Timbaland is one of the greatest producers in the history of music. Over the years, he's managed to craft tons of hits for various artists and his catalog is extensive. One thing about his catalog that is special IMO is the fact that he has worked closely with artists over the years to help them craft projects personally. One listen to an album entirely produced by Timbaland, and you can see he influenced the vision and the lyrics as well as the sound. While he's produced for numerous artists, his greatest accomplishment might actually be the albums he had a huge hand in. Those are the projects we are here to discuss today. Let's take a look at the 10 greatest albums produced by Timbaland.
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Aaliyah- One In A Million (1996)
Aaliyah’s second album, 1996’s One in a Million It was a game changing album in her too-short career, as well as in the careers of producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott, It was a pivotal moment for Aaliyah. 1994’s Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number put her on the map, but it was well-known that the album was written and produced by her mentor, and lover, R. Kelly. But by 1996, she’d cut ties with Kelly and her label Jive Records. She now had to prove that she was a viable star, on a new record label, without her former mentor.
Aaliyah took a more futuristic approach to R&B music. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the album’s first two singles, “If Your Girl Only Knew” and the title track. The latter saw Aaliyah owning her crown as R&B’s most experimental torchbearer.
One In A Million eventually sold more than a million worldwide — including two million copies stateside — and frequently pops up on ’90s best-of lists. It’s clear the album’s deft combination of electronic and R&B set a precedent for the music of this decade, sitting comfortably on a shelf alongside recent releases from Kelela, FKA twigs and Nao (just pretend people still put physical copies on shelves). The foresight and risk-taking that Aaliyah showcased in 1996 would become fully realized five years later on her eponymous third (and final) album.
Missy Elliott- Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
Arguably the most influential release by a female rapper in history, this project birthed one of rap’s most important icons, male or female. The Hip Hop/R&B experimental masterpiece not only delivered a fresh sound to a period in between dominant trends.
The sound and success of this project is due in equal part to Missy and fellow Virginian super-producer Timblaland. The new age, digital R&B style production pioneered a sound that became the standard of any Top 40 crossover hit of the era. His technical ability as a beat maker personally complimented Missy’s unorthodox, almost broken-up, flow and smooth, soulful vocals. Missy’s ability as an innovative song writer allowed for the mind boggling production to not be wasted. The subjects that were touched on came with new perspective and the way she rode each beat added such emphasis, giving the project a strong theatrical quality.
Commercially, it performed quite well peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album claimed the #1 spot on the R&B/Hip Hop chart and made appearances on music charts in New Zealand and the Netherlands. The album was certified platinum in the United States and silver in the United Kingdom, both in the year of its release. Critics across the board praised both Timbaland and Missy Elliot for their work on this album, calling it “a key prophecy of the dominant 21st century Black pop”
Timbaland And Magoo- Welcome To Our World (1997)
in the late '90s as apart of the rapper/producer duo Timbaland and Magoo. The childhood friends and DMV duo made their debut with the album Welcome to Our World on Nov. 11, 1997.
The 18-track debut took two years to craft and featured names like Aaliyah, Ginuwine and Missy "Misdeamonor" Elliott" on guest vocals. The album birthed three singles for the guys, "Up Jumps da Boogie" and "Clock Strikes", "Luv 2 Luv Ya". "Up Jumps da Boogie," which was released in July before the album dropped, would prove to be their highest charting single, peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. "Up Jumps da Boogie" went certified RIAA Gold by late '97 while the album as a whole went platinum in sales by 1998,
100% Ginuwine (1999)
It was good to be Ginuwine in the 1990s. The singer found himself at the epicenter of R&B when he was recording his sophomore album, 100% Ginuwine. Ginuwine talks about working with the dream team of Timbaland, Static Major, Missy Elliott and more to craft the classic record.
“Pony” was one of the biggest songs of my career," he said of his debut, so crafting a collection to follow was difficult. "It was really hard to follow that up. But those are songs you just can’t call. It’s either gonna be a smash or it’s not. Going into the second CD, I just truly wanted to be myself and not alienate the base that got me there."
Beating the sophomore slump, 100% Ginuwine yielded such songs as, "So Anxious" and "Same Ol' G;" it went double platinum, selling more than two million copies. Timbo contributed to nearly every cut on the album.
Missy Elliott- Da Real World (1999)
this album is extremely slept on when talking her catalog. Her other albums produced by Timbaland were great, but it's something about this one that takes the cake as her second greatest project. Now, the beauty of listening to Timbaland's production on multiple Missy albums is that it shows his progression as a producer and the sound. This album is full of different features and as such, the sound accompanies each feature, with tracks like "All N My Grill", "She's A Bitch", "Hot Boyz", "U Can't Resist", and more helping to make this album feel more complete. Da Real World is a gem in the Timbaland production catalog.
Bubba Sparxxx- Deliverance (2003)
Deliverance is crazy hot because Timbaland’s beats are some of the funkiest he’s created to date. He hits us with six banging tracks right away, “Jimmy Mathis,” “Coming’ Round,” “She Tried,” “Nowhere” featuring Kiley Dean, “Overcome” and “Warrant.” The title track also ain’t nothing to f**k with. Whether it’s his eclectic samples or head noddin’ drum patterns, Timbaland touches us deep down in our souls. His beats hypnotize. Then Organized Noize gets OutKast on us for “Like It Or Not.” This CD is party material, to cruise to in your car or just to chill to. What Dre did for Eminem, Timbaland has done for Bubba. Tim blessed Bubba with hot beats and together they created an excellent album.
Justin Timberlake- FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006)
the album and all the sexy Timberlake helped bring back with its release. Coming four years after Justin Timberlake released his first solo album Justified, the followup was a far more experimental and equally risqué album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. The title alone, combining old words into a fresh formation, felt as though Timberlake created some new language, one which challenged the cookie cutter boxes that often represent pop music. With producer/collaborator Timbaland (whose name is all over the album’s credits, from playing instruments to lending vocals), Timberlake stretched the identity he’d long presented the world with, challenging what listeners thought about him. FutureSex/LoveSounds showed Timberlake all grown up and unafraid to own it.
Nelly Furtado - Loose (2006)
In 2006, Nelly Furtado released her third album, Loose. Alongside Beyoncé's B’Day, Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, and big country debuts by Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, it went on to become one of the best-selling records of that year as well a career-defining album for the Canadian musician. Singles like “Promiscuous” and “Maneater” & "Say It Right" significantly altered Furtado's public narrative; until then she'd been known as a kind of heartfelt singer-songwriter, but began to be talked about in the hyperbolic, often patronizing tone reserved for pop stars who invoke their sexuality. But Loose was hinged on her magic chemistry with producer Timbaland, and set them both up as even more versatile artists than fans had previously understood.
Timbaland - Shock Value (2007)
On February 4th 2007 Timbaland Released His 2nd Solo Album "Shock Value"
It is Timbaland's first release on his own imprint, the Interscope Records-distributed Mosley Music Group. Shock Value features a long list of guest artists, among them Fall Out Boy, Justin Timberlake, The Hives, Keri Hilson, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Dr. Dre, OneRepublic, Elton John, Magoo and Nicole Scherzinger.
His Biggest Singles on The Album Were "Give it To Me" , "The Way I Are" , "Apologize"
The album was certified 3x Platinum with sales of 210,000+ copies. It reached the top of the album chart on the week beginning 12/31/2007.
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (2013)
The 20/20 Experience, which has Timberlake seamlessly conflating the last 40 years of pop, soul, and R&B into a series of warping seven-minute songs that shamelessly extol the joys of music and marriage. More ambitious and judicious than his first album, Justified, and more consistent than 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds, the record mixes up not only genres and traditional song structures, but entire critical value systems. The poptimists who rode Timberlake's wave to post-guilty-pleasure virtuousness may decry its lack of three-and-a-half minute hits; The tribal drums, quasi-mystical keening and background birdsong certainly make an r & b magic carpet ride of Don’t Hold the Wall. It’s a song that repeatedly incites the object of Timberlake’s affection to “Dance!” but is more likely to find clubbers kissing in corners. Winkingly salacious, Strawberry Bubblegum all but slips listeners into something more comfortable by sampling Barry White.
Labels: Aaliyah, Album, Bubba Sparxxx, FutureSex/LoveSounds, Ginuwine, Justin Timberlake, Loose, Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado, One In A Million, Shock Value, The 20/20 Experience, Timbaland
