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.
Morning After Dark Ft Nelly Furtado
timbaLand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll be the same when it all goes up
I'll be the same when it all goes down
Not the first one, open it up
I'll be the last one closin' it out
Don't know if I'll give you a shot yet
Lil' momma, I'm peepin' your style
One way of findin' it out
The way you came at me, boo
Don't care, not afraid I'm like wild
Really want it all head to toe
Question is she gon' let it out?
Anyway the hour glass go
I don't worry anyhow
Why don't we see where it go?
Let's figure it out
(Break it down)
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after)
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after dark)
I got a little secret for ya
I never sleep when comes the night
But everytime I snap my fingers
I switch back into the light
My moon belongs to your sun
Your fire is burning my mind
Is it love or is it lust?
Something that I just can't describe (ah)
Am I the one and only? (ah)
'Cause you're the only one (ah)
It felt so long and lonely (ah)
Waiting for you to come
It's looking bright and early
I'm willing to close my eyes
This is the unusual story
Timbo and SoShy
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after)
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after dark)
I need some R.E.M, but
I don't like sleepin' alone
So come and pick me up as
Soon as you put down the phone
I wanna get into trouble
Later you'll carry me home
I wanna go undercover
I just wanna rattle your bones
Yes I'm the one and only
But I'm not the only one
So let's work overtime
On this shift stay up with the sun
Maybe we can start a riot
Maybe we can burn this town
Maybe I'll be your vampire
We can figure it out!
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after)
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
(In the morning after)
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
(In the morning after dark)
Dark dark dark dark dark
(In the morning after dark)
Dark dark dark dark dark
(In the morning after dark)
Please don't leave me, girl
(In the morning after dark)
Please don't leave me, girl
(In the morning after dark)
When the cats come out the bats come out to play
When the cats come out the bats come out to play
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way
When the cats come out the bats come out to play
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way
The lyrics of Timbaland's song "Morning After Dark" seem to be about a man who is confident in himself and is willing to give a woman a chance despite not being certain about her yet. He is not afraid of being himself and is willing to see where the relationship goes. The chorus seems to contrast this confidence, as it talks about bats and cats coming out to play when the morning after arrives. The metaphor is suggestive of possibly regretting a hookup the night before, but the singer is not afraid of that possibility.
In the first verse, he describes himself as being the same through ups and downs and talks about being the last one out of a situation. He acknowledges that he is interested in the woman but is not sure if she is "dope" enough for him. He continues to mention an hourglass and not worrying about the future, urging her to see where their relationship can go. The pre-chorus and chorus set up a confrontational feel that would lead one to believe there may be a negative outcome to their potential relationship. The verses express the confidence and bravado of the singer, but the chorus shows an awareness of potential consequences.
The second verse describes the singer's secret love of staying up all night and the juxtaposition between that and the idea of being in love with someone. The singer speaks of the woman's fire, and that it is burning his mind. He speaks of wanting to spend time with her and being carried home. The ending of the verse reinforces the bravado of the singer and the idea that they are starting something that could be trouble.
Overall, the song has an upbeat, catchy tune with lyrics that seem to warn of potential consequences. The chorus can be interpreted as a warning that even though things may seem fun in the moment, there may be negative outcomes the morning after.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll be the same when it all goes up
No matter how high I climb in life, I will remain true to myself.
I'll be the same when it all goes down
No matter how low I fall in life, I will remain true to myself.
Not the first one, open it up
I'm not the first one to make this offer or take this risk, but I'm willing to try.
I'll be the last one closin' it out
I'll be there until the very end, making sure everything is done properly before closing it out.
Don't know if I'll give you a shot yet
I'm not sure if I'm ready to take a chance on you yet.
Lil' momma, I'm peepin' your style
I'm noticing your unique and interesting style, girl.
Do I think you're dope enough? Yup!
I think you're pretty cool and interesting.
One way of findin' it out
The only way to truly know for sure is to try it out.
The way you came at me, boo
I like the way you approached me, sweetie.
Don't care, not afraid I'm like wild
I'm fearless and unafraid of taking risks.
Really want it all head to toe
I want everything and anything you're willing to give me.
Question is she gon' let it out?
The real question is, are you willing to let it all out and give me everything?
Anyway the hour glass go
Either way time goes by, no matter what happens.
I don't worry anyhow
I'm not too worried about what happens, because I'll be okay either way.
Why don't we see where it go?
Why don't we just see where this goes, without any expectations?
Let's figure it out
Let's work through this and figure out what's going on.
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah
When things get wild and crazy, we are ready to have some fun!
(In the morning after)
After all the craziness of the night, we wake up in the morning.
The dawn is here, be gone, be on your way, yeah
It's a new day, so let's move on and go our separate ways for now.
I got a little secret for ya
I've got a secret to tell you, just between us.
I never sleep when comes the night
I don't like to sleep at night, because I don't want to miss anything.
But everytime I snap my fingers
Whenever I feel like it, I can switch back to being myself again.
I switch back into the light
I'm back to being myself, in a good place in life.
My moon belongs to your sun
I'm attracted to you because you're my opposite, but complement me perfectly.
Your fire is burning my mind
Your passion and energy are captivating my thoughts.
Is it love or is it lust?
I'm not sure if I'm in love with you, or if this is just physical attraction.
Something that I just can't describe (ah)
There's something about this connection that I can't put into words.
Am I the one and only? (ah)
Do you feel the same way about me that I feel about you?
'Cause you're the only one (ah)
You're the only one on my mind, and I can't stop thinking about you.
It felt so long and lonely (ah)
I've been waiting for someone like you for a long time, and it's been lonely without you.
Waiting for you to come
I'm excited for us to start our relationship and see where it goes.
It's looking bright and early
The future looks promising and positive.
I'm willing to close my eyes
I trust you enough to let my guard down and be vulnerable.
This is the unusual story
Our connection is different and special, not like anything else we've experienced before.
Timbo and SoShy
This is our story, between Timbaland and SoShy.
I need some R.E.M, but
I need some rest, but...
I don't like sleepin' alone
I don't like being alone, especially when I'm trying to sleep.
So come and pick me up as
So come and keep me company...
Soon as you put down the phone
...as soon as you're ready to hang up the phone and join me.
I wanna get into trouble
I want to take risks and do something exciting in life.
Later you'll carry me home
After all the excitement, you'll be there to take care of me and bring me back home.
I wanna go undercover
I want to do something secretive and sneaky.
I just wanna rattle your bones
I want to give you a thrill and shake things up for you.
Yes I'm the one and only
I'm confident in myself and know what I'm worth.
But I'm not the only one
But I'm not the only one who's unique and special in this world.
So let's work overtime
Let's put in extra effort and energy to make this work.
On this shift stay up with the sun
Let's stay up all night and work hard until the sun comes up.
Maybe we can start a riot
Maybe we can do something crazy and turn everything upside-down.
Maybe we can burn this town
Maybe we can go wild and cause chaos, if that's what you're into.
Maybe I'll be your vampire
Maybe I'll be the one to suck the life out of you, metaphorically speaking of course.
We can figure it out!
No matter what happens, we can work through it together and make it work.
Dark dark dark dark dark
Things are getting dark now.
(In the morning after dark)
Even after everything that's happened, we're still in the darkness and uncertainty.
Please don't leave me, girl
Even though things are uncertain, I don't want you to leave me.
When the cats come out the bats come out to play
When things get wild and exciting, we're ready to have some fun.
Lyrics © INGROOVES MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC C/O SOVEREIGN MUSIC, Universal Music Publishing Group, ANTHEM ENTERTAINMENT LP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Nelly Furtado, James David Washington, Michael Bell, J Washington, Timothy Mosley, Jerome Harmon, Kerry Hilson, D Epstein
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind