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.
Man Undercover
Timbaland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Say what
You look good
(say it two times)
You look good good
(say it three times)
You look good good good
(say it four times)
[Aaliyah]
I, I, like the way, way, you get down, down
(that's the way I like it)
You're the kinda guy
That makes mom feel proud
Don't have to show you're the boy, oh
I, I, like you the way that you are
[Chorus:]
I like my man undercover
Smooth dark brotha
Fly to the bone
You don't need no fly jeep
To come and scoop me
You can drive what you own
(that's the way I like it)
A man undercover
Smooth black brotha
Fly to the bone
Don't need no Gucci sweater
To make you look better
You can wear what you own
[Aaliyah]
I, I, love, love the way that you smile, smile
You, you the type of guy
That got his own style
All I want to do is be with you
You, you got me feelin'
The way that I do
[Chorus:]
Bridge:
[Aaliyah] and (Missy)
Say what
You look good
(say it two times)
You look good good
(say it three times)
You look good good good
(say it four times)
Oh oh oh oh good
[Timbaland]
We be freakin' up in my jeep (my jeep)
Listenin' to this phat LP (LP)
Lets cruise around the town (the town)
I'm diggin' you are you diggin' me
Lets hop on my holiday (holiday)
That costs about 20K (20K)
What it takes me to persuade (persuade)
Turn ten night in to day (to day)
I never seen a girl (a girl)
Who hypnotize like you (like you)
Who walk just like you (like you)
Who talk just like you (like you)
I want to be your lover (your lover)
That ill type brotha (brotha)
Baby girl baby girl (baby girl)
We can keep it undercover
[Chorus]
The song "Man Undercover" by Timbaland and Magoo featuring Aaliyah is a smooth and upbeat R&B track that talks about the qualities of the perfect man. Aaliyah sings in her signature angelic tones about her love for a man who doesn't need to show off his wealth, but rather embraces his unique style and personality. She praises him for his smoothness and confidence, and appreciates his ability to make her feel special just by being himself. Her chorus emphasizes the importance of a man who doesn't try too hard to impress, but just knows how to be himself and let his true colors shine.
In the bridge, Aaliyah and Missy Elliott provide some playful ad-libs that enhance the already lively and fun vibe of the song. Timbaland's verse brings a new element into the mix, as he raps about cruising around town in his jeep with his girl and being impressed by her hypnotizing presence. He too, like Aaliyah, values authenticity over the facade of wealth and status. Together, the trio creates a cohesive and entertaining song that celebrates individuality, confidence, and love in its purest form.
Line by Line Meaning
Say what
What did you say?
You look good
You appear attractive
say it two times
Repeat the previous statement twice
You look good good
You appear extremely attractive
say it three times
Repeat the previous statement three times
You look good good good
You appear exceptionally attractive
say it four times
Repeat the previous statement four times
Oh oh oh oh good
Expressing excitement and appreciation
I, I, like the way, way, you get down, down
I find your moves appealing
that's the way I like it
This is my preference
You're the kinda guy
You possess certain characteristics
That makes mom feel proud
You are the type of person my mother would approve of
Don't have to show you're the boy, oh
You don't need to prove yourself as a man
I, I, like you the way that you are
I appreciate you for who you are
I like my man undercover
I prefer a discreet partner
Smooth dark brotha
A suave man with dark skin
Fly to the bone
Extremely attractive
You don't need no fly jeep
You don't require a fancy car
To come and scoop me
To pick me up
You can drive what you own
You can use the car you possess
Don't need no Gucci sweater
You don't require luxurious clothing
To make you look better
To enhance your appearance
You can wear what you own
You can dress in clothes you possess
I, I, love, love the way that you smile, smile
I find your smile charming
You, you the type of guy
You possess certain characteristics
That got his own style
You have a unique personal flair
All I want to do is be with you
I desire to be close to you
You, you got me feelin'
You make me feel a certain way
The way that I do
Intense emotions
We be freakin' up in my jeep (my jeep)
We are engaging in sexual activity in my car
Listenin' to this phat LP (LP)
Playing this great record
Lets cruise around the town (the town)
Let's drive around together
I'm diggin' you are you diggin' me
I like you, do you like me too?
Lets hop on my holiday (holiday)
Let's go on vacation together
That costs about 20K (20K)
That costs approximately $20,000
What it takes me to persuade (persuade)
The amount of money required to convince you
Turn ten night in to day (to day)
Make the nighttime feel like daytime
I never seen a girl (a girl)
I have never seen a woman
Who hypnotize like you (like you)
Who has a captivating effect like you
Who walk just like you (like you)
Who has a similar gait as you
Who talk just like you (like you)
Who has a similar speaking style as you
I want to be your lover (your lover)
I desire to be your romantic partner
That ill type brotha (brotha)
That cool guy
Baby girl baby girl (baby girl)
Used as an affectionate term
We can keep it undercover
Let's keep our relationship discreet
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELVIN BARCLIFF, MELISSA N ELLIOTT, TIMOTHY N MOSLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind