Timbaland Interview with Scratch Magazine 🗞 (2007)

It's not that Timbaland
Thinks hip-hop is dead, it just bores the shit out of him. See, the curse (or the gift, depending on who you ask) of rap music is that the best production generally has a certain sparse simplicity, giving Mc's room to be breathe. But when a producer like Timothy Mosley comes along with a bottomless pit of ambition and imagination hip-hop as a genre hasn't always been ready. Don't expect him to wait around.


Once again, you seem to have changed the sound of Pop music with the big 80s synth sound...
Yeah, but I'm getting tired of it because everybody's doing it, I was telling nate. Like "yo man everybody's biting our sound". He was like "I know". "Now it's the true test. I've changed up my sound several times in my life, so now what we gon do?"
I already know how I'm gonna change up. I like to see what (Nate) comes up with Cause now, he got a great head on his shoulders toss me an idea. Let me infuse that idea with what I got. Put that together, and here we are baby--we back on top again.
Even T-Pain got hip to what we're doing and now he doing it, especially on that new Chris Brown single "kiss kiss". That's when you know it's time to switch it up. Then I'm getting other people whose songs are not out yet. I heard some just blaze records too. People are really biting our style, so now I gotta go back into Timbaland mode and keep em guessing again.


How would you compare your mentorship with Danja to the relationship you had with DeVante Swing back in the mob days?
Nate, now he's shinning and doing some stuff on his own. But for me it took me some years to really learn how to do it, I taught him he didn't have a clue. But I believed in his talent. He didn't know nothing about music, about the studio, or about how to make hit records. But I took him under my wing and it only took two, three years. With DeVante swing I just watched him.. He didn't really put me under his wing. I was doing my thing. He was doing his thing.

Do you feel like having Danja around has helped your career?
Yeah, he showed me some things maybe he gave me my snap back. He kinda kept me on my toes. He's a little better than me at certain things. I don't play like he plays. He got potential to be a great producer.

Do you think he's ready to step out on his own?
I wanna see him out there. I'm trying to deal with my company, so maybe there are certain things that I don't wanna do that he should do on his own. He should venture out and do some new things. Like he did the Britney stuff, which is great. Back when we all tried to work with her, me, Justin and all of us - - she had her little problems at the time, and she kinda said that she wasn't ready or whatever. And Justin was my friend, my loyalty, my alliance I had to ask him permission to work with her. She's not the enemy, but that's someone he was Close to, so I wanted to get his blessing. So we were both going to work on it together but if he ain't doing it. Then I ain't doing it. That left Danja in the clear to do it, and God bless him on the project -- I think it'll be good for his career, it's not gonna hurt him.

So you're Supportive of him doing outside work to get his chops up?
I think he should, but I don't think he should do a whole bunch. My thing is we created a sound together and you can't give it to everybody. And I don't wanna all eyes to be on Nate, cause I don't want people to critique him,. I'm starting to hear critiques now, and I don't like that. That means I gotta pull my guns out and go to war. I don't like negative comments because people want to divide and conquer. They might say something bad about me or they might say something bad about him, but either way it's just not what we need right now, because we've got a winning team. I heard negative comments all my life in this music game. I don't want him to experience that right away, I want him to experience that with me, not by himself. I wanna be his crutches for a minute.

Also, Justin produced a song on the new Talib Kweli album. You running a school down there?
Yeah, Justin a great producer. I'm teaching him stuff. I'm a great teacher when it comes to producing. I got a whole team. The next person I'm doing is two guys named Royal Court and Hannon. Hannon is like my next protégé. Really he's been a monster since day one, but he was going through some issues at the time. I couldn't focus on him so I went straight to nate and groomed him. I'm like that guy in the wheelchair ♿ in X-Men. I find all the new hot producers. I can only do it by myself for so long. So I'm all about sharing the wealth and building a compound instead of me being egotistical Timbaland. I will sign up everybody -- that way I can corner the whole market.

