longish SFJ piece on Timba and Neps in NY Times Magazine

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In response to Tim's sparse 2003 and yeah, I know the record will actually come out this year.

― Barima (Barima), Saturday, 14 February 2004 22:09 (twenty years ago) link

Neps released a lot of right shit, they did. But their site is pretty amazing.

― Sym (shmuel), Saturday, 14 February 2004 22:56 (twenty years ago) link

I agree with whoever said that one of the best thing about the production on Deliverance is the strong melodies. I think the unneccessarily furrow-browed minimalism of Timbo's other current aesthetic (TINAT/"Dirt Off Your Shoulder"/"Jump Off" etc.) is its biggest drawback.

The other great and almost exclusively Timbaland produced album is 100% Ginuwine, which is frequently amazing and is also a really nice summation of all of Tim's original bag of tricks.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 15 February 2004 06:19 (twenty years ago) link

Clones was aight, it def. had enough good tracks for me...the Ludacris one, Frontin', the N.O.R.E. track, Pop Shit, Hot Damn, Popular Thug, and the rest was solid.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 15 February 2004 17:09 (twenty years ago) link

yeah blows my mind had a great beat,shame snoop was fairly poor on it...

― robin (robin), Sunday, 15 February 2004 22:13 (twenty years ago) link

I just downloaded Blows My Mind. It's great, like 60s acid casualty psychedelia meets hip-hop.

― Sym (shmuel), Sunday, 15 February 2004 23:44 (twenty years ago) link

So can we agree that Clones was solid, despite the rock tracks?

― djdee2005, Monday, 16 February 2004 01:12 (twenty years ago) link

Surely its very solidity was its downfall though? I mean everyone here is saying there are some strong tracks but no-one agrees on which ones (for me it's "Blaze of Glory", "Frontin", "Pop Shit" and the NORE track) - the problem seems to be that hearing one solid/decent Neptunes track after another is kind of enervating, especially without the focus that a single performer or group brings to the table - maybe that's why the Kelis, NERD and first Clipse albums are all stronger than Clones. Although I'd argue that all of those tend to have better beats as well.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 16 February 2004 01:47 (twenty years ago) link

I do find "Clones" rather exhausting, if that's what you mean, Tim.

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 16 February 2004 13:43 (twenty years ago) link

It's not really an album though -- in the UK it was deemed a 'compilation' apparently. I liked 5 tracksa off it, which is more than I liked off 'In Search Of', but not astounding.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Monday, 16 February 2004 13:47 (twenty years ago) link

Just to clarify Tom, yeah, I was thinking more in terms of the number of Timba records sold last year compared to say 2000 onwards rather than his fees, which didn't really come into it.

Tim is otm in his Geir-like reference to melody (I'm just playin'). For me, '03 Tim was about the tracks he did for Bubba and Kiley, which prize melodies, instrumental touches, genre-jumping/blending and (in the latter artists's case) harmonies and singing skills (hell, even the 'Deliverance' hook is very cool), esp. over his beat weirdness and general flights of fancy - and let's be real, after the years he's put in, he can't suprise and/or interest with those forever. Obv the Missy record has some worthy stuff too, but he really meant it about giving the two Beat Clubbers some of his best work. He also still has that "one or two decent tracks with Magoo per album" mojo going - 'Indian Flute' is good - not earth-rocking, but still mondo enjoyