Where is Nicole Wray?

It's been a long time since we've heard from Nicole Wray. If you haven't peeped her Lady or Lady Ray projects, I suggest you check them out. Here's she is taking us through the history of her career (she can still blow!):

 

New Ne-Yo "Right Now" produced by Timbaland

Here is a new leaked Ne-Yo track produced by Timbaland which sadly has the DJ tags on it. Was this a left over from 'Yo latest album 'Non-Fiction'? Or perhaps from an earlier session? Guess we will have to wait and see. You feelin' it?

Opera Noir Preview

You know you're as excited as we are! Who knows the sample from the first track?

Samantha Mumba "Personalities" (FULL)!

It's your boy Boogie here coming to you with a track we've been waiting for over 5 years, yes I said 5 years. Way back, Timbo with the help of Danja, worked on a track for Irish R&B singer Samantha Mumba called "Personalities." Up until now we've only heard a snippet but low and behold after doing some recent digging after years of being hidden away in my cave, I stumbled upon the full version here: I've said it since day #1 and I'll say it again: the Chronicles is always gonna give it to you first. We started this shit! Shout out to my dude Czar for keeping this blog alive and running.

Timbaland Stops by "The Breakfast Club"

Well, it seems like Timbo is in high promotion mode. He recently stopped by "The Breakfast Club" (on Power 105.1 in NYC) to give one of the most in-depth interviews. He talks Jay-Z, Shock Value III (which he's also calling Ezekiel's Will), Missy, Magoo, unreleased Aaliyah records (and how he feels about Drake doing something on an Aaliyah song), who he ranks as the top hip hop producers of all time, his health and depression issues, and the politics of the music industry. Without a doubt, this is one of the dopest interviews (for me, though, his 2hr interview with Tim Westwood is my favorite). Check it out:



For those who've never heard the interview with Tim Westwood:

Timbaland and Dev Interview on Shade 45

Peep this interview with Timbo and Dev where they talk about their recent collaborations, including "Break Ya Back." Check it out:



Props to Timbaland Passion for the heads up!

Missy and Timbaland Perform New and Old Songs in NYC

Last night in New York City, Timbaland and Missy rocked the crowd in celebration of Hennessy's Wild Rabbit Campaign launch. According to hiphopdx.com, Timbaland performed "Sexyback," "Promiscuous Girl," and a few Aaliyah and Jay-z tracks. Missy soon joined him to perform "Get Ur Freak On," and "9th Inning" and "Triple Threat" off Missy's upcoming album. Here's some video footage of Missy and Timbaland (along with an appearance by Les Twins!):

"9th Inning":


"Triple Threat":


"Get Ur Freak on":


We'll post more video footage of the performance as soon as it comes available. Ps., for Keri Hilson fans, she was also in appearance.

This Thursday: "Aaliyah: Behind the Music" (Remastered) UPDATED WITH FULL FOOTAGE

For Timstans and Aaliyah fans, you're probably scratching your head with this post. Yes, VH1 has already produced a Behind the Music episode about Aaliyah. But this Thursday, VH1 is going to air a remastered and updated version of the classic Behind the Music episode. Here's what VH1 has to say about the episode:

"More than ten years after the tragic death of Aaliyah, Behind The Music revisits the original 2001 episode that documented the career and untimely passing of the young talent considered the Princess of R&B. We'll look back into Aaliyah's impressive career - from her meteoric rise to her shocking end. Along with tributes from her family and peers, we include fresh updates - featuring new interviews with close friend Missy Elliott and esteemed hip hop journalist, Nelson George."

I honestly can't wait to hear what new stuff Missy is going to say about Babygirl. The episode airs at 9pm EST on VH1, so be sure to set your DVRs.

UPDATE!
Here's the full video of the remastered episode. Props to BooDi Bin Timbo on the link!



"Best Moments" from the Episode:

Justin Bieber Talks Collaborating with Timbaland on "Believe" Album

Justin Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun, recently sat down with Complex Magazine to discuss his upcoming album, Believe, and they discussed Bieber's recent studio time with Timbaland. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Is it rappy? Poppy? Any experimental stuff for you?

JB: The stuff he’s blessing me with has been crazy. He’s giving us really fire stuff, crazy beats. We’re making it a great collaboration. He meshes well with a lot of great people, like he meshes well with Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado. I’m hoping I’m another one that he meshes well with, because it could be really genius.

JB: His beats are crazy, and they’re not too like...

SB: I think also, he has conversations with you about music, and he asks you what you’re thinking and feeling. With everyone else, they’re just here to make tracks, and that’s not what we’re looking for. Tim is having a real conversation with him to get a feel for what he needs, and that’s why Tim is one of the best that ever did it, as a producer. And I can tell you he’s excited, because he wants to do this. It’s not a project that we asked him to do. He wanted to do it, and so did we.

JB: Yo, Tim played me some records that he and Justin did—crazy.

SB: There’s, like, a vault of them [Laughs]. I talked to Tim on the phone the other day, and I’m going to see him for the first time, because I just flew in this morning, but the thing that he said to me that I was excited about was, “He’s played me the stuff that he’s done already, and I’m just excited, because it seems like Bieber’s going for the forever record and not the kiddie shit. This album’s going to shock people.” And everyone that’s gone into the studio and heard everything that he’s done already, has come out and said, “I’m fucking so excited for this album.” And we’ll do all the cameos at the end. I will tell you this, we’re not putting out this album until all of us, as a family, can look at each other and say, “This is the best this album can possibly be.” And he and I have had these conversations. We talk about it. It’s a make-or-break.

You can read the full interview here.

Well, it looks like Tim is working on some stuff with Justin Timberlake as well (SV3? New Justin album? More FreeSol records?). What do you think of the Beiber/Timbo collab? Do you think Tim's going to push the needle of pop music like he did with Nelly Furatdo and Justin Timberlake?

The Thomas Crown Leaks: "I Don't Love You," "Gravity," "Show Dat Bra," "Diippin' in my Cadillac" "Bank Robber," and..."Cover's Blown"

Over the past 36 hours a surprisingly high number of unreleased/unfinished Timbo tracks have leaked. Don't know if this is just great timing or what, but check out these unreleased records.

Up first, Lyrica Anderson's "I Don't Love You":


Second, an unreleased and unfinished track called "Gravity" that was probably for Shock Value II (it's reminiscent of Lloyd's "Be the One," which was produced by Polow):


Third, is another track that was probably slated to be on SVII. It's called "Show Dat Bra," and it features Timbo, Attitude, and Bran'nu/Brandy. The melody by Brandy is clearly an interpolation of her previous collab with Tim, "Believer," which sampled "Arrival to Earth" from the Transformers Soundtrack. Anyway, check it out:


Fourth, peep this collab between Rick Ross and Snoop that Tim played at SXSW. The song is called "Dippin' in my Cadillac."


Fifth, check out Justin Timberlake ft. James Fauntleroy "Bank Robber." My guess is this is a demo for another artist. Any ideas?


Finally, we have the leak of the long awaited "Cover's Blown" (although it's an unfinished version since Sebastian's verse is missing). Brian Byrd had this to say about the leak: "After FIVE years, finally leaked.. i guess imma make this track da finale of #TimbalandThursdays" Peep it:


What do y'all think about all these tracks leaking at the same time? Are y'all feeling the tracks in general? Was "Cover's Blown" worth the five year wait? Let us know!

Shout out to timnmagoo3 for the Brandy/Tim heads up!

Finally!! Lil' Mo ft. Missy Elliott - "5 Minutes (Timbaland Remix)" IN FULL!

No need for an intro, just enjoy!



MAJOR MAJOR PROPS TO Kyle Daniel and The Timbaland Passion!!

The Making of "Aaliyah"

As I was re-watching Tim's behind the scenes discussion of "Are you that Somebody?" I was reminded of an article that The Chronicles meant to post last year, but somehow forgot. Last summer, the folks over at YouKnowIGotSoul.com published the dopest interview with the producers behind Aaliyah's classic self-titled album, Aaliyah. They interviewed Digital Black from Playa, Tank, Bud'da, Rapture, J-Dub, and Tim Barnett (Static's personal assistant). The in-depth interview not only goes into the writing and recording process of the album, but also a song-by-song (including unreleased tracks!) analysis. I'm telling you, I was blown away by this article. You can read the full interview here, but below are some highlights that I think y'all will find interesting:

How Static became the driving force behind the album, Aaliyah
Tim Barnett: “Static came in the picture when Timbaland and Missy were having disagreements with Blackground. If Tim and Missy were there, Static probably wouldn’t have had a chance to work as many records as he did.”

Aaliyah's spirit
Digital Black: “She was fun. Me and Static were blessed to go to prom with her, Playa went to her prom. She was family, she was our little sister.”

Tim Barnett: “She always had a glow about herself that made everyone feel comfortable and equal. I think her energy made people like Timbaland and Static to not feel like they were better than anyone else, whether it was me or a friend who was with Black. It was like ‘If Aaliyah is this humble, there’s no way I can’t be that humble.’”

Direction of the album
Digital Black: “We were blessed to be able to tailor make songs and basically just knowing the person and being around the person. We know what they’re thinking and what they like. In the studio, she was like a sponge. Whatever we had to do, it was never ‘I don’t like that’ and I’m still there were times she felt like that but she chose to at least try it. It was just like working with a family member.”

Bud’da: “We were trying to do as much as we could and try to put an album together for her to be able to hear and see what she felt. It was amazing. Static and Aaliyah fit like a glove together. They fit like a glove to where once she got on it, it wasn’t exactly the way you remembered it when Static would do it, she would put her own touch on it and it would work. All of the songs came from Static’s writing, but both he and Aaliyah had been talking about direction on where she wanted to go, and she talked with me about direction on vibe and the sound she wanted it to be.”

Recording process of Aaliyah
Rapture: “...On that particular album, we collectively just wanted to make the best possible album that we could. It was really like a family type of thing, there wasn’t any hostility recording that album and that’s why the album came out the way it did. No one was competing to try to out produce somebody else. Everybody had their own style to bring to the table, so that made it a collective effort from everybody because we knew each person was going to bring fire to the project, so it wasn’t even an issue. It was almost crazy because in the studio we would be in one room, J-Dub would be in another room and Bud’da would be in another room. So pretty much between Static and Black, they would kind of just bounce around to the various rooms. It’s funny because they don’t write lyrics down, so it was almost amazing for them to work on like 10 songs at a time[...]She was very precise and very fast in the booth. For the most part, Static hardly ever had to write the words down for her because she would come in the studio, she would listen to the song one time and she would be like ‘Okay, you just give it to me line for line while I go in there.’ And he would just go in there and sing her a couple of lines and then she would lay it. It wasn’t even a long drawn out process. She had so many other things she was doing, so she wouldn’t really sit in the studio all day. We might go in around two in the afternoon and she would come in around seven and she would stay for three hours and lay a whole song.”

How Tim finally got involved with the album
Tim Barnett: “We went back to New York and did them in either Sound King or Manhattan studio. We did them right after the New Year. Part of the problem was Timbaland and Missy weren’t even going to be on the album because of problems with Blackground. Aaliyah talked Tim into producing records for the album, so Timbaland did it out of love for Babygirl.”

The making of "We Need a Resolution"
Digital Black: “We Need a Resolution” was about relationships, a lot of songs with her were about her becoming a woman and coming of age. A lot of records dealt with stuff that people actually had to go through."

The making of "Rock the Boat"
Rapture: “That’s actually a funny story because when Seats and I were doing that track, we were at the studio earlier before Playa came to the studio, we were working on that track, but the funny thing is we didn’t like it the way it was. It was just the beat and a couple of sounds and we were like ‘It’s cool, but we’ll come back to it.’ It’s funny because as we were going to something else, Static had just got there and they heard the song coming down the hall, so when he got there we already cut it off and he came to the door and was like ‘Wait put that back, what is that?’ He told us to pull it back up and he instantly got the melody and he went right in the booth and he didn’t do any words, he just put the melody down. And then the next couple of days, he did the whole song.”

The making of "More than a Woman"
Tim Barnett: “One night, Static was vibing to the track and the following day he recorded the first version. He went back and kept listening to it and didn’t like it and said ‘I can do something bigger and better to it’/ So he rewrote the whole record the next day. Aaliyah wasn’t at the studio at the time when Static did the first version, so she never got to hear it.”

The making of "I Refuse"
J-Dub: “I don’t know where that came from. I was on one and I was just zoned out. While I was doing that track, I was working with Static Major and Static wrote the hell out of it. That’s the story on that one.” *laughs*

Just like Tim's video that we posted a couple of days ago, this interview just makes me miss and appreciate Aaliyah and Static so much. RIP...

"Cover's Blown" Extended Snippet!

Since that infamous Shock Value promotion video in 2007, Timstans have been waiting on and wishing for the release of "Cover's Blown," an infectious track (featuring Tim, Sebastian, Attitude, and Keri Hilson) that sadly didn't make the album cut. And it seemed like we might get the track as a part of Timbaland Thursdays, but alas, that wasn't the case. Yet, we still have hope as an extended snippet of the song leaked today. Check it out:



With this leak, it seems like we are *that* much closer to getting the full version of "Cover's Blown." Let's all hit up Byrd and/or Tim and convince them to put this on as a bonus track for SV3 lol.

Props again to The Timbaland Passion for the heads up and support!

Dev ft. Timbaland - "Don't Hurt It" (Final Mastered Version)

Peep the final mastered version of Dev's "Don't Hurt It," which features Timbo and is produced by The Cataracs:



Thanks to The Timbaland Passion for the heads up!

Timbaland Discusses the Making of "Are you that Somebody"

Brian Byrd just posted a recent video of Tim in the studio talking about the night that Timbo, Static, and Aaliyah came up with and recorded "Are you that Somebody." While most of us know the track was recorded and mixed in just a couple of hours, we didn't know the ins and outs of how it all came about. Check out this very dope discussion of the making of "Are you that Somebody?":



Hearing Tim talk about Aaliyah and Static just reminds me of how amazing they were and how much I miss them. RIP Baby Girl and Static.

Missy Elliott ft. Timbaland - "Ring-A-Ling-A-Ling" (Snippet)

For those who've seen Tim's performance at SXSW, you're more than familiar with the track I'm posting today. The song is called "Ring-a-ling-a-ling" and will be on Missy's highly anticipated album, Block Party. It's only a snippet, and sadly only Tim is rapping, but you can still hear the beat and chorus of the track. Peep:



Thoughts?

Timbaland at SXSW

I have to be honest, and say that I am jealous of any of the Timstans out there who saw Tim perform at SXSW last weekend. Music blogs and critics have been talking about Timbaland's set all day today. Here's what one music critic had to say about Timbo at SXSW:

But the highlight of the evening, and actually one of my highlights of all of SXSW 2012, was special guest Timbaland. Tim hit the stage to team with Dev on his raw, hard-hitting new single "Break Ya Back" ("Dev is part of the Superfriends now," Timbaland told the crowd, referring to his famous posse of regular collaborators), then apparently refused to leave. Of course, no one was complaining about this one bit. "I know you've all been missing me, but daddy's back and I'm here to save music!" he boldly announced. After giving the undiscovered, unsigned artists in the crowd a pep talk about never giving up on their musical dreams (fitting, since Perez's party was in conjunction with VH1's Save The Music), Timbaland tore into a set of his many hits with his Superfriends, including Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back," Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous Girl," OneRepublic's "Apologize," and Missy Elliott's "Work It," along with his own "Carry Out," "Say Something," "The Way I Are," and "Give It To Me." The set went on and on and on--in fact, when a security guard tried to escort the photographers in front (who normally are only allowed to shoot during an artist's first three songs) away from the front of the stage, Tim protested, asking the snappers to stay and ordering, "Keep taking them pictures, baby!" He looked like he was having just way too much fun, shouting, "I don't want to leave the stage; I've got too many hits!" Finally he called it a night, bragging, "We saved the music today," but not before performing a snippet of another new banging song from the forthcoming Shock Value III that proved Timbaland is BACK. And he was right--I have missed him!

Timbo IS back!! Now, here's some youtube footage of Tim at SXSW, including a snippet of his track with Rick Ross:







Timbaland also showcased some songs from Shock Value 3 including "Break Ya Back," "Red Bone," and others. Tim even performed some tracks off the upcoming Missy album. Tim has requested that no one share the LiveStream video with the footage of these new recordings, so we're not going to post it. But, as is always the case when stuff gets leaked on the internet, you can easily find the video.

If you're a Timstan who went to SXSW, be sure to let us know your thoughts and experience, and most importantly, your feelings on Timbo's set!

Break Ya Back (Full and Explicit Version)

Check out the full and explicit version of "Break Ya Back," which includes an extra verse from Timbo:



Thanks to our friends at The Timbaland Passion for the heads up!

Thoughts?

PS, check out what Tim had to tell Z104 about the making of "Break Ya Back":



Props to BooDi Bin Timbo!

Timbaland ft. Dev - "Break Ya Back"

After a little over a year since Missy first told us about this song, we finally get to hear "Break Ya Back" (thanks to Z104 WNVZ out of Norfolk, VA which exclusively premiered the tune). The track features Dev and is slated for Shock Value 3. Peep the record:



Thoughts? While it's only a radio rip, do you think Missy's right in saying that "Break Ya Back" will "change the way hip hop is all over?"

Happy Birthday Timbo!!!!!

A HUGE Happy Birthday to the one, the only, Timothy Zachery Mosley aka Timbaland. Without a doubt, you've changed the way we listen to, dance to, write to, and experience music. Given that this is Timbo's birthday, I thought I'd reshare a little behind the scenes story that Tim shared with some of his fans about two of my favorite Timbo records "Party People" and "Indian Carpet." Peep the story from The King himself:

food for thought - ya boi Jay-Z always use to come thru the studio when i was workin in nyc. so i said to him one day while he was sittin on the couch, yo i may got somethang for you. he said cool where it at? so i played him the instrumental for "party people" he bop his head said whooo. than after the whoo!! you just saw mumbling almost lookin like he was possess by a something, then 15-20mins later he said "yo i'm ready can i go in the booth" i was like sappy ready for wat? he said "you wanted 16 rite? i said yea if you got it. he said "yeah i got it" the engineer plays the track and this was his 1st take . no stoppin just pausing for the ad-libbing. now mind you i'm sittin there like na no way that had to be written but then i thought how he knew to go off that sound in my beat? he walks out & was like cool? i was dayum rite cool haha. i just look at him like dude you think your good don't you. he just reply wit that famous laugh & said "wat else you got" so i played him this other beat & told him nah fool i cant put you on this one cuz this is for timbaland & magoo he said "then nigga why you play it" i said cause i like to piss you off like dat. i told him i was still workin on my verse he said "play the track" this is no lie he gets up walks to the kitchen grabs something to drink & starts that mumbling again. i'm like why does this fool keep mumblin. then out of no where you hear a loud whoooo from him. i'm like whooo wat. he keeps mumbling after we loop the track for like 30mins. around 45mins he said "can i lay this" i said lay what. he said "lay this verse" i said dummy didn't i just tell you dis is for timbaland and magoo? he said "i know this ain't for me" he goes in & laid a verse that had nuthin to do wit him but something about me. then said on the mic "yo how many verse you said you needed? i was like what the hell is goin on. me & my engineer jimmy dougalus look at each other like wow. so to make a long story short he laid both verses i learned them and gave y'all this: ("indian carpet"). now go back & listen to the lyrics. just know one of the greatest of all time will forever be Jay-Z. when i get some more time i'll hit y'all wit some crazy justin timberlake stories of us in the studio and why he is one of the greatest also.

Tim, you are simply one of the greatest to ever do it. Hope you enjoy this day with friends and family. From all the Timstans across the world, we love you and we thank you! Happy birthday!!!!!