Timbaland

Timbaland

Timothy Zachery Mosley, born on March 10, 1972 in Norfolk, Virginia, is a popular American musician and recording artist. He attended Salem High School at Virginia Beach. Having interest in music since his childhood, he was known as “DJ Tim” or “DJ Timmy Tim”. The first tracks he composed were on a Casio keyboard at home. He started collaborating with other artists from his high school days, which included Melvin Barcliff (who performed under the stage name “Magoo”) as well as Pharrell Williams. He later worked with Magoo on his albums “Indecent Proposal” and “Under Construction Pt. II”.

Some of his other friends included Terrence Thornton and Gene Thorton, better known as “Pusha T” and “Malice”, members of a rap group called “Clipse”. As a teenager, Timbaland joined a rap group called “S.B.I” (which stood for “Surrounded by Idiots”). At the age of 15, Timbaland was accidentally shot in the arm by his co-worker, which left him paralyzed on one side of his body for almost nine months. During his time in recovery, he learnt how to DJ using his left hand.

One of the singers that he collaborated with was Missy Elliott. Elliott was part of an R&B band called Sista, which was signed on by a successful producer DeVante Swing to his record label “Swing Mob”. Timbaland was involved in many of their productions, including the 1995 album “The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel”. Timbaland soon began making a name for himself and collaborating with dozens of artists. One of these included the album “Ginuwine…the Bachelor” for the rapper Ginuwine. He also produced the Aaliyah’s album titled “One in a Million” on which he again worked alongside Missy Elliot. Some of the albums he solely produced for Elliott include “Da Real World” and “Miss E…So Addictive”.

Another famous artist that Timbaland worked with was the hip hop singer and producer Jay-Z, for his album “Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter”. He also worked on Justin Timberlake’s hit 2002 album “Justified” which included the hit single “Cry Me a River”. In 2006, Timbaland founded his own record label named Mosley Music Group. One of the first hit artists he signed was Nelly Furtado, for whom he produced the album “Loose” as well as Justin Timberlake with his album “Future Sex/Love Sounds”. Other artists he has worked with include Destiny’s Child, Madonna, M.I.A., the Fray, Ashlee Simpson, Snoop Dogg and Björk. Timbaland has also released two of his own albums, namely “Timbaland Presents Shock Value” in 2007 and “Shock Value II” in 2009.

Timbaland has also worked in television production, and was signed on to supervise the music production of the soap opera “Empire” by director Lee Daniels. Timbaland is the executive music producer of this hit TV show, which includes actors Taraji Henson and Terrence Howard in the cast. It has become a major hit and has its own soundtrack as well. Some of his other projects include working with Rockstar Games to produce a music mixing game called “Beaterator” which is available on the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Network and iOS.

Timbaland is married to Monique Idlett with whom he has a daughter. Idlett filed for divorce in 2013, but the two later reconciled. She also works with him on music production for “Empire”. In October 2008, Timbaland was inducted into the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin as an Honorary Patron.


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