No Damn Cliff For Timbaland

Five years ago, he was at the top of his game. The biggest names in the music business were clamoring for his production skills. Everything he touched turned to platinum. But Then, the clouds rolled in. The industry changed, tastes changed...

(Photo: Christopher Anderson/Magnum Photos/New York Magazine) 

sitting in the recording studio in Miami’s Setai hotel surrounded by equipment
Tim Mosley Says :

“ Every year changes, every generation, I feel like I was getting whacked, The music of today, it’s not like the music I’m making ”  

For a while, he disappeared. There were rumors of drugs, financial insolvency, and depression. Then, this year, he was back, doing his thing on Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail and Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience (Parts 1 and 2), like his same old self. But not quite. 

“This is New Tim, I done some changing, I am much more in touch with me.”

the beginning of this new era, Mosley changed the name of his upcoming solo album so that it was no longer a continuation of his "Shock Value" series but the stand-alone "Textbook Timbo" Like his previous albums, it features appearances from usual suspects like Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell, and some newer talent like Drake, and—well, that’s sort of it, really. 

New Tim might be more humble, but he also knows how good he is.

 “A lot of people have great sounds, but they don’t have great music, Have you seen that movie "Now You See Me?”, That mentalist guy, the way he can hypnotize you, that’s me with my music. Like ‘'Suit & Tie'’  is a great masterpiece.” 

Should he win a Grammy this year, New Tim knows exactly what he will say: 

“ I’m twelve years a slave. In the music business. I’m the underdog. How many underdogs out there? Fight for what you believe in. Shit will happen. I’m standing up on this podium, as a living witness, to witness that God is always on time. Not on your time. But he knows when you deserve something. ”

 Mosley still makes most of his beats the old-­fashioned way. People talk about the time when Mosley picked up a chair during the recording of Rihanna’s “Sell Me Candy” and started bashing the window, just to get the sound he wanted.

“ I do everything from my mouth, Horn sounds, everything. The other night, I was watching Oblivion, and I fell asleep, but I woke up when I heard something dope and I’m like, ‘Aww, I got to sample this."  

(Photo: Marc Serota/LoveHomeProduction/Entertainment Magazine) 

Leaning against a royal palm, clad in a nautically themed sweatshirt, a massive gold chain featuring the head of Jesus dangling from his neck, he continues lip-synching the chorus of “Been It,” which will appear on his next album, the song, an upbeat, heavily Auto-Tuned It it was written with Pharrell Williams

 “For your information, baby, I’m-a make sure and tell you ’bout these hoes ”

There’s only one that holds his interest. Which is why Tim Mosley he’ll always come back To Rule The Radio Once Again This Year 

TIMBALAND