Timothy Zachary Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ.
Starting his DJing career in his teens, childhood friend Missy Elliott introduced him to DeVante Swing, who recruited him as a producer. He soon rose to prominence, producing most of Aaliyah's second album, One in a Million, and Ginuwine's debut album, Ginuwine...the Bachelor. From that point, he became a sought-after producer for R&B and hip-hop artists. He has produced for Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, and many, many others. In 2006, he founded his own record label, Mosely Music Group, a subsidiary of Interscope Records. He's also the co-founder of the Verzuz music battle series, alongside Swizz Beatz.
Timbaland is also cousins with fellow producer and singer Pharrell Williams, and they've collaborated on various songs
Discography:
- Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment (1998)
- Shock Value (2007)
- Shock Value II (2009)
Tropes:
- Genre-Busting: What made Timbaland stand out among his peers at the time was the heavy EDM influence in his beats, especially in his work with Aaliyah and Ginuwine. His beats have been compared to jungle and drum and bass, though he denied being influenced by those genres.
- Hip Hop Soul: One of the architects of the sound, and is cited as the reason why hip-hop and R&B gradually took more explicit influence from electronic music.
- Supergroup: Was originally part of DeVante Swing's Swing Mob collective, which also featured Missy Elliot and Ginuwine.
