Timbo is Onto Something With These Beats....
It goes without saying that Timbaland is one of the most influential producers of the past twenty years. He's helped spark the careers of so many artists like Justin Timberlake, Ryan Tedder (One Republic), Bubba Sparxxx, Missy Elliot, Keri Hilson, Aaliyah...the list goes on. He's continually produced radio and club anthems, while many of his slower jams you probably continue to sleep on. Oh yea, don't forget his recent dabbling into rock/contemporary with this underrated hit, as well as this slightly overplayed classic.
As I've started to preview some of his tracks from Shock Value 2 (which has been pushed back to December 8th) I've noticed him continuing to use a new style that I really like and deserves attention.
The two most noticeable examples are from Timbo's song with Justin Timberlake that you may have forgotten about, Lovestoned and a song on his upcoming album titled Ease off the Liquor.
The first song, Lovestoned, starts off with an upbeat, mid-tempo, booty shakin' vibe that coerces your hips to move...I'm serious, listen to it standing up, you're powerless. But as the song fades toward the 5 min mark, the tempo slows considerably into a much softer, melodic, strings (violin/guitar riff) dominated backdrop that provides Justin a canvas for his strikingly simple, but often overlooked lullably/interlude. In my opinion, the song becomes interesting stylistically when Timbo is able to seamlessly transition a track from one beat to another in the same song...almost providing a lyrical cause and effect between the two personalities of the song/interlude. Despite the song being 7 minutes long, you feel like you've just listened to two different songs, but in reality, you've just taken in a longer "story" than you're accustomed to hearing from a "usual" track.
Give it a listen since you haven't heard it for a while:
Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned/I Think That She Knows (Interlude) One of Justin's Best!!!
Lovestoned has always been one of my favorite Justin tracks, mostly because there's literally no ice, it's blended together so well. Now fast forward to today, where I've spotted another track that seemingly continues on forever because of the Timbo again, adding/taking away an element of the beat to create a whole different vibe to a track. This time he manages to coin another booty shakin' anthem dominated by a rolling bassline and in your face, characteristically loud percussion, to go with a dash of crazy synthesizer. The song evolves into a call/response theme as he bounces back and forth with SoShy (pictured below):
YEA, I agree, she's good looking. Anyways, back to the lecture at hand...toward the 4 minute mark, the bassline evaporates into what becomes a salsa dancers dream of beat featuring trumpets and what appears to be a Mariachi inspired, guitar riff. Pretty cool in my opinion, two styles mixed in one, all within a 6 minute span, combining two different (albeit both uptempo) vibes. Check it out, off Shock Value 2:
Timbaland feat SoShy - Ease Off the Liquor (prod by Timbaland) Hooottt New Timbo!!
Think about it, what other songs can you think of are able to mesh together or seamlessly continue two tracks that are related lyrically into one...as if providing a second chapter to the same story, but remaining uncompromising to the length of the song?
Ok other than Stairway to Heaven, I'll give you that one...and yes that is partially why I like that Timbaland is managing to bring that style, which was created over 30 years ago, to Hip Hop.
Wait did I just compare Timbaland to Led Zepplin? Yes, it was intentional...
And since Justin and Timbo were on the menu for this post, please don't forget your Carryout....
Timbaland feat Justin Timberlake - Carryout (prod by Timbaland) New Off Shock Value 2 Hooott!!!
