Elliott's fourth and fifth LPs, Under Construction and This Is Not A Test! He also produced hit singles and album tracks for artists such as Li'l Kim ("The Jump Off") and Pastor Troy during this period. Collaborating with Scott Storch, Timbaland also produced a number of tracks on former *NSYNC lead singer Justin Timberlake's solo debut, Justified, including the hit single "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 continues to produce hit singles and albums for artists; in 2004 Timbaland-produced singles by LL Cool J, Xzibit, and Jay-Z became staples on urban radio, and he produced the bulk of Brandy's fourth album, Afrodisiac. New songs from artists such as Tweet and The Game are set for release in 2005.
2005 saw Timbaland producing a song on Tweet and The Game's albums ("Steer" and "Put You on The Game" respectively). He also produced 2 songs on Missy Elliott's 6th album (The Cookbook), "Joy" featuring Mike Jones and "Partytime."
Timbaland started his new label, Mosely Music Group, once again under Interscope. On the label are singers Nelly Furtado and Keri Hilson, and rapper D.O.E. Timbaland's parternship and mentorship of upcoming producer Nate "Danjahandz" Hills is evident in Timbaland's rejuvination in music.
Furtado looks to have her third album, Loose, released under MMG with in the first half of 2006 with Hilson's debut following shortly after. Timbaland is also slated to work with Justin Timberlake, Hilary Duff as well as albums by Jamie Foxx, JC Chasez, Busta Rhymes, Diddy, Ludacris, Chingy, Chilli of TLC, Tweet, and a lot more.
In 2006, Timbaland produced songs "Promiscuous" "My love" and "Sexyback" topped the charts for over fourteen weeks. In 2007, the tracks "Say It Right" and "What Goes Around" also topped the charts. The year 2007 also saw the release of his album "Timbaland presents Shock Value" which featured Fall Out Boy, The Hives, Elton John, Nicole Scherzinger, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliot, Sebastian (his brother), Keri Hilson, Money, Attitude, and Jim Beanz.
Bringin' It
Timbaland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yo yo yo yo yo yo
Ha ha
It ain't over baby
It don't stop like dat dat dat datdat dat
Wah-kump
Dat datdat dat
Wah-kump, wah-kump
Wah-kump
Come on
One question,
Who be the thug that y'all love most?
Or give a toast to this freestyle drug dose
The thug muscle
So whistle if you hear clear
Gon' get you close and yous a dead man like last year
See most fear
The marvelous, alias
You dare discuss and get yo muthafuckin' head crushed
These slugs bust the most wanted when they just appointed
I stomp dogs and leave em froze because you know you fronted
Too many MC's not clearly on this hype tip
I'll fuck yo mic and catch you later on some snipe shit
Extended clips I represent because my thugs trip
Easy boy, I'm stompin' corners where them drugs flip
Ali Baba snakin' lakin' trustin' north shit
You catch a grip or leave a don to climb the night hits
It's mob official
You test I'll leave you knock-knissued
Bandaged up like a snitch 'cause I ain't fuckin' with you
Straight up, we bringin' it
What y'all, huh huh, V-A
Know about this
What y'all in Hampton, huh huh
Know about this
What y'all in p-town
Know about this
What y'all in Hoviay
Know about this
Check it out
I'm ya p-town hit man
I'll make ya shit man
Pay my stick man to do my dirt
I'm filthy rich man
My thugs always hang around the top dog of all dogs
Make em pick locks and spit glocks until you shit rocks
I told you that I'm project strong
You took me wrong and learned that thorough cats don't last long
Alias the Don
I leave it messy like I'm Joseph Pesci
Don't fuck around, you ever test me and you'll have to wet me
I'm ghetto fabulous
The mob crush the Lord just, never be discussed
When there's dirt involved, niggas leave the mouth closed to hush
I rush club scenes like, "What?"
Always carryin' the bust
The reason why, these niggas that ruck ain't had enough
I hate to peel ya cabbage back, or bitch-slap
'Cause otherwise you wouldn't quit that, to kidnap
So what I'm sayin' is, everybody's real within the game
Alias be the fame, so you don't know my name, nigga what
What y'all V-A
Know about this
What y'all in Hampton, what
Know about this
What y'all in Nomo
Know about this
What y'all in Chesapeake
Know about this
Bring it boy
See I told y'all motherfuckers that my clique roll deep
AK's and street sweeps gunnin' down in ya peeps
44's and Calico, Pretty Ricky and Low
Thugs know
The real on how I let shit go
But if it's real, my niggas hold a forty and fill
Mass grills, body armor, niggas trained to kill
I'm at the point of no return, so I let shells spill
Vinny Rush, Crazy JJ and Mush must chill
And Killa K and Johnny Hesh steady aimin' that steel
Shit's for real, my nigga P and Mike might peel
They get the gats and crazy stuff my brother love the ghetto tugs
And set on top of niggas what let's straight wet the party up
ESP was in the cut my rootin black, pull it up
Is that enough?
Y'all niggas still fail to call my bluff?
And yet I told you, when left back can't nobody knows you
I suppose you
Woulda kept your mouth closed like I told you
What y'all in V-A
Know about this- I told you
What y'all in Nomo, what
Know about this, what
The lyrics to Timbaland's song "Bringin' It" are filled with aggressive and boastful language that can be interpreted as a warning to anyone who dares to confront the singer. The song opens with several "Yo yo yo yo" and "ha ha's," suggesting a sense of confidence and enjoyment in what is to come. The singer asks "One question, who be the thug that y'all love most?" indicating that they consider themselves to be a respected figure in the world of gangsta rap. He goes on to describe himself as a "thug muscle" who can easily take out anyone who opposes him. Throughout the song, the singer uses violent imagery and threatening language to reinforce his point that he is not to be trifled with.
The lyrics to "Bringin' It" can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on the listener's perspective. Some may view them as a celebration of gangsta culture, while others may see them as a critique of the violence and aggression that is often associated with this genre of music. Regardless of how one interprets the lyrics, there is no denying that they are powerful and provocative, and that they have helped to make Timbaland one of the most respected and influential rap artists of his generation.
Line by Line Meaning
One question,
Timbaland asks a rhetorical question, indicating that he's about to make a statement.
Who be the thug that y'all love most?
Timbaland inquires about who is the most acclaimed thug that the audience loves.
Or give a toast to this freestyle drug dose
Timbaland makes a reference to the drug-induced culture prevalent in music.
The thug muscle
Timbaland refers to the tough guy persona of rappers.
So whistle if you hear clear
Timbaland asks the audience to pay attention and listen attentively.
Gon' get you close and yous a dead man like last year
Timbaland warns his opponents that they'll lose for sure if they get too close to him.
See most fear
Timbaland implies that most people are afraid of him.
The marvelous, alias
Timbaland gives himself a clever nickname, underscoring his superior intellect and abilities.
You dare discuss and get yo muthafuckin' head crushed
Timbaland threatens anyone who dares to try and confront him.
These slugs bust the most wanted when they just appointed
Timbaland boasts that he can even take out the most wanted gangsters with ease.
I stomp dogs and leave em froze because you know you fronted
Timbaland says he intimidates those that try to oppose him.
Too many MC's not clearly on this hype tip
Timbaland criticizes rappers for being too focused on creating hype and not enough on their music.
I'll fuck yo mic and catch you later on some snipe shit
Timbaland is confident that he's better than other rappers and intends to prove it.
Extended clips I represent because my thugs trip
Timbaland represents those who engage in criminal activities or behave like thugs.
Easy boy, I'm stompin' corners where them drugs flip
Timbaland asserts his dominance in the drug world, letting others know that he's running the drug trade.
Ali Baba snakin' lakin' trustin' north shit
Timbaland makes a reference to Ali Baba to imply that he's also a sly and cunning leader.
You catch a grip or leave a don to climb the night hits
Timbaland is telling his rivals to get in line or risk getting killed.
It's mob official
Timbaland is asserting that he's officially in charge of the gang.
You test I'll leave you knock-knissued
Timbaland assures anyone who tests him that he will make them regret it.
Bandaged up like a snitch 'cause I ain't fuckin' with you
Timbaland will cause severe damage to anyone who messes with him.
Straight up, we bringin' it
Timbaland declares that he's going to deliver his best performance.
See I told y'all motherfuckers that my clique roll deep
Timbaland says that he's got a large and powerful entourage with him.
AK's and street sweeps gunnin' down in ya peeps
Timbaland's gang is armed with heavy weaponry and won't hesitate to use it.
44's and Calico, Pretty Ricky and Low
Timbaland's gang has access to various handguns and their names reflect the type of gun they carry.
Thugs know
Timbaland is referring to other gang members who know what he and his group are capable of.
The real on how I let shit go
Timbaland reveals he's a dangerous man who has a reputation for getting even.
But if it's real, my niggas hold a forty and fill
Timbaland assures his comrades that they will defend themselves if things get out of hand.
Mass grills, body armor, niggas trained to kill
Timbaland and his associates have equipped themselves with protective gear to deal with any situation.
I'm at the point of no return, so I let shells spill
Timbaland is so deep in the game that he cannot back down now.
Vinny Rush, Crazy JJ and Mush must chill
Timbaland is calling out to his comrades to remain calm and not provoke more problems.
And Killa K and Johnny Hesh steady aimin' that steel
Two members of Timbaland's gang, Killa K and Johnny Hesh, are ready to use their guns.
Shit's for real, my nigga P and Mike might peel
Timbaland's partners, P and Mike, are also ready to use their weapons.
They get the gats and crazy stuff my brother love the ghetto tugs
Timbaland's brother and his friends are also prepared for a violent confrontation.
And set on top of niggas what let's straight wet the party up
Timbaland and his gang will absolutely ruin anyone who opposes them.
ESP was in the cut my rootin black, pull it up
ESP, a partner, is ready in the background, ready to act if Timbaland requires his help.
Is that enough?
After all his boasting, Timbaland challenges anyone who doubts his skills.
Y'all niggas still fail to call my bluff?
Timbaland is confident that nobody will dare to challenge him directly.
And yet I told you, when left back can't nobody knows you
Timbaland says that anyone who goes against him will never be known or remembered.
I suppose you
Timbaland is challenging anyone who he considers an opponent.
Woulda kept your mouth closed like I told you
Timbaland is suggesting that anyone who speaks against him will face dire consequences.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CARL MITCHELL, CARL TERRELL MITCHELL, TIMOTHY MOSLEY, TIMOTHY Z. MOSLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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