Timbaland Albums (5)
'Timbaland Presents Shock Value'
Release Date 3/27/2007
Tracks 17
Label Blackground/Interscope
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What The Critics Say
"2 Man Show," the epilogue of Timbaland Presents Shock Value, involves 24 men and women. The title refers to Timbaland and Elton John. John, despite being Elton John, doesn't sing on the song, but he does play some loose piano. Most of the vocals are left to Timbaland, who improvises with a nonstop series of directions, comments, and grunts. He participates in some nonchalant call-and-response singing as well. It's a relaxed way to close an exhausting album, and it's also an odd way to utilize Elton John and a 19-person choir. While the song is an extreme example, it does illustrate the inexplicable and intermittently unpredictable nature of an album that would be more accurately titled Timbaland Presents Slight Confusion or Timbaland Presents an Uneven Mess. The reigning producer of R&B and rap since 1996, the year of Ginuwine's "Pony" and Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew," Timbaland has amassed piles of ingenious and commercially successful releases. Due to his work on Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," two of the least-avoidable pop singles released in 2006, his profile has never been higher. Consequentially, there has never been more anticipation for one of his own albums. His three albums with sidekick Magoo, in addition to the solo-proper Tim's Bio, each had measurable amounts of hype around their release dates. A new level of visibility, combined with a lot of eclectic star power and a couple silly beefs, has turned Shock Value into a major release. If you haven't read any interviews with Tim from the past few years, or if you missed some of the more telling hints, such as his work on Brandy's Coldplay-sampling "Should I Go," there could be some shock involved while listening to the album for the first time. Although he has continued to contribute beats for MCs -- Young Jeezy's "3 a.m.," Snoop Dogg's "Get a Light," and Redman's "Put It Down" are a few recent examples -- Tim has frequently said that he is bored with rap and into rock, and here he takes the opportunity to reach beyond R&B, rap, and straight-up pop. "Throw It on Me," with the Hives (a good-time garage rock band from Sweden), is a frisky, careening number that must have taken all of ten minutes to put together. A remix of "Apologize," a ballad by OneRepublic (a band that might soundtrack the next season of Grey's Anatomy, or the imaginary annex between Abercrombie & Fitch and The Gap), incorporates an unobtrusive Timbaland beat and some distant vocal accents. With She Wants Revenge (a bad-time faux-British synth duo) and Fall Out Boy (you probably know about them), Tim is an interloper who takes part in songs that wouldn't be worse off without his presence. It's most jarring to hear him as a temporary member of the typically sullen She Wants Revenge, where his downcast verses give way to Justin Warfield's heavily affected drone. The four songs involving the rockers are the only ones that have the potential to shock, and they're bundled together during the last quarter of the album, so it's not as if they're even being emphasized. Otherwise, Shock Value is similar in setup to Diddy's certifiably flawed and maliciously (and/or unjustly) panned Press Play, a sprawling but often pleasurable album involving so many MCs, singers, and studio hands that a head count would rival that of the sessions for "We Are the World." Tim, along with super-talented associates Danja and Keri Hilson, are some of the common links between the two albums, which share a similar balance between rap tracks heavy on mostly empty grandstanding, pop-R&B songs with male-female exchanges, and a couple club-oriented surprises that go outside the norms of modern rap and R&B. So, in a number of ways, Shock Value can be viewed a sister release to the Diddy album. Like Press Play, many of the album's key performances come from the females. Hilson, a songwriter, arranger, and singer who has also had a hand in Mary J. Blige's "Take Me as I Am" and Omarion's "Ice Box," is central to three of the album's most memorable songs. "Miscommunication" is the greatest of the three, where she delivers one of the most advanced hooks of the last several years. She took pity on a pathetic fellow (played by a temporarily humble-ish Timbaland), was repaid with a stifling relationship that went too far, and comes up with a disarming way of saying "You're killing me." A completely unnecessary ear-sore of a closing verse from Tim's brother Sebastian does little to harm its effect. "Bounce," one of Tim's toughest and most sinister beats, is offset by comically over-the-top wordplay from Missy Elliott and Dr. Dre, along with an equally ridiculous appearance from Justin Timberlake ("Like your ass had the hiccups/Like we was riding in my pickup"). Missy outdoes the guys, entering with "Hold up, hell naw/Like Britney Spears, I wear no draws." The rest of the verse is Missy at her lewd best, nothing new yet still 100 percent capable of keeping the testosterone level in check. Even though it's very possible that the involved recorded their parts in different studios, you can imagine them in fits of laughter while trying to top one another's outrageousness. The track is where the blast had by Tim and company, detectable throughout the majority of the album (a saving grace), is at its most contagious. When the album doesn't sound like a blast is being had, Tim's rhymes are usually within close proximity. They tend to leave a stale aftertaste. As with Jay-Z's Kingdom Come, listening to unrelatable boasts about extreme commercial and financial successes can get tiresome fast, especially when self-satisfaction wipes out any sense of hunger or passion. He brags about making half a million for a beat, and then, a few tracks later, the figure is a quarter of a million. Either he makes too much money to count, or his ghostwriters didn't compare notes. And while he is a competent enough MC to hang with the guest verses -- including low-wattage turns from 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, along with relatively engaging appearances from Attitude, D.O.E., and Magoo -- he's much more effective when restricting himself to incidental goading and singing that merely glides over the beat. Beyond the Elton John feature, the flat-out puzzling moments are limited, yet they certainly add to the album's lack of sturdiness. Bearing a heavy resemblance to Ciara's "Promise," "Fantasy" was produced by Walter "Lil' Walt" Millsap with Boss Beats and bears no credit to Timbaland. It's also the only song on the album where vocals are provided by one person. "Release," strangely placed third on the album -- just after lead single "Give It to Me" -- is a tossed-off house track, just as much of a Basement Jaxx rip as Basement Jaxx's own "U Can't Stop Me" (off 1999's Remedy) is a rip of Tim and Missy Elliott's earlier hits toge
'Under Construction, Pt. II'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 16
Label Blackground
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What The Critics Say
The second part of a record that Timbaland apparently began with Missy Elliott's Under Construction, this one may have a few similarities -- the stylistic bent and the production finesse certainly -- but the replacement of an energized rapper like Missy with a mush-mouthed mess like Magoo (Timbaland's usual henchman) could be an immediate deal-breaker. Fortunately for fans of the most exciting producer in hip-hop (superstar favorites Neptunes are to Timba little more than what a pop princess like Britney Spears is to the intriguing, multi-talented Pink), Timbaland keeps Magoo in the background while offering a wide-ranging set of backing tracks with limber percussion, speaker-rattling subbass, and very little else. Under Construction, Pt. II is the most spartan record of his solo career. Timbaland's still very proprietary with his sound, warning off biters with "Don't Make Me Take It There," "That Sh** Ain't Gonna Work," and "Can We Do It Again," then cautioning bootleggers with the sure hit "Cop That Disc" (the only track that features Missy). Aside from Missy and Bubba Sparxxx, Timba's actually the best rapper on display, much improved from his previous solo shots or his infrequent rhymes on other artists' records. Magoo is still an unimaginative, pint-sized Snoop Dogg, and he pops up several times with a verse or two, though other guests, Sebastian and female vocalist Raje Shwari, do very well on a pair of tracks with Indian accents, "Naughty Eye" and "Indian Flute." (After dozens of tracks sampling faraway Indian vocals, it's refreshing to hear one start mouthing back to a sweet-talking rapper.) There aren't quite enough guest features or catchy hooks to make this a must-purchase for most rap fans, but Timbaland always has a few tricks up his sleeve. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's easy to forgive Timbaland for putting his solo career on the back burner during the late '90s; after all, he'd been incredibly busy, lending his track-master skills to some of rap's biggest hitters: Ludacris, Bubba Sparxxx, Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and Snoop Dogg, as well as old friend Missy Elliott. Three years after Tim's Bio, hip-hop's most distinctive producer finally returned with another project, co-billed with right-hand man Magoo. Though it finds him caught between providing an outlet for his more experimental productions and trying to hit on his own, Indecent Proposal still succeeds on most counts. True, it starts off with the uninventive "Drop," but then moves into a set of productions certainly stranger than anything else in the world of commercial rap. Timbaland airs out one of the oddest vocal treatments ever heard on the languorous "Love Me," gets in touch with his P-Funk roots by replaying an early Funkadelic track ("I Got a Thing...") for "Baby Bubba," and pumps up the beats to match Jay-Z and Twista's excellent rhyme-trading on "Party People." "It's Your Night" and "Indian Carpet" both spin the Timbaland blueprint into new dimensions, the former with a quirky love jam and the latter with an infectious, inane chorus. Stuck at the end of the LP is the most eagerly awaited track -- "I Am Music" -- featuring one of the last performances from Timbaland protégé Aaliyah. (Alt-powerhouse Beck was originally slated to duet.) It's not an exciting track and comes as a bit of a letdown (the closest a conscientious producer would ever get to dripping the pop syrup of Puff Daddy), but it doesn't sink the album. Fans of the major-label rap game looking for more than scary strings and tedious rap celebrities will find it an intriguing diversion. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Timbaland, the producer most responsible for the sound of hip-hop circa the late '90s, finally released his proper solo debut (after a 1997 LP recorded as Timbaland & Magoo) in late 1998. It's not quite the personal statement implied in the title, but it is full of excellent productions. He spoofs the hip-hop fad of sampling '80s pop by rewiring familiar themes, like those of Spiderman and I Dream of Jeanie, into barely recognizable forms. Timbaland regulars like Missy Elliott and Magoo contribute tracks, though the best songs here feature multi-platinum rappers like Nas ("To My") and Jay-Z ("Lobster & Scrimp"). Though his trademark style of stuttered beats and obtuse samples is probably best witnessed on singles by Missy Elliott and Aaliyah, Tim's Bio is a solid introduction to the talents of hip-hop's best young producer of the late '90s. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Welcome to Our World'
Release Date 10/28/1997
Tracks 18
Label Blackground
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Welcome to Our World is one of the better rap debuts of 1997, establishing Timbaland & Magoo as gifted hip-hop musicians in their own right. The pair had previously written or produced tracks for such stars as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Ginuwine, and the spare, kinetic beats of "Supa Dupa Fly" and "Pony" are a good indication of what's available on Welcome to Our World. Without relying too heavily on samples, producer Timbaland has created a distinctive sound that is funky in an edgy, creative way -- these beats are modern yet timeless, as the hit "Up Jumps da' Boogie" illustrates. Furthermore, Timbaland is clever enough to keep shifting the tone of the album, balancing the up-tempo party numbers with ballads and menacing, mid-tempo crawls. Magoo is generally up to the challenge, delivering fluid freestyle raps and only occasionally lapsing into cliché. There are still a few slow spots on the record -- like most modern-day hip-hop albums, it simply runs way too long -- but at its best, Welcome to Our World is a welcome change of pace. ~ Leo Stanley, All Music Guide
