b. Timothy Mosley, 10 March 1971, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Timbaland established himself as one of the hottest producers of the 90s and 00s thanks to his highly acclaimed work with hip-hop and R&B artists including Aaliyah, Missy Elliott and Ginuwine.
Since the late 80s Mosley has worked on and off with rapper Magoo and childhood friend Elliott, both fellow Virginians, and songwriter Steve "Static" Garrett. Timbaland's concerted efforts to break into the music business bore its first fruits on Jodeci's Diary Of A Mad Band and The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel, co-writing the latter's "Bring On Da Funk". His real breakthrough came in 1996, when he wrote and produced Ginuwine's debut Ginuwine ... The Bachelor and Aaliyah's One In A Million, the follow-up to her R. Kelly-produced debut. Timbaland worked his magic touch on stand-out tracks such as "Pony" (Ginuwine) and "If Your Girl Only Knew", "4 Page Letter" and "One In A Million" (all Aaliyah). The funky syncopated beats, characterised by the use of a short snare drum sound, confirmed the arrival of a new southern dynamic to rival the traditional east coast/west coast hip-hop axis.
On a roll, Timbaland then wrote and produced hits for SWV, Destiny's Child, Total and Nas before hooking up with Elliott, his other long-term musical partner. Timbaland and Magoo's major contributions to Elliott's Supa Dupa Fly, notably the hugely popular single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", helped make the "Timbaland method' the defining sound of late 90s rap and R&B. He built on his success with October 1997"s Welcome To Our World, a joint effort with Magoo that was hailed as one of the year's key albums. It was premiered by "Up Jumps Da' Boogie", a Top 10 R&B/number 12 Hot 100 hit in September. The following May's "Clock Strikes" single sampled the theme to Knight Rider, and reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. By now Timbaland was heavily in-demand as a producer, and the soundtracks for Can't Hardly Wait and Dr. Dolittle included his remixes of Elliott's "Hit 'Em Wit Da' Hee", Busta Rhymes' "Turn It Up/Fire It Up", Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" and All Saints' "Lady Marmalade". He then worked with Elliott's protégée Nicole on her August 1998 breakthrough, Make It Hot, and collaborated with Elliott on the soundtrack to Why Do Fools Fall In Love, which included Destiny Child's "Get On The Bus", Coko's "He Be Back", Total's "What The Dealio", and the Missy Elliott collaborations with Busta Rhymes ("Get Contact") and Melanie B. of the Spice Girls ("I Want You Back"). Timbaland also contributed to Jay-Z's chart-topping Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life ("Ni*** What, Ni*** Who", "Paper Chase"), and, in November, released his debut set Tim's Bio, the soundtrack to a purported movie about his life and music. The following March saw the release of Ginuwine's eagerly awaited new set, 100% Ginuwine, and in June Elliott's second album Da Real World received excellent reviews.
Timbaland's success as a producer facilitated the establishment of his own record label, Beat Club, and he enjoyed immediate commercial success at the start of the new millennium with the artists Bubba Sparxxx and Ms. Jade. His continuing high-profile status as a producer saw him sprinkling gold dust on tracks by Ludacris, Justin Timberlake, Tweet, Brandy, the Game and Snoop Dogg. The producer also teamed up with Magoo on the albums Indecent Proposal (2001) and Under Construction Part II (2003). Following the closure of Beat Club, he launched the Mosley Music Group label in 2005. After a couple of relatively fallow years, he re-emerged as a major commercial force in 2006 with huge hits by Nelly Furtado ("Maneater", "Promiscuous", "Say It Right") and Timberlake ("SexyBack", "My Love", "What Goes Around ... Comes Around'). Furtado and Timberlake featured on 2007"s chart-topping single "Give It To Me", which was drawn from the solo album Presents Shock Value. Other guests on the album included Elton John, Fall Out Boy and Dr. Dre.
