Hip-Hop Island

Sometimes, I wonder. Drake's working on everyone else's album except is... or are all these video appearances and hook obligations part of his barter for a decent debut album? Drizzy better shock us like he promises! Here's the new video from Timbaland featuring Mr. Oh-So-Successful.

Well, this is an interesting leak from Timbo's Shock Value II. Chris Brown and Keri Hilson singing about being crazy in love, so much they are Maniacs. That explains A LOT.

American Music Awards residuals are landing on Late Night stages, and here's one more from Timbaland, SoShy and Nelly on Conan. Beginning to wonder if Timbo just lets Nelly Furtado come along for the ride because he's a nice guy. Really SoShy could hold her own on "Morning After Dark" and Nelly doesn't need to tag along...

Timbo took a break from being a producer to give his best at the AMAs with the help of SoShy and his personal muse Nelly Furtado on "Morning After Dark." Let's just say thanks to SoShy and Nelly Furtado for saving this performance because Timbaland neck rolls were just distracting as hell.

Ohh Lord! Here we go with some more Vampire drama. Timbaland and his new diva-in-training SoShy play the part of the 'good vamps' -- must be distant cousins of the Cullens. Check out the new video for "Morning After Dark."

These two just L-O-V-E each other. Here's an unreleased track from Timbaland and his bestie Justin Timberlake -- an ode to all the crazy bitches out there. Enjoy!

Britney's life may be one big circus, but Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger lives in a zoo. I'm guessing she just loves animal lust.. peep the new Timbaland-produced track.

More track leaks from Timbaland -- that man sure does love to stick with a good thing. Timbo revived Nelly Furtado's career and now Nelly's keeping Timbaland afloat in the game. Hear the new track "Morning After Dark."

New track "Rumors" from Timbaland featuring Miss Keri Hilson and Jay-Z is well somewhat boring. Timbo does his usual voiceovers while Keri tries to Diva it up for the mic. Hov jumps on for his verse, earns his pay and calls it a day. Listen. Discuss.

Hmmm, everything Timbaland produces these past few years basically sounds the same. Running out of fuel, Timbo? This time around he features newcomer, almost-producer J-EyE on "Back Together." Take a listen...

The Blueprint 3 leaked. Shocked. I know. Now ya'll need to understand the golden years of Jay, his rhymes, beats and vociferous swagger are in the past. From now on, we will only receive "Jay-Z presents..." type of albums from the great rapper. Not to say The Blueprint 3 isn't full of amazing verses because it certainly is. But in this economic disaster, it's only right of Jay to bring along his friends for the ride and share some of the spotlight. Rappers gotta eat, too. Fueling the buzz, Jay cosigns Drake (who hasn't), brings lil' bro Kanye along, babygirl RiRi kills with looks and vocals and Kid Cudi gives the Hipsters some love as he gets creative. The only one missing from this compilation is TIP, sure he's in the clink, but really, Jay, you couldn't arrange for a jailhouse session.?! Back to the point, best track on The Blueprint 3 are "Real As It Gets" featuring Young Jeezy -- shit is pure fire. And let it be know, Swizzy may recycle himself to every rapper out there, but at least he twists it up enough to make it credible, especially on "On To The Next One" -- clearly superior or Timbo's "Ain't I" which is just boo-boo. "Run This Town," "D.O.A.," "Brooklyn Goes Hard," "My President Is Black," "Blow The Whistle" and "Jockin' Jay-Z" -- the tracks are what they are. It should be a general rule that if tracks leaks way before the album drops, said artist should add two new tracks to the album for each leaked. Let's hear some more NEW Jay...make it worth my while. PS - Jay, can you get over your Oasis hate, those bros have enough problems...

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