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.
Peepin
timbaLand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Uh
I don't think they ready for this
Another Timbaland master piece
Uh
I don't think they ready
Uh, Timbaland the funky beat maka
I can make you dance, and shake your butt, and wiggle
When it's hot outside I eat popsicles
Check it, do you want to get freaky tonight?
I'm throwin a house party and the stars at night
All the ladies gonna be there in they tight skirts
I'm gonna mingle a little and start to flirt
Baby, don't get an attitude
Or I have to throw your silly ass in the pool
I ain't got no time for the silly game
Timb and Maganoo, I got all the game
Now that you are peepin' my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Check it, let's take it to another level
One of my fantasies, it is love in pebble
I want to take her on a cruise around the block
And make her say "Don't stop the body rock"
I want to take her on a cruise around the block
And make her say "Don't stop the body rock"
I want to take her on a cruise around the block
And make her say "Don't stop the body rock"
Check it, now I'm back to my basic rhythme
Check out ill ass flow I'm about to give him
I'm a make him dance and make em shake they ass
But not to slow and not to fast
Timbaland ain't got nuthin to prove
I done did five years and pay my due
I got my mine Big E and Big Rodney
Coming strong like the freaky freaky freaky on me
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast
But I got baking me some of that good french toast
Let me take it to another level, I'm the host
As I can get freaky, fre-freaky-fre-freaky
Ooooooh
Now that you are peepin' my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin' my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Da-da-da-da-dah (Uh-huh)
Da-da-da-da-dah (What?)
Da-da-da-da-dah
Da-da
Da-da
Da-da
Dah
Da-da-da-da-dah (Uh-huh)
Da-da-da-da-dah (Uh-huh)
Da-da-da-da-dah (Check it out)
I said
I flippin' on all why'all like dat
Know what I'm sayin
Now I got to be out
Two verses
The first verse repeats itself
Now dat, now dat you are peepin my style
Check it
Now that you are peepin' my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin' my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
Now that you are peepin my style
My kind of style
That make you buck wild
Throw your hands up in the sky
Pass me something so we all get high
In this song, Timbaland is confident in his skills as a musician and party host. He boasts about his ability to make people dance and have fun. The lyrics discuss his desire to throw a house party and have all the ladies in tight skirts come and dance to his funky beat. He also talks about wanting to take someone on a cruise around the block, and make them say "Don't stop the body rock". Timbaland is not shy about his abilities and asserts that he has nothing more to prove as he has already paid his dues with five years of experience. The chorus repeats Timbaland's catchy hook, encouraging listeners to dance, throw their hands in the air, and pass around substances to get high.
The lyrics of the song, while catchy and fun, are also quite straightforward in their message. Timbaland is confident, fun-loving and wants to party, and he wants everyone else to join in on the fun. The song showcases his self-assurance and ambition as a performer, making it an enjoyable track for fans of his music.
Line by Line Meaning
Uh
I'm starting this song with an ad-lib to grab your attention
I don't think they ready for this
I don't think people are prepared for the greatness of this song
Another Timbaland master piece
This is another impressive creation from the musical genius Timbaland
Uh
Another ad-lib because I'm feeling it
Timbaland the funky beat maka
I'm Timbaland and I create funky beats
I can rock the U.S. and all of Jamaica
My music is universal and can entertain both Americans and Jamaicans
I can make you dance, and shake your butt, and wiggle
My music will make you move and groove
When it's hot outside I eat popsicles
I enjoy popsicles, especially when the weather is warm
Check it, do you want to get freaky tonight?
I'm asking if you're ready to let loose and have a good time
I'm throwin a house party and the stars at night
I'm hosting a party and it's going to be an unforgettable night
All the ladies gonna be there in they tight skirts
Many women will be at this party wearing tight skirts
I'm gonna mingle a little and start to flirt
I'll socialize and possibly flirt with some of the women at the party
Baby, don't get an attitude
Don't be rude or unpleasant
Or I have to throw your silly ass in the pool
If you continue to act up, I'll toss you in the pool
I ain't got no time for the silly game
I don't have time for games or nonsense
Timb and Maganoo, I got all the game
Myself and Maganoo have all the skills and talent
Now that you are peepin' my style
You're now observing and acknowledging my unique style
My kind of style
The way I do things and create music
That make you buck wild
My style is so exciting that it will cause you to go wild and have fun
Throw your hands up in the sky
Put your hands in the air and have a good time
Pass me something so we all get high
Pass me something to enhance the party and make it more fun
Check it, let's take it to another level
Let's elevate this party and have even more fun
One of my fantasies, it is love in pebble
One of my desires is to be in love in a serene setting
I want to take her on a cruise around the block
I want to take my love interest for a spin around the city
And make her say "Don't stop the body rock"
I want to impress my love interest with my moves and make her enjoy the moment
Check it, now I'm back to my basic rhythme
I'm back to my foundational style of creating music
Check out ill ass flow I'm about to give him
Listen closely to the sick flow that I'm about to present
I'm a make him dance and make em shake they ass
My music will motivate people to dance and possibly twerk
But not to slow and not to fast
I'll keep the tempo at a comfortable and exciting pace
Timbaland ain't got nuthin to prove
I have nothing to prove because my success speaks for itself
I done did five years and pay my due
I already paid my dues and have been in the music industry for five years
I got my mine Big E and Big Rodney
I have my friends Big E and Big Rodney by my side
Coming strong like the freaky freaky freaky on me
We're coming in strong and have a lot of energy
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast
I'm not trying to sound arrogant or conceited
But I got baking me some of that good french toast
I have some great french toast ready to eat
Let me take it to another level, I'm the host
I'm hosting this party and will make sure everyone has a good time
As I can get freaky, fre-freaky-fre-freaky
I can let loose and be wild if necessary
Now dat, now dat you are peepin my style
Now that you're noticing how I do things
I flippin' on all why'all like dat
I'm impressing everyone with my skills
Know what I'm sayin
Do you understand what I'm trying to convey?
Now I got to be out
I have to leave now
Two verses
I presented two stanzas in this song
The first verse repeats itself
The first stanza is repeated
Check it
Pay attention and listen closely
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELVIN BARCLIFF, TIMOTHY N MOSLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind