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.
Feel It
timbaLand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What? Can y'all feel this?
What? Can y'all feel this?
What? Can y'all feel this?
Ooh Snap!
My head throbbin
As I ride in my 3-4-8 mobbin
Listen to the buddha brothers
Playin' my favorite jams
On 1-0-3 Jams
I got my man Big D, Big Rodney
In case somebody want to rob me
We going to Military Circle (echo Circle)
Virginia's tight that's why they gotta keep a curfew (echo curfew)
It's time to get something to eat
Oh snap, there's my man Kumbalee
And my girl Missy
Who she role wit? Who she be wit? Who she role wit? Who she be wit?
Total, Da Brat, Lil Kim, Lil Cease and Puffy
Can I get a ride?
Tonight, tonight
Can I get a ride?
Tonight, tonight
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
What?
Yeah, yeah
What?
Yeah, yeah
Can you feel me baby?
Yeah, yeah
Can you feel me?
Jimmy D turn my scale up
Give me that boom da boom whaeeeeeeerrrrr
It's time to change my style, my rhythm, my ism, my prism, my beat mannerism
Gee, where's my lack of fear?
My five-thousand and one gear, Missy baby you oughtta hear
Like next year, your album bigger each day
It rolls like a queen size waterbad, uh
The people in the label's chillin'
As Timbaland is making a big killin'
What? Uh What? Uh
Of money baby
Check it out
What?
I can feel it
Can you feel it?
Throw your hands up
Timbaland and Maganoo
Yeah
Oh, I'm on my last verse
As you can see I did not curse
I'm trying to make it radio friendly, uh
So people in America can hear me, uh
To all beautiful boys and girls
White, diamonds and pearls, no Jerry curls, uh
I hope you buy our tape
Please don't hesitate, don't hesitate
What?
Can you feel it groovin on through?
Let the feeling get next to you
Can you feel it groovin on through?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
The lyrics to Timbaland and Magoo's "Feel It" take the listener on a journey through a night out with the duo, their friends, and some notable celebrities. They begin by setting the scene, with Timbaland riding in his car while listening to the radio station 103 Jams, and riding with some friends in case someone wants to rob them. They then mention heading to Military Circle in Virginia, where they run into Missy Elliott and her crew, Total, Da Brat, Lil Kim, Lil Cease, and Puffy. They ask for a ride and repeat the chorus, "can I get a ride, tonight, tonight."
The second half of the song focuses more on Timbaland's career and success, with references to Missy Elliott's music and his own financial success. He hopes that listeners will buy their tape and not hesitate. The song ends with the repeated chorus of "can you feel it?" encouraging listeners to feel the music and enjoy the ride.
Overall, "Feel It" is a fun and upbeat song that transports the listener to a night out with Timbaland and Magoo. The lyrics showcase their love for music, their friends, and their desire to share their work with the world.
Line by Line Meaning
What? Can y'all feel this?
Asking the listeners if they can sense the energy and vibe of the music.
Ooh Snap!
Exclamation of excitement or surprise.
My head throbbin
As I ride in my 3-4-8 mobbin
Listen to the buddha brothers
6 to 10 there ain't no other
Describing a scene where the artist is driving in their car, listening to their favorite radio station, Buddha Brothers, with a specific time slot of 6 to 10 PM.
Playin' my favorite jams
On 1-0-3 Jams
I got my man Big D, Big Rodney
In case somebody want to rob me
Sharing the artist's love for their favorite radio station and being prepared for any danger that might come their way with the company of his friends.
We going to Military Circle (echo Circle)
Virginia's tight that's why they gotta keep a curfew (echo curfew)
It's time to get something to eat
Announcing the destination for the night, Military Circle, and commenting on the town's strict curfew along with expressing the need for some food.
Oh snap, there's my man Kumbalee
And my girl Missy
Who she role wit? Who she be wit? Who she role wit? Who she be wit?
Total, Da Brat, Lil Kim, Lil Cease and Puffy
Can I get a ride?
Tonight, tonight
Can I get a ride?
Tonight, tonight
Spotting friends Kumbalee and Missy, and inquiring about the company they are with, and requesting a ride to the next party.
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel it
Repetition of the phrase 'I can feel it,' suggesting that the artist is in tune with the music and feeling the beat.
What?
Yeah, yeah
What?
Yeah, yeah
Can you feel me baby?
Yeah, yeah
Can you feel me?
Sampling the question from earlier, followed by an affirmation of one's connection to the music, and a question to the listeners to see if they share the same feeling.
Jimmy D turn my scale up
Give me that boom da boom whaeeeeeeerrrrr
It's time to change my style, my rhythm, my ism, my prism, my beat mannerism
Gee, where's my lack of fear?
The artist requesting to turn up the music and experimenting with different sounds and rhythms to create a unique music style.
My five-thousand and one gear, Missy baby you oughtta hear
Like next year, your album bigger each day
It rolls like a queen size waterbad, uh
The people in the label's chillin'
As Timbaland is making a big killin'
What? Uh What? Uh
Of money baby
Check it out
Introducing the topic of success and how the artist and their friends are generating a lot of money, and ends with the famous line 'What? Uh What? Uh,' before changing the topic.
Oh, I'm on my last verse
As you can see I did not curse
I'm trying to make it radio friendly, uh
So people in America can hear me, uh
Announcing the final verse of the song while highlighting the effort to keep the lyrics radio-friendly for a more extensive audience in America.
To all beautiful boys and girls
White, diamonds and pearls, no Jerry curls, uh
I hope you buy our tape
Please don't hesitate, don't hesitate
What?
Addressing the song listeners with a message to all people regardless of color or ethnicity and asking them to support their music by buying their tape.
Can you feel it groovin on through?
Let the feeling get next to you
Can you feel it groovin on through?
Repeating the phrase 'Can you feel it?' and encouraging the listeners to let the music take over and create a vibe and a sense of connection.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELVIN BARCLIFF, TIMOTHY N MOSLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Soundboy817
This 1997 era of timbo produced tracks was classic that sound is just irreplaceable
@eny4life718
+Sambo187 facts
@samwoods3430
I cosign that motion
@Dee_Nice89
@Sam Woods Timbo's beats stay slamming frfr
@justinirwin9359
You said it! Irreplaceable!!!!!
@Bl1stson
Facts
@francisochaya5672
Never got anyone better than Timberland in beats. His work never dies
@ig3ntl3man3
As a kid this CD just popped up in my crib outta nowhere #ThankYouRapGod🙏
@froey198033
this is why timbo is the best producer in the game, he's a real super-producer.
@terrencem.9954
Tim and the Neptunes' sounds were ahead of their time