Timbaland

Timothy Z. Mosley, better known around the world as Timbaland, was born and brought up in Norfolk, Virginia. There he was acquainted with Missy Elliott and rapper Magoo (Melvin Barcliff). After Missy heard Timothy's DJ work she was so impressed that immediately proposed cooperation. Soon the trio moved to Suffern, New York. There Missy passed the audition for a label with her band Sista. Elliott took Barcliff and Mosley to the studio. The head of the label gave Timothy his pseudonym Timbaland. The young producer did a lot of work for the Swing Mob label. In 1995, Magoo, Timbaland and Elliott broke their ties with the facility. However, they continued their collaboration and Timbaland's remix on Missy's Steelo became his first serious producer success in 1996. The same year Timbaland produced the whole debut disc The Bachelor by Ginuwine and became known to a wide auditory. The disc featured compositions that sounded typical for the so called Timbaland’s signature sound - syncopated rhythm, similar to samba or jungle music, unusual drum beats and odd sound effects (especially vocal ones).

Immediately after this release famous R&B artist Aaliyah asked Timbaland and Missy Elliott to produce and write songs for her second work, One In A Million. This album sold more than 11 million copies and made Timbaland, Elliott and Aaliyah superstars. By the end of 90s, Timbaland and Elliott were one of the most prolific and famous songwriting and producing commands. Timbaland's fashionable sound was on the albums of the Destiny's Child, Jay-Z, Nas and others. The producer released two discs of his own - one with Magoo, and his debut solo album, called Tim's Bio: Life From Da Bassment in 1998. Timbaland's influence on musical industry was tremendous. Firstly, his success spawned a flood of his sound imitators, making a shift to lighter, synthesized tracks. Secondly, as Timbaland worked in both hip-hop and R&B industries, he decided to combine them. Nowadays the border between these genres became almost unseen. He also put in fashion the use of Asian-style instrumentation and music.

In 2001, Timbaland contributed to the third self-titled Aaliyah's album. She, in her turn, participated on the producer's second album with Magoo. Aaliyah's death in a plane crash strongly influenced the artist; he even reduced the volume of his activity. Later Timbaland worked over the album Justified of the former N'Sync member Justine Timberlake. In late 2003, he finished the third record with Magoo titled Under Construction, Part II. From 2004, the famous producer works officially over many LP's with his protegee Danja. By 2006, Timbaland already had an impressive list of celebrities he had cooperated with. In 2007, many of these stars took part on his second solo album Shock Value. After the release of Shock Value the musician was preparing for the wedding with the mother of his child in 2008. In 2009 Timbaland issued his third studio album Shock Value II.