50 Cent's a big Rapper who dosen't really work with big producers, why do you think he made an exception?
I think he respects my ear and what I can bring to the table. 50's great player, like a basketball player, but with a great coach, it makes you even better, but I really respected him when he said he didn't need the big name producers to make him hot.

have you been working with Jay-Z on his next album?
Yeah, he's calling. Imma do it, but I tell Jay like I tell everybody, '' if you're not trying to go to the planet Mars, then I can't work with you". Cause I'm on some other stuff. I'm in a worldwide league. And Jay is too advanced for hip-hop, the way it is today. He knows that anything that he does has to be bigger than life. Hip-hop people. Might criticize him like "Nah, that's wack" or like "he sold out, doing pop" but his Album was a big pop record. The biggest record, worldwide. That's what we need right now.

it was really frustrating to a lot of people that you weren't on Kingdom Come, what happened?
Oh we did a song, but he used it for "Make me Better" the fabulous record. That's was Jay's record. He rapped to it and everything. It was dope. He also did a song on my album, but he was to critical and wanted to change it up. I still have it though -- it's dope.

Did Jay give you his reason for not using "Make Me Better" on his Album?
I think Jay.. He's thinking too much.

Enough said. When you made your comment about Scott Storch being "Just a piano man, were you trying to spark beef with him?
I never had a beef with Scott Storch, he knows what was going on. I hang out with the dude.

So you still hang out with him?
Yeah, Scott is my man, but people flip out, at the time I felt like, damn, you just got mad. He took it too far and he admits it. I wasn't mad at Scott, I was mad at that clown dude he had on the track, Now I was like, "you don't know me, don't put my name in your mouth, like... Scott can do it. I can handle Scott. But you? You don't know me. Don't get your feelings hurt".

What was the conversation you had with Scott like after?
We never brought it up. I'm more concerned about how he's doing. Ain't childish like that. I'm grown man Things. A grown man would go up to Scott like, "we both 30-something men. Come on now."

Are you working on the Missy Album?
Yeah, I been working on it. Danja I think he did a couple tracks so far. I think She got a joint with T-Pain and some other people. She asked me to oversee it as executive producer but I really can not oversee the whole project. I just can't do the same thing because it's like.. The last time, as you can see, most of it didn't work out because I only got a few records. I just can't put all my energy into it. I have my own stress, I got a new ship to build I can't set up Atlantic Records and make them hot. I gotta make Mosley music and Jimmy Iovine hot, that's my partner, And also, Missy's nominated for an honor on VH1. That Scares me, because to me, when they give you an honor like that, they only trying to say that you over. I don't like that. I don't know if it's good or bad.

business aside, do you think you would still mesh with her in the Studio 🎹?
I don't know if we can do the same thing like before. Because musically, I'm somewhere else. I'm trying to take her there, and.. We seeing eye to eye on certain things we not, it's taking longer. And the longer it takes, the more I gotta work on Mosley music. It's our statements, we made a great mark in the music business. And sometimes you can't keep doing the same thing.

where is she at musically?
You know what? I don't know. I think she's trying to make another great album, but I don't know. She's too advanced for hip-hop, look at hip-hop is terrible. If you not making terrible music. It ain't gon work?.

Not a fan of the so-called ringtone rap?
It's killing, the ringtone rap is not fading away. "A Bay Bay" none of its fading away. If you ask me, it's getting stronger.. Nowadays, I think the way hip-hop is going. Rappers don't know nothing. They just put an 808 behind it and then they got a Song.

it's not going anywhere innovative?
Oh, the new hip-hop is pop. Justin, Nelly, Fergie, Will iam. It got harder beats!. Any of these pop acts that's trying new things -- that's hip-hop. Cause that's what hip-hop used to be -- new material, I went to Harvard, took the rich kid and brought him to the hood, got him jammin'. Those are real, hard Hip hop beats. It's no different just with melody.

What gear are you using in the Studio Now?
I'm not gonna tell everybody TIMBO's secrets! The stuff I use, you can't even find in the country. You got to go to Iraq. I go around the world like a scientist to find sounds. I go into tsunamis, I go into tidal waves, I put my life on the line, get bit by their mosquitoes, to search for this stuff.

So what's the next Sound?
The next sound is... I think African. That's where I wanna go. More tribal. I try to think worldwide. I just came from St. Tropez, Monaco and Cannes on vacation. And I'm big, I'm like a God over there. That's how I know I got to stay worldwide.

Danjahandz

Timbaland Interview (The Source Magazine 2001)

Timbaland Won't allow you to deny his genius. Tonight he's sprawled out sleepy on couch in Studio 4 of NYCs famed Manhattan dia-mond-studded watch that periodically peeks out from under his modest threads and catches your eye, he could go easily unnoticed. And in this rare case, he may want to be anonymous. He's been working around the clock on a number of projects, including his third LP "Indecent Proposal" So rest time is is scarce. Some might debate whether his cockiness is warranted, but no one can contest Timbaland's Achievements, Since 1996 his music has made household names out of Aaliyah, Missy Elliott and Ginuwine and helped sustain the careers of MCs like Jay-Z and Nas. The quixotic beatsmith closed the millennium with more hits than AOL , the beats of the talented Mr. Mosley soon became the foundation for most of the music dominating the airwaves in the late 90's. crickets and triple time drums because as common on radio as static on a 45
if imitation is the sincerest from flatery, Tim is way overdue for a swelled head. the former DJ from Virginia who stood in the shadow of Jodeci's DeVante back in the day believes he's now ready for his own pedestal , And he has strong case After all, neither hip-hop, pop nor R&B can really claim him exclusive.His triple-time synchopated style has had more imitators than Elvis And Tupac.

I heard that you walk around with a bank of sounds you created on a disc, Do you play any instruments or does it all come from your head?

I fiddle with a little bit of everything butI don't play. and I don't wanna learn how to play cause I might lose my touch. I don't know nuthin' bout writing music. I can hear everything by ear. I might play couple lil' chords but I know tone like a mug. It might be too articulate insted of me finding something and say"That's all".

Magoo took a lot of heat from critics for everything from his voice to his rhyme skills. Do you thing he's stepped up this time around?

Magoo is ready to shock a lot of people..i had people come into my sessions that didn't like him, and now when I play a couple of songs, they say he's okay. We just had fun this time Magoo trying to make a living being the best rapper he can be. you can't hate him for that . Black people hate too much, you won't find no white kids saying that Backstreet Boys album was wack, even though I know there are seven wack songs on there, We've sold a million and a half records as a group me and Magoo. Y'all ain't gotta like everything we do but give it a shot.

Your friend Pharrell makes a lot of political Statements on the new N.E.R.D. project.Do you ever think about things like commitment to the culture or resposibility as a musician?

I'm not into it that deep, All other stuff is extracurricular Once I'm out, I'm out My Kids can say "Daddy you was in that?" and I can say I was Right now makin' beats is a job. I do love music, But at certain point, you care less who buy it 'cause you make it for you. But you can't get into all [Politics]
that stuff will kill ya.

With the seeming lack of recognition from peers and industry people, what keeps you going?

The fans i just wanna thank all Of the women saying they love my beats. Dudes came after but hated at first. I knew I was hot when I had girls  paying attention to my beats. What female you know pay attention to beats? I used to be a DJ and been in music all my life and I ain't never hear a girl say they like a beat before me. They say they like a song. Now they say that beat , So I gotta give this article back to the people 'cause they a real big fan of mine 'cause this is a job just like McDonald's and I don't wanna get laid off.

There Have been a lot of  Timbaland Copycats over the years Is it because it's cheaper to mimic you than to hire you?

I'm High as Crap. I'm so high [priced] amaze myself. People don't even ask me no more. I don't like producing outside my camp. I don't wanna make record companies no hits no more. Hits is boring to me I'm on a new page. I gotta get back to that. The only person that can get something from me anytime.

Why do you call your album Indecent Proposal?

I'm a Master at all games. Any dice you wanna roll, be prepared to pay me cause you gonna lose. I called this album "Indecent Proposal" cause I bet you a million dollars you gonna like it.

You seem to draw upon influences outside Hip Hop, whether R&B or whatever,Is there anything in hip hop that really moves you to wanna create?

I don't even listen to rap music, Rock people influenced me. the only hip hop album that ever influenced me was Dr.Dre 2001, The way it was mixed . how the songs flowed then it was  Stankonia. Thatput a little smile in my heart . There's a lot of creativity going on on that album. The rest of em out there is just records.

People say you got your style from jungle and drum 'n' bass.Is that true?
Man, I didn't know nothin' bout no drum'n' bass. I hadn't even been to london back then.

But can you see how people madr the comparison?
Naw, man, that mess was fast! Mine had more rhythem, more syncopated.

Where do you see yourself in relationship to other producers like Dr.Dre?

Me and Dre are like the movie Devil's Advocate, where he's the devil and I'm Keanu Reeves. He's Daddy looking down over Son. We shouldn't be in a category with other producers. We are official producers, We gotbig-title belts I hate when people try to compare me to people that are my friends, like the Neptunes or Swizz Beatz. I hate that. These are young Black men trying to do their thing .I do feel that me and Dre and Jermaine Dupri are separate, though I say ''Us'' because we know how to break an act . Teddy is Poppa Don. Im not saying he's out of The game , but he's on the same  wavelength . I say Jermaine is over me because hes been doing it since he was young. He's broke new acts and had hits. Then it comes me. You can't forget about puff, Y'all might've talked about him sampling, but how many people sampled the same thing he sampled and didn't work? Like that ''One More Chance'' Remix. I heard that before he used it on Big but he made it work , I can't explain to you what the formula is. But we know it when we hear it in our heads like, ''BLING!'' there it is.

Does that ''Bling'' have anything to do with why you consider yourself a genius?

Anytime I got people from overseas dancing, I'm Mozart. A lot of people know how to play and still can't make beats as dope as me. I can tell a girl what to sing and how to sing it. I can write a hook off the top of my head. I just love what I do It's a musical gift that god gave me . "Is that Your Chick" is a year and half old and look how it sound today? "Pony'' was three years old when it came out. What does that tell you?

It seems like producers are getting more light these days than ever. Still, is it enough?

I just feel like producing is such a hard thing. There's always a newcomer, but you don't hear about the newcomer after a certain number of songs . The Neptunes are peeps. I used to be in a group with them . and they from my hometown, But I don't want the puplic to look at then just for now and not tomorrow. Don't just pay attention to them when they've got a hit record Just because we do a song with Jay-Z, We get attention. Thats bogus.

A lot of People who hire you also use DJ Premier [Jay-Z, Lox, Nas]. Why do you think that is?

You gotta go back to Premier. He's the ghetto king. I think his perfect match in heaven was Biggie. That was his magical artist, Big and Premier had something special. O could do the dirty, grimy records. I could go back on a Roland 808, But Premier got that on lock.

Timbaland Exclusive 'BLUEPRINT' Interview // Complex Magazine

A master of rhythm and melody, Timbaland always knew he had a gift when it came to music. He'd put it to good use in producing a number of groundbreaking works for the likes of Missy Elliott, Ginuwine, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado. But with fame came delusion and addiction, which trumped his extreme talent. Now, sober and revitalized, Timb has fallen in love with the art form again and set his sights on a new goal: create a classic that will mark the next chapter in his career, just as Quincy Jones did with Thriller.

Nelly Furtado On ELLE QUEBEC Magazine

Here's a preview of what you'll find this month On ELLE Québec‏  edition (July-August 2017) with Nelly Furtado on the cover. 

Read Full Article http://www.ellequebec.com/vip/billets/article/ce-mois-ci-dans-votre-elle-quebec
Verified accounsummer issue with cover the sparkling http://bit.ly/2rviRpJ  is on newsstands to from now 💫 💫

Timbaland in Studio [SCRATCH Magazine 2005]

Timbaland in His Studio Bus 2005 By SCRATCH Magazine

Timbaland | Wired Magazine Cover (2003)

Timbaland on Wired Magazine (2003)

Street Cred: Tim "Timbaland" Mosley introduced drum and bass skitter beats and Punjabi sounds into pop and hip hop. He produced just about every hit from Missy Elliot ("Work It," "Get Ur Freak On," "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"), most by Aaliyah (after she parted ways with R. Kelly), and some by others, including Justin Timberlake and Ginuwine.

What's next: He'll soon releaseUnder Construction, Part II, which he recorded as an artist with partner Magoo. His Beat Club label just put out Deliverance by Bubba Sparxxx, which Timbaland produced, and he's hard at work on the next Missy Elliot project, which he hopes to have out by the end of the year.

Behind the music: His longtime engineer uses Pro Tools, but "it's cheating," Timbaland says. "Anyone can do a song now."

Why he gets respect: "When I hear a Timbaland song," says Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, "it makes me want to work harder."
- R.L.

Timbaland I Fathom Magazine Interview

Timbaland speaks on Music Business, Mosley Music, His New Projects 

And his latest executive produced Michael Jackson Record

Q: How Did You Get Started in The Music industry?
How Did Me Timbaland Mosley get started in the music business? I can't even tell you it was more like dream. you know like your a young kid, you meet people. i used to Dj, i love music.
you meet other people who love music and have a passion for it. so missy was the other person i met. when i met missy she said she was going to the jodeci concert and was going try to meet them backstage. so they go they really meet them backstage. 
so thats like "ok whatever i'm not going i am staying home." 
so they go they really meet them backstage. then next thing we know they were flying us up. 
so thats like, think about people that come up to you know. 
it was like a big dream everything happen. it was in god's plan.
he said he was going to call us. he really did call , he really flew them up . missy was like no i wanted to use Timbaland,
she vouched for me. i came up there and then we grinded it out.
then that was the moment i got to see a lot of things. things not to do. then that wasn't happening and that was our first bump to get to me it was really a dream, it was all in god's plan. everything we thought or imagined it really happend.

Q: Who Were Your Musical Influences ?
When i was growing up i was in fluenced by prince. i thought prince was ill, like who is this man on the horse naked. the sound was so good, i was a kid like who is this dude? 
so i went to see him in concert, i didn't know his style was a little much for me, like booty cheeks out. i'm like "ooh i don't want to see this." but you a fan of him so you don't really dwell on it. michael jackson was too. they both like a tie

Q: Do You Feel Like You're The Underdog In The Industry ?
I feel like even to the world a little bit, i feel like i am. but it might be me, it could be me because i don't really do to much. its a lot of politics in the game. its a lot of little things that make me feel like, you know. then when you do something amazing everybody comes on. you werw suppose to come on a couple years ago. But I guess thats just life.

Q: What Was It Like Working On Michael Jackson "Xscape" Album ?
You know what it was, it was just like the fact that its somebody i look up to he not here. i can't talk to him. i'm working with him when he is dead. so it's a lot of all that playing and you think about aaliyah. you think about a lot of things. like when 
working with michael jackson on the "Xscape" Album ithought it was cool but i didn't know how much of all it would take on me.
so sometimes i had to let it go, do something else and come back
to it. then when i came back it was like he was speaking to me through his vocal tracks. i could hear him talking to me. it was a cool moment.

Q: You Visited Johannesburg Recently, What Was That Experience Like For You ?
when i went to johannesburg what i saw in the african artist was
this guy named Reason. Reason is very dope!, then Reason turned me on to other people. i'm like man! its something different out here. But it can be translated in America in a hard way or cool way,they have different facial structures, different everything
so how they bounce is totally different, But they bounce how we bounce, but in their own way. so i felt like that was something that needed to be shared with the world. that was my take on johannesburg with them partying and everything it was great!

Q: Are You Working On Any New Projects For This Year ?
maybe not this year, i have new project. But I don't have them coming this year because it may be to rushed. But it will be prepaed for this year. Not just my thing but the whole organization.

Q: What Can The Fans Expect From Your New Project ?
I Don't Want to call it project. I want to call it this new journey i am about to take with life, with my family, with my new music. I feel Like I am about to do something where I tie the knot. to where i start setting up on EMPIRE, Where i find young producers, young people who got the niche. And I go and give them
the boost. i find the new "NEW" for the future. which i have a son that's 21, so i have to find what his niche. i have to set up the future, you know what i am saying for our children and for generations on then when we die we feel like its a new journey for me. the new journey is me finding my Beyonce, Me finding my new Aaliyah, Nelly Furtado, Lady Gaga. and Me controling it. I feel like i have all three right now. 

Q: Describe The Music Today ? 
Its a new fresh of breath air of newness. it's what everybody's going to want to go to next year. most of them are like 19, its the "NEW". what people are doing now is old.

Q: What's The New Empire for 2000  ?
Puff built his Empire, He Building different things. what is the new empire of music and other things coming out of the generation
of 2000. I feel like before I leave this earth to be a big mark on the future. its like if people say i'm the man when i came out. being the man is controlling the past and now. what i am trying to do this time around is make a historical moment. i'm bringing unity, black elegance back. the black superstar that goes pop. that charisma like Jackie Robinson.

Q: How Involved Are You On Social Media ?
I got my Instagram @Timbaland , I have people who run it. i don't get on it myself. I treat social media how i would treat the charts when i was doing music.

Q: What Advice Would You Give The Young Entrepreneur's ?
Trust in God that's number one. Two, Timing is Everything, having
Patience is key to success. You Can rush something by being young
But you can walk in the wrong path, if you can sit and wait, if you can hold out you will be alright. That's The Most advice I can Giveto the entrepreneurs.

Timbaland Behind The Scenes for I Fathom Magazine

Behind the scenes with @Timbaland and His Lovely Wife Monique 
for the September issue / cover of I Fathom Magazine 

Here's Some BTS Footage: