While Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado spent a good part of 2006 blowing up the charts with their amazingly produced hit singles, Timbaland actually saved the great stuff for himself...well, almost. His new solo album, Shock Value is really a collabo-packed record with perfect production and genre-crossing chart toppers.
Hit single, "Give It To Me" featuring Justin and Nelly is already burning up top 40 radio stations. The song is basically a diss single (in case you're wondering, Timbo's throwing jabs at Scott Storch, who produced Justin's "Cry Me A River"). But Timbaland doesn't need to verbally boast to prove he is one of hip-hop's finest -- his beats tell the story itself.
Timbaland hooks up with newcomer Keri Hilson on "Way I Are." Lyrically, the song is a "Promiscuous"-like back-and-forth between the two, and musically, Timbaland combines heavy bass lines and synthesizers for a club beat that will have everyone dancing. Another great dance track is "Bounce," where longtime friend and producer, Missy Elliot comes back to team up with Timbaland. Missy even throws in a small reference to Britney Spears, which kind of makes you giggle ("Hold up! Hell no/Like Britney Spears out with no draws/In the club I drink it up").
Cutting in splices of Kurtis Blow's classic "The Breaks," Timbaland's partner-in-crime Magoo returns in "Boardmeeting." The team manages to use a slow clap and hyped up synthesizers to create a sliding dance beat. The song leads perfectly into the next track "Fantasy" -- a Ciara-esque pop song.Shock Value is packed with pop favorites, and "Miscommunication" is guaranteed to be the next single girls' anthem: "Getting on my nerves/I think it's time you knew/Only gave you my number cause/The drinks made you cuter, plus/You were looking sad and lonely/But that's all it was/Just put you in the game." Timbaland also crosses cultures on "Bombay," using classical Indian arrangements by Amar and melding it with an African drum beat.
Just when you thought Timbaland's resumé couldn't get any better, he collaborates with Swedish rockers, The Hives in "Throw It On Me" and chart-topping pop-punk band, Fall Out Boy on "One & Only." Both of these songs cross rock and hip-hop into a genre of its own. But it's on "Apologize" featuring post-punk band, She Wants Revenge that Timbaland shows his true talent as a music maker. The song slows down the whole record and gives an emotionally dark look into a broken man -- a nice change to a mostly fast-paced record.
Shock Value does just that -- shocks its listeners with heart pounding beats and ends on a soft note with "Two Man Show" -- a collaboration with Elton John. You'll be pleasantly surprised to hear Timbaland taking hip-hop to a new level on this new record.
Originally published @ http://www.collegeclub.com/article/view/3652
0 comments:
Post a Comment