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.
Talking On The Phone
Timbaland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wah wah wah
Yea yo yo
Wah wah wah wah
Wah wah wah wah (uh huh)
Yo yo
Wah wah wah
Introduced her to my man, they became cool (uh)
She told me that, that he loved me so (wah wah wah wah)
I shoulda known she liked him all along (yo)
They were
[Chorus]
Talking on the phone (talking on the phone)
Gotta get your own (you gotta get your own man)
Leave my man alone (and leave my man alone)
Callin' him on the phone
Don't hate a girl, cuz they too slick
They smile in my face, all on my man's (oh ficky ficky)
You don't know what, what I've been through
I get it first, then I do it
You
[Chorus]
Daa, da da (yo yo yo)
Daa, da da
Da da, da da (yo yo yo)
Daa, da da
Daa, da da (yo yo yo)
Daa, da da (yo yo yo yo)
Da da, da da (ficky ficky)
Ficky ficky ficky
S-U-P-A Fly, I'm cute
I, keep y'all bitches, chicken like soup
What y'all wan' do, I'm not that chick to talk shit
Nor I'm that chick to fuck wit'
Did you hear this?
Did you get this?
Watch Missy flip like an acrobatic
My automatic
Tongue tactic
Flows like this
Be the muthafuckin' shit
What I need right now
Is for y'all
You and Kelly
I need for y'all to
To come meet me in space
Now could y'all sing that for me again
That first verse
I trusted her, my home girl from school (yea yea)
Introduced her to my man, they became cool (uh)
She told me that, that he loved me so (wah wah wah wah)
I shoulda known she liked him all along (yo)
They were
[Chorus]
How do y'all like space? (wah wah wah wah)
Can you dig it?
Now if you like space for all my martian people out there
I need all y'all to put y'alls hand up
If you can feel me
So I need Kelly to sing the second verse for me
Don't hate a girl, 'cause they too slick
They smile in my face, all on my man's (oh ficky ficky)
You don't know what, what I've been through
I get it first, then I do it (what she doin' girl)
You
Talking on the phone (say what)
Ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone (can you feel it)
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone (say what, yea)
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone
(yea, say what, yo yo yo yo yo)
Talking on the phone
(I'm feeling quite good right now)
Talking on the phone
(but it's time for me to take my spaceship to another level)
Talking on the phone
('cause right now I don't think the world is ready for Timbaland)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone
(I'm on that next level, can you dig it)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone (can you dig it)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone (I don't think so)
Come to the light, Kelly!
The lyrics of Timbaland's "Talking on the Phone" is a story of betrayal by a friend who got in between the singer and her man. The song begins with Timbaland lamenting how she trusted her friend who went to school together and introduced her man to her friend. They quickly became close, and her "homegirl" told her that her man loved her. However, in the chorus, Timbaland expresses how her friend and man were "talking on the phone" and urges her to get her own man, leaving her alone.
In the second verse, Timbaland confronts other girls who smile to her face while trying to flirt with her man behind her back. She mentions that while she is not the girl to pick up fights, she is not also a pushover. The song ends with Timbaland telling Kelly to sing the second verse as she exits. The song paints a vivid picture of the common themes of infidelity, betrayal, and resilience in relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo yo yo yo
Timbaland commences the song with some ad-lib hype.
Wah wah wah
Timbaland's ad-lib continues, preparing for the first verse.
Yea yo yo
Timbaland's ad-lib calms down before the first verse's meaning.
Wah wah wah wah
Timbaland's ad-lib hints at potentially disappointing news.
Wah wah wah wah (uh huh)
Timbaland elaborates on the previous hint, agreeing that it's true.
Yo yo
Timbaland's ad-lib interjects before the verse continues.
Wah wah wah
Timbaland's ad-lib picks up the previous verse before the chorus begins.
I trusted her, my home girl from school (yea yea)
Timbaland shares how he trusted a female friend who he knows since school.
Introduced her to my man, they became cool (uh)
Timbaland brought his man closer to said female friend and they became friendly.
She told me that, that he loved me so (wah wah wah wah)
The female friend informed Timbaland that his man loves him a lot.
I shoulda known she liked him all along (yo)
Timbaland reflects that the female friend might have been into his man all along, as he continues sharing about other women.
They were
[Chorus]
Talking on the phone (talking on the phone)
Gotta get your own (you gotta get your own man)
Leave my man alone (and leave my man alone)
Callin' him on the phone
The chorus implies that the female friend kept calling and talking to Timbaland's man on the phone, which is causing problems in Timbaland's relationship. He advises her to get her own man and leave Timbaland's alone.
Don't hate a girl, cuz they too slick
Timbaland cautions against hating women for being too smooth or clever.
They smile in my face, all on my man's (oh ficky ficky)
He explains how women can befriend a girl to get to her man, and he uses the expression, 'ficky ficky,' which might be a mild rebuke.
You don't know what, what I've been through
Timbaland states that other people don't realize what he has gone through with women.
I get it first, then I do it
He discloses how he functions in relationships; he gets with women before his friend does.
You
[Chorus]
The chorus repeats to remind listeners of the song's theme.
Daa, da da (yo yo yo)
Timbaland interjects with an ad-lib.
Daa, da da
Timbaland's ad-lib continues.
Da da, da da (yo yo yo)
Timbaland's ad-lib shifts into another general verse meaning.
Daa, da da
Timbaland's ad-lib continues to bridge to the original verse.
Daa, da da (yo yo yo)
Timbaland's ad-lib continues.
Daa, da da (yo yo yo yo)
Timbaland's ad-lib continues with enthusiasm.
Da da, da da (ficky ficky)
Timbaland indicates who's pretending and who is not.
Ficky ficky ficky
S-U-P-A Fly, I'm cute
I, keep y'all bitches, chicken like soup
What y'all wan' do, I'm not that chick to talk shit
Nor I'm that chick to fuck wit'
Did you hear this?
Did you get this?
Watch Missy flip like an acrobatic
My automatic
Tongue tactic
Flows like this
Be the muthafuckin' shit
Missy Elliott raps about herself, emphasizing how bad she is, and how her flow is 'the muthafuckin' shit.' She also references her ability to 'flip like an acrobatic' and keep things automatic and high-flying, leaving the listeners impressed.
What I need right now
Is for y'all
You and Kelly
I need for y'all to
To come meet me in space
Now could y'all sing that for me again
That first verse
Timbaland interjects, calling for a minor break in the ongoing rhythm, with a potential personal inspiration for space travel, asking for Kelly's second verse and repeating the first verse to regroup.
How do y'all like space? (wah wah wah wah)
Can you dig it?
Timbaland asks in a playful tone how the audience likes space travel and is curious if they're vibing with the vibe.
Now if you like space for all my martian people out there
I need all y'all to put y'alls hand up
If you can feel me
He calls out to all martian fans and asks them to identify with his planetary theme by putting their hands up.
So I need Kelly to sing the second verse for me
He intros a collaborative verse from Kelly.
Don't hate a girl, 'cause they too slick
They smile in my face, all on my man's (oh ficky ficky)
You don't know what, what I've been through
I get it first, then I do it (what she doin' girl)
You
Kelly repeats a previous verse of cautioning against hating women because they could be too slick, friendly with their man, and discusses how he gets his way. The 'what she doin' girl' is less clear in context.
Talking on the phone (say what)
Ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone (can you feel it)
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone (say what, yea)
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-talking on the phone
(yea, say what, yo yo yo yo yo)
Talking on the phone
(I'm feeling quite good right now)
Talking on the phone
(but it's time for me to take my spaceship to another level)
Talking on the phone
('cause right now I don't think the world is ready for Timbaland)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone
(I'm on that next level, can you dig it)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone (can you dig it)
Ta-ta-talking on the phone (I don't think so)
The chorus repeats for emphasis, with the space-time theme maintained throughout. Timbaland claims he's on a new level that the world might not be ready for. Kelly also echoes the chorus's sentiment with confidence.
Come to the light, Kelly!
Timbaland requests Kelly to come closer or open up more, brilliantly maintaining the space theme.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Timothy Mosley, Missy Elliott
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@UnreleasedUnderratedRnBgrooves
Futuristic af! Keli Nicole Price sang her toenails off
@SalsaColombiaUS
This song goes wayyyyyyyy back!!!!!
@leehookerstein
Adore the space version!!
@eddiesykes4080
Bad ass song Ong lil moe on ten no cap 🧢
@UnreleasedUnderratedRnBgrooves
This could've been a clever B-side to the album's lead single ("Here We Come") I could see this seguing after the air blimp scene in the night sky and then just jumping to "I need all y'all to come meet me in space", hmmm... maybe add SPACE Nine (mysterious fellow V.A. female rapper) as a video remix guest. Idk, just gettin' loose with my imagination here, lol.
@DJKeytronikzTV
Your imagination is lit, I fucks with the idea 🤣🤣🤣🔥🔥🔥
@esean1367
That Fat Albert sample 🔥
@sofrshsocln4
OMFGGGGG my ear is just now hearing that he masterfully chopped and used a stab from Fat Albert Theme it mashes this beat that much more genius
@inkpen9547
Smooth catch!!! that sounds always stuck out to me, but I never paired it to the Fat Albert Theme. That's Amazing! amazing 🤩🤩🤩
@eddiesykes4080
Right I just was watching fat A on Saturday morning cartoons YouTube,
Always loved this song since the drop of album
Sounds just as good as the first time I heard it every time