Sebastian (rapper)

Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinctive "stuttering" rhythmic style. In 2007, ''Entertainment Weekly'' stated that "just about every current pop trend can be traced back to him — from sultry, urban-edged R&B songstresses ... to the art of incorporating avant-garde sounds into No. 1 hits."

Timbaland's first full credit production work was in 1996 on '' Ginuwine...the Bachelor'' for R&B singer Ginuwine. Further work on Aaliyah's second studio album '' One in a Million'' (1996) and Missy Elliott's debut studio album ''Supa Dupa Fly'' (1997) made him a prominent producer for R&B and hip hop artists. As a rapper he initially released several albums with fellow rapper Magoo, followed by his debut solo album '' Tim's Bio'' in 1998. In 2002, Timbaland produced the hit single " Cry Me a River" for Justin Timberlake and went on to produce most of Timberlake's subsequent LPs, such as ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' and '' The 20/20 Experience'' along with their respective hit singles.

The Timbaland-owned imprint label, Mosley Music Group, featured artists such as Nelly Furtado, whose Timbaland-produced album ''Loose'' (2006) was a commercial and critical success. In 2007, Timbaland released a solo album, ''Shock Value'', which was followed by '' Shock Value II'' in 2009. Timbaland's production credits during the 2000s also include work with Jay-Z, Nas, Ludacris, Missy Elliott, Bubba Sparxxx, Madonna, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, OneRepublic, Brandy, Drake, and Björk, among others. As a songwriter, he has written 85 UK hits and 99 US hits, as of 2014. With Swizz Beatz, he created the popular webcast series ''Verzuz'' in 2020.

Early life

Timothy Zachery Mosley was born on March 10, 1972, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Latrice, who ran a homeless shelter, and Garland Mosley, an Amtrak employee. He graduated from Salem High School of Virginia Beach, Virginia. During his time as a DJ, he was known as "DJ Tim" or "DJ Timmy Tim". His brother, Sebastian, is reportedly around nine years younger. His sister Courtney Rashon is a makeup artist and an author from New Jersey. While attending high school, Timbaland began a long-term collaboration with rapper Melvin (Magoo) Barcliff. The teenage Mosley also joined the production ensemble S.B.I. (which stood for 'Surrounded By Idiots') which also featured Neptunes producer, his cousin, Pharrell Williams. Mosley was also high school friends with brothers Terrence and Gene Thornton, who would become known as Pusha T and Malice of the rap group Clipse, respectively. In 1986, when Timbaland was 14 years old, he was accidentally shot by a co-worker at a local Red Lobster restaurant and was partially paralyzed for nine months. During this time, he began to learn how to DJ using his left hand.

Rapper Missy Elliott heard his material and began working with him. She and her R&B group, Sista, auditioned for DeVante Swing, a producer and member of the successful R&B act Jodeci. DeVante signed Sista to his Swing Mob record label and Elliott brought Mosley and Barcliff along with her to New York, where Swing Mob was based. It was DeVante who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after the Timberland brand of construction boots. He and Magoo became part of SCI Zakys School stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists such as R&B singer Ginuwine, male vocal group Playa ( Smoke E. Digglera, Static Major and Digital Black), and the girl group Sugah. Timbaland did production work on a number of projects with DeVante, including the 1995 Jodeci LP ''The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel'', and Sista's (unreleased) début LP ''4 All the Sistas Around da World''. Elliott began receiving recognition as a songwriter for artists such as R&B girl group 702 and MC Lyte. Due to Timbaland's connection with her, he was often contacted to produce remixes of her songs.

Career

1994–2005

Timbaland began his producing career for R&B acts. In the early-1990s, he produced a few songs for R&B acts such as Jodeci and Sista. In 1996, he made his mainstream breakthrough by producing the majority of both Aaliyah's second album '' One in a Million'' and Ginuwine's debut album '' Ginuwine...the Bachelor''. This included the major hit singles " If Your Girl Only Knew" by Aaliyah and "Pony" by Ginuwine. While Timbaland was initially producing for R&B artists, his trademark sound was very much rooted in hip-hop with its fast-paced nature and clear drum breaks. He was taking a hip-hop sound and applying it to R&B, and in this way his sound was instrumental in blurring the distinction between hip-hop and R&B production. In 1997, he fully produced ''Supa Dupa Fly'', the debut album of Missy Elliott, who had been a childhood friend of Mosley. In this album Timbaland continued with his now trademark electronic production style, but since Missy frequently rapped the music was considered hip-hop. Also in 1997, he released his first album with his partner Magoo, '' Welcome to Our World'', also a hip-hop album. In the late 1990s, his hip-hop production sound would become very influential and common as he produced for many high-profile hip-hop artists including Jay-Z, Nas, and The LOX. In 1999, he scored a major hit with Jay-Z and rap group UGK with the hit "Big Pimpin'". He also fully produced Missy's second album in 1999, '' Da Real World''. During this time, Timbaland continued to produce primarily for R&B artists. He continued to produce for Ginuwine and Aaliyah, as well as contributing significantly to albums by Xscape, Nicole, Playa, and Total. He remixed Usher's major hit "You Make Me Wanna". In the early 2000s Timbaland produced songs including Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)", Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito", Petey Pablo's "Raise Up", and Beck's cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" during this period. He also contributed three songs, all eventually released as singles, to Aaliyah’s self-titled third album, the exotic lead single " We Need a Resolution" (featuring himself rapping a verse), " More than a Woman", and the ballad "I Care 4 U". He also makes an appearance in Aaliyah's single " Try Again", which he also produced and co-wrote.

Timbaland & Magoo’s second album together was slated for release in November 2000. ''Indecent Proposal'' was to feature appearances by Beck, Aaliyah, as well as new Timbaland protégés—some from his new Beat Club Records imprint-- Ms. Jade, Kiley Dean, Sebastian (Timbaland's brother), Petey Pablo, and Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed for an entire year, finally released in November 2001. It was a commercial disappointment. Beck’s vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the last version, which instead featured Timbaland singing along Steve "Static" Garrett of Playa and Aaliyah. The first release on Beat Club was the début album by Bubba Sparxxx in September 2001, '' Dark Days, Bright Nights''. The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland. In a phone call to the MTV show ''Total Request Live'', Timbaland said:

Timbaland contributed three tracks to Tweet's debut album, '' Southern Hummingbird'', and produced most of Missy Elliott's fourth and fifth LPs, '' Under Construction'' and ''This Is Not a Test!''. He also produced tracks for artists such as Lil' Kim ("The Jump Off") and southern rapper Pastor Troy during this period. Collaborating with fellow producer Scott Storch, Timbaland also worked on a number of tracks on former *NSYNC lead singer Justin Timberlake’s solo debut, '' Justified'', including the song " Cry Me a River".

Late in 2003, Timbaland delivered the second Bubba Sparxxx album, Deliverance, and the third Timbaland & Magoo album, '' Under Construction, Part II'' Both albums were released to little fanfare or acclaim even though ''Deliverance'' was praised by reviews and embraced by the internet community. In 2004, Timbaland produced singles for LL Cool J, Xzibit, Fatman Scoop, and Jay-Z, and he produced the bulk of Brandy’s fourth album, '' Afrodisiac''. Timbaland co-wrote two tracks ("Exodus '04" and " Let Me Give You My Love") and produced three tracks of the American-Japanese Pop star Hikaru Utada’s second English album, '' Exodus''. He continued working on tracks for Tweet and for Elliott’s sixth album, '' The Cookbook'': "Joy (feat. Mike Jones)", and "Partytime" and continued to expand his reach with production for The Game and Jennifer Lopez ("He'll Be Back" from her fourth studio album, ''Rebirth'').

2006–2010

Timbaland started a new label, Mosley Music Group along with old friend and legendary Australian music producer John Servedio, also known as his stage name 'ServidSounds' who helped Timbaland bring in some talent from his former Beat Club Records label. On the new label were Nelly Furtado, Keri Hilson, and rapper D.O.E. In 2006 he produced Justin Timberlake's second solo studio album ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''. His vocals feature on the songs "SexyBack", "Sexy Ladies", "Chop Me Up", " What Goes Around... Comes Around" and on the prelude to " My Love" entitled "Let Me Talk to You". Timbaland provided vocals on several singles: The Pussycat Dolls' " Wait a Minute", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous", "Ice Box" by Omarion and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack". In an interview published in August 2006 in the UK Timbaland revealed he was working on a new LP by Jay-Z and that he had worked on tracks with Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Timbaland worked on seven songs for Björk's 2007 album, '' Volta'', including "Earth Intruders", "Hope", and " Innocence" and he later worked on tracks for the new Duran Duran album, '' Red Carpet Massacre'', including one featuring his frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake. Later in the year, Timbaland produced songs for Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's LP, ''Strength & Loyalty'' and the song " Ayo Technology" on 50 Cent’s album ''Curtis''. Timbaland also produced most of the tracks on Ashlee Simpson's third CD, ''Bittersweet World'', including the song " Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)". On April 3, 2007, Timbaland released a collaboration album featuring artists including 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliott, and others called ''Timbaland Presents Shock Value''. A rivalry flared up between Timbaland and record producer Scott Storch in early 2007. The tension initially started on the single " Give It to Me", when Timbaland anonymously backlashed Storch: "I'm a real producer and you rejust the piano man". In an interview, Timbaland confirmed that he was talking about Storch. The dispute partly stemmed from controversy regarding writing credits for Timberlake's "Cry Me a River".

Timbaland helped produce many albums for various artists in 2008, including Madonna's '' Hard Candy'', Ashlee Simpson's ''Bittersweet World'', Keri Hilson's '' In a Perfect World'', Flo Rida's ''Mail on Sunday'', Letoya Luckett's '' Lady Love'', Lindsay Lohan's ''Spirit in the Dark'', Chris Cornell's ''Scream'', JoJo's ''All I Want Is Everything'', Nicole Scherzinger's ''Her Name Is Nicole'', Missy Elliott's ''Block Party'', Matt Pokora's ''MP3'', Keithian's ''Dirrty Pop'', The Pussycat Dolls's ''Doll Domination'', Busta Rhymes's '' B.O.M.B'', Lisa Maffia's ''Miss Boss'', Teairra Mari's ''Pressed for Time'', Jennifer Hudson's début album, Dima Bilan's ''Believe'', Samantha Jade's ''My Name Is Samantha Jade'', New Kids on the Block's '' The Block'', and Keshia Chanté's '' Night & Day''. Timbaland produced the Russian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, " Believe" by Dima Bilan, which was co-written by Bilan and Jim Beanz. The song then won the contest when it was held in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2008. In February 2008 the first ''Fashion Against AIDS'' collection -an initiative of Designers Against AIDS and sold in H&M stores in 28 countries- was launched, for which Timbaland designed a T-shirt print, posed for the campaign and spoke out in a video, to help raise HIV/AIDS awareness among urban youth and to advocate safe sex. On February 8, 2008, it was announced that Timbaland would be releasing an album exclusively for Verizon Wireless's V CAST cell phone service and was designated its very first "Mobile Producer in Residence". Timbaland was to be joined by Mosley Music Group/ Zone 4 singer and songwriter Keri Hilson to begin work on the mobile album's first track aboard the fully equipped Mobile Recording Studio. The only track to surface so far is Garry Barry Larry Harry "Get It Girl". In Timbaland's first effort within the video game industry, he worked with Rockstar Games to produce '' Beaterator'', a music mixing game for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Network, and iOS released in the September 2009.

Timbaland spoke to MTV's Shaheem Reid back in July 2008 to confirm that he was working on the follow-up to his platinum selling ''Shock Value''. At the time he confirmed that he had one track with Madonna which although recorded for her album '' Hard Candy'' it had not been used and could end up on this album instead. He was insistent that he would also collaborate with Jordin Sparks, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and T.I. However, none of these collaborations (except Miley Cyrus) made it to the final track list. He also said that alongside T-Pain who would definitely appear, he hoped to get Jay-Z on board, although he ultimately failed to do so. Timbaland began working on the sequel to ''Shock Value'' in July 2008. In March 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his label, Blackground Records, alleging that they attempted to blackball him after he decided to move from music performance into production.

In September 2009, Timbaland announced that '' Shock Value II'' will be released on November 23, in Europe and November 24, in North America. However, it was pushed back to December 8, preceded by the first single which features a new recording artist named SoShy entitled " Morning After Dark". New featured guest appearances on the album include DJ Felli Fel, Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Bran'Nu, Drake, Chad Kroeger, Sebastian, Miley Cyrus, Melody Thornton, Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry, Esthero, The Fray, Jet, Daughtry, OneRepublic, Keri Hilson, Attitude and D.O.E.. Ultimately Madonna, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Usher, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Linkin Park, The All-American Rejects

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