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.
Insane
timbaLand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ahh! Whoa! Feel it? Ugh!
This here is one of those joints you just ride out
Get your thoughts together
"GG" talk to me
[Candice "Gg" Nelson]
I like you 'cause you are above average
But I like to correct your bad habits
'cause I want to make you an honest man
[Timbaland]
Huh! I got some precise questions bout my past life
Wondering why we so close to buildings on this last flight
Pray at night and keep my "Run" posted by the door
DMC above like Jason falling to the floor
My mind can carry of a picture perfect
Of my Aunt Mary
Her face in the mirror like she wasn't burried
I drink Hypnotiq let my conscience go (go)
[Magoo]
Tim you need to take it slow (slow)
[Timbaland]
These endless songs got me waking up in cold sweats
What gets the real time wondering where Aaliyah at
I got a wife that watch another girl give me neck
Fix my lunch with plastic wrap up on my pita bread
I'll bite my tongue but she's so outspoken
To that box of Saran bust her head wide open
Handcuffs open my fists go up for Eminem
And when he's walking out his courtcase
I'll be walking in
[Chorus]
I know you're safe (Whoooooo)
You're gonna stay (Whoooooo)
But your mind could change (Whoooooo)
I'm going insane (Whoooooo)
I'm going crazy!
[Repeat]
[Magoo]
You know them days when you troubled inside
All you think about fuck paying bills
You ignore em' you gone drink it out
That's the way that I feel as I am writing this
Sit back roll up a blunt take some delight in this
You been invited to a piece of my sanity
And vanity is absent does that weaken the man in me
My fantasy on side man reality bites
Who can't believe all these rappers let alone what he writes
I wasn't forced to lie to why'all but I did
I don't own a plane or yacht or eat squid but
I'm entertaining there will be no explaining
I'm criticized for having fun
Killings more enovating they say
But anyway however ignorance chooses food
It's rude to tell you how you have been screwed
And I'm a part of the problem
And its racking my brain
Excuse me miss I'm half fool half insane
[Chorus]
[Timbaland]
I can't believe that the world is so cold
That's why I keep a runny nose
And I wish my problems would go (Oh)
People don't know me
People don't ask me no questions
Bris Sparky D was an injustice
The greatest rappers man suffered depressions
So I'm signing niggas while Whodini's taking the publishing
My mind state is like the crime rate
A high percentage of your royalties is in my bank
New artists when you're trying to break
I'm prewarning you before you even hand me your tape (Let's go!)
[Chorus]
The song Insane by Timbaland begins with a narrator's introduction of the track as one to ride out with, setting the tone for the introspective lyrics that follow. The song's chorus speaks to a mental instability that the singer is experiencing, with repetitive chants of "I'm going insane" and "I'm going crazy." Candice Nelson's verse speaks to a female's desire to fix her partner's bad habits and make him an honest man, which could also represent the idea of self-improvement in this context.
Timbaland's verse delves into his thought process, questioning his past and the people in his life, while also referencing artist DMC, who he looks up to. Magoo's verse explores similar themes, with a focus on the struggles of fame and the pressure to maintain an image. The song's bridge discusses societal issues such as the coldness of the world, the struggle for recognition within the music industry, and the often-unseen mental health struggles of artists.
Overall, the song Insane can be interpreted as a reflection on self-exploration and the struggles that come with trying to maintain a sense of normalcy and stability amidst chaos and external pressures.
Line by Line Meaning
Ahh! Whoa! Feel it? Ugh!
This song is intense and you can feel it
This here is one of those joints you just ride out
This song is one that you just keep playing without stopping
Get your thoughts together
Take a moment to clear your mind and focus
"GG" talk to me
Candice is going to speak now
I like you 'cause you are above average
I like you because you stand out from others
So I might do things you don't understand
I may do things you don't expect or approve of
But I like to correct your bad habits
I want to help you become a better person by fixing your flaws
'cause I want to make you an honest man
I want you to be truthful and trustworthy
Huh! I got some precise questions bout my past life
I have some specific questions about my past
Wondering why we so close to buildings on this last flight
I am questioning why we are flying so close to buildings
Pray at night and keep my "Run" posted by the door
I pray at night and keep my "Run" shoes close by in case I need to escape danger
DMC above like Jason falling to the floor
I am making a reference to DMC from Run DMC, as if he were falling to the floor in shock
My mind can carry of a picture perfect
My imagination can create a perfect image
Of my Aunt Mary
The image is of my Aunt Mary
Her face in the mirror like she wasn't burried
I see my Aunt Mary's face in the mirror, as if she were still alive
I drink Hypnotiq let my conscience go (go)
I drink Hypnotiq to escape my worries
Tim you need to take it slow (slow)
Magoo is telling me to slow down and relax
These endless songs got me waking up in cold sweats
My endless work on music is causing me to have nightmares
What gets the real time wondering where Aaliyah at
I am thinking about the late singer Aaliyah and wondering where she is now
I got a wife that watch another girl give me neck
My wife is watching another woman give me oral sex
Fix my lunch with plastic wrap up on my pita bread
My wife packs my lunch with plastic wrap on the pita bread
I'll bite my tongue but she's so outspoken
I keep quiet but my wife speaks her mind
To that box of Saran bust her head wide open
I want to hit my wife with a box of Saran Wrap to shut her up
Handcuffs open my fists go up for Eminem
I raise my fists in support of Eminem, as if I were in handcuffs
And when he's walking out his courtcase
I imagine Eminem walking out of the courtroom after a legal case
I'll be walking in
I'll be entering the courtroom for my own legal case
I know you're safe (Whoooooo)
I know that you're secure
You're gonna stay (Whoooooo)
You're going to stick around
But your mind could change (Whoooooo)
But your thoughts could shift
I'm going insane (Whoooooo)
I'm losing my mind
I'm going crazy!
I'm becoming unhinged
You know them days when you troubled inside
You know those days when you feel troubled inside
All you think about fuck paying bills
All you can think about is not paying your bills
You ignore em' you gone drink it out
You ignore your problems and resort to drinking
That's the way that I feel as I am writing this
That's how I feel as I write these lyrics
Sit back roll up a blunt take some delight in this
Relax and smoke a blunt while enjoying this moment
You been invited to a piece of my sanity
I'm inviting you to share a piece of my sanity
And vanity is absent does that weaken the man in me
I am not concerned with vanity; does that make me weak?
My fantasy on side man reality bites
My dreams and desires are one thing, but reality can be harsh
Who can't believe all these rappers let alone what he writes
Some people can't believe that rappers say, let alone write, the things they do
I wasn't forced to lie to why'all but I did
I wasn't required to lie, but I did it anyway
I don't own a plane or yacht or eat squid but
I don't have a private plane, yacht, or eat squid like some other wealthy people do, but
I'm entertaining there will be no explaining
I am entertaining, and I don't need to explain myself
I'm criticized for having fun
People criticize me for enjoying myself
Killings more enovating they say
They claim that murder is more innovative than what I do
But anyway however ignorance chooses food
Anyway, ignorance chooses what it wants to believe
It's rude to tell you how you have been screwed
It's impolite to tell you how you've been cheated or wronged
And I'm a part of the problem
I acknowledge that I am part of the issue
And its racking my brain
That realization is bothering me
Excuse me miss I'm half fool half insane
I'm apologizing for my own craziness
I can't believe that the world is so cold
I am shocked at how harsh the world can be
That's why I keep a runny nose
That's why I constantly have a cold
And I wish my problems would go (Oh)
I wish my issues would just disappear
People don't know me
People don't truly understand who I am
People don't ask me no questions
People don't usually inquire about me
Bris Sparky D was an injustice
The death of Bris Sparky D was unfair
The greatest rappers man suffered depressions
Even the best rappers can struggle with mental illness
So I'm signing niggas while Whodini's taking the publishing
I'm signing new artists while Whodini takes care of the publishing rights
My mind state is like the crime rate
I am constantly thinking about crime and violence
A high percentage of your royalties is in my bank
A significant portion of your income is going into my bank account
New artists when you're trying to break
When you're a new artist trying to get started
I'm prewarning you before you even hand me your tape (Let's go!)
I'm warning you in advance before you give me your music
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELVIN LEE BARCLIFF, WALTER WORTH MILSAP, G. MOSLEY, TIMOTHY Z MOSLEY, CANDICE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@KRAWofficial
R.I.P. Magoo 🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊
@JulianMaea
I bump this one all the time. Sonic sound. No date.
@mjfreaklove
I love the instrumental and her voice...
@coreyfreeman4663
One of the best sounding, chill, deep, sexiest songs of all-time.
@lledo1984
@coreyfreeman4663 YES!!!! THE VIBE, THE MOOD, JUST SENSUAL ALL AROUND
@amanditaricisima8739
Still bumpin in 2023
@blackpixels
2022... Reload... 🔥🔥🔥
@adrenna1973
Still hot joint!
@bozzybuzz4042
This makes me just......chilllll n reminesce
@DRTY3RD
If you listen very closely at Magoo's verse on this track, the one that precedes this on the album, "Hold On", the first single "Cop That ****", and even going back to Indecent Proposal on his verse on "All Y'all", you can hear snippets of his dissatisfaction and thus disdain for the music business, not to mention his awareness of the rep his music garnered. (Check the bar: "I'm entertaining there can be no explaining/I'm criticized for having fun killing's more innovating they say/but anyway..." don't kid yourself; that composition was as nice as they come.)
You can also hear, if you listen technically, just how skilled he really was in putting his lines together (as in the example above). I can completely believe that he he chose the "serious rapper" lane that he could have outdone a good number of rappers out there--but he chose the "fun" lane as a business decision to make money (and bcuz his voice sounded too similar to Q-Tip's, which of course he couldn't control).