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.
Give It 2 Me
Timbaland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't know what you're looking for
Oh, yeah, boy
C'mon
I'm the type of girl that'll look you dead in the eye, eye
I'm real as it comes, if you don't know why I'm fly
I seen ya try to switch it up, but, girl, you ain't got to
I'm a supermodel, and, mami, si mami
Amnesty International, got Bangkok to Montauk on lock
Love my ass, and my abs in the video called Promiscuous
My style is re-dic-dic-diculous, 'ulous, 'ulous
If you see us in the club, we'll be acting real nice
If you see us on the floor, you'll be watchin' all night
We ain't here to hurt nobody
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
Wanna see you work your body
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
When Timbo is in the party, everybody put up they hands
I get a half a mil' for my beats, you get a couple grand
Never gon' see the day that I ain't got the upper hand
I'm respected from Californ-I-A way down to Japan
I'm a real producer, and you just a piano man
Your song gon' top the charts, I heard 'em, I'm not a fan
Niggas talkin' greasy, I'm the one that gave them they chance
Somebody need to tell 'em that they can't do it like I can
If you see us in the club, we'll be acting real nice
If you see us on the floor, you'll be watchin' all night
We ain't here to hurt nobody
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
Wanna see you work your body
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
Could you speak up and stop mu-mumbling?
I don't think you came in clear
When you're sitting on the top, it's hard to hear you from way up here
Now I saw you tryna act cute on TV, just let me clear the air
We missed you on the charts last week
Damn, that's right, you wasn't there
Now if se-sexy never left, then why's everybody on my shit?
Don't hate on me just because you didn't come up with it
So if you see us in the club, go on and walk the other way
'Cause our run would never be over, not at least until we say
If you see us in the club, we'll be acting real nice
If you see us on the floor, you'll be watchin' all night
We ain't here to hurt nobody
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
Wanna see you work your body
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
Club, we'll be acting real nice
If you see us on the floor, you'll be watchin' all night
We ain't here to hurt nobody
So give it to me, give it to me, give it to me
In Timbaland’s song “Give It To Me,” featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, the lyrics declare the artists’ success and their intention to keep pushing forward. The first verse by Timbaland talks about how he has what people want, but they have to act quickly to get it. He compares himself to a drug dealer, creating a sense of addictive desire in the listener. The verse also mentions how great of a producer he is, able to create hits no matter the tempo or style of music. He also name-drops his hometown of Virginia Beach, telling people to come to him if they want to make a number one hit.
The chorus of the song reminds listeners that Timbaland and his crew are on top of the game and have been for a while. They give their music to listeners freely but are also aware that some people criticize them for being repetitive or unoriginal. The final verse by Timberlake is more of a bragging verse, where he talks about how he has made a lot of money in the music industry and how he is not afraid to speak his mind. He also makes a reference to the late Notorious B.I.G. and how he walks in his footsteps with confidence.
Overall, the song is a celebration of the artists’ successes and their determination to keep making hit music, no matter who tries to criticize them.
Line by Line Meaning
How you want it I got it
I have what you need, tell me how you want it.
A minute or so
It won't take long for me to provide what you need.
I'm like a drug dealer
I have something addictive, and you keep coming back for more.
Come and get it then go
Take what I have and make it work for you, then move on.
Get it get it girl get it on the floor
Take what I have and use it to dance or perform.
I got that good what I give ya going go
What I provide is of high quality and will help you succeed.
Whether you rhyme slow or the beat fast
No matter your style or pace, I can work with you.
I beat the breaks off the beat pad
My beats are so good, they take over and control the rhythm.
Them hoes like "Timbo, he's bad"
People recognize my talent and skill in producing music.
Chat up your lookin' off your knee pad
Stop admiring me so much and focus on your own work.
VA Beach the best that I could be reached at
You can find me and my talent in VA Beach.
Want a number one hit?
I can help you create a hit song.
Bring your pen and your weed stash
Come prepared with your lyrics and creative ideas.
Quick flipping up Sexy Back
I can quickly produce a hit song like Sexy Back.
Top of the charts nigga that's where we at
My music is at the top of the charts and highly popular.
Where ya at? Boost mobile, I'm Nextel
I'm constantly on the move and always reachable.
You wear a shirt, my records sell yes sir
I'm successful in the music industry and my music speaks for itself.
We running that show all around the globe
We're dominating the music industry worldwide.
But you ain't gotta act like you know
You don't need to pretend to be familiar with our work.
It's just that every word that comes outta your mouth
You're saying things that have already been said before.
Some old bitch that we did before
Your words are unoriginal and not worth our attention.
Now I don't know if you was trying to check
I'm not sure if you're attempting to challenge us.
But did you check us at the top of the game?
Have you seen our success at the highest level of the industry?
It's us, not you, get used to it girl
We are the ones in control, not you.
Cause that shit just ain't gonna change
Our dominance in the industry is not going away anytime soon.
Shit is funny to me Timbo!
I find it amusing how others try to compete with us.
If anybody got a problem with me, y'all come get me
If anyone has an issue with me, they can confront me directly.
I ain't hiding, y'all ain't riding
I'm not afraid of confrontation and not everyone can keep up with me.
I ain't got a problem in the world nigga, thorough nigga
I'm confident and secure in myself and my abilities.
Represent the borough nigga, B.K. all day
I represent my hometown Brooklyn, NY all day.
Man up girl nigga, I don't give a fuck
Be strong and confident like a man, I don't care what others think.
Buck buck, die nigga, you ain't my nigga
Do what you want, but don't expect my loyalty or support.
Still dreaming up ways to help you niggas die quicker
I'm coming up with ways to leave my competition behind and excel.
Ha-ha, laughing all the way to the top
I'm enjoying my success and find it humorous how others try to compete with me.
Two hundred mill in cash, thirty-five mill in stock
I have a significant amount of wealth in both cash and stock.
I diddy bop like Diddy back when Biggie cock-eyes
I dance and move like Diddy did when Biggie was around.
Hypnotized the masses behind Versace glasses
I have a powerful influence over people, even while wearing Versace glasses.
Coogi sweaters, Pelle leathers
I wear high fashion designer clothes like Coogi sweaters and Pelle leathers.
I been doing this for forever, so whatever
I've been in the music industry for a long time, so I'm unbothered by others' attempts to compete with me.
However, wherever, whenever
I can make my music work in any situation or setting.
Why ever I back down never (I'll never)
I will never surrender or give up on my goals and dreams.
Actions speak louder than words
What I do is more important than what I say.
You ain't heard it from me I'm a motherfucking verb
I don't need to say anything, my actions speak for themselves.
Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, Universal Music Publishing Group, ANTHEM ENTERTAINMENT LP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Floyd Nathaniel Hills, Justin R. Timberlake, Nelly Kim Furtado, Timothy Clayton, Timothy Z. Mosley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@BrotherNero777
Damn this trio was something else. Hits after Hits
@ducosales7053
i knoww they are so click and fit each other
@cristalledbetter
Same with him and Aaliyah yo😭
@sanctifymusiitwa9885
@@Cytoplasm4508 what do you mean that they fell apart?...they don't like each other now or was it an amicable split?
@robertbrown7023
If big never went 2 Cali in '97 all 3 o dem would b ft.'z on dis joint
@yamanibryant-mccray2243
Yes 🔥
@Bix25
once this world belonged to Nelly Furtado and Timbaland .
@cassiusclayreels
"Say it right" topped the charts for weeks, didn't it? 🔥🔥
@coralineparmentierpianist
@@cassiusclayreels don't forget Promiscuous
@silviarom465
Fr they were such an amazing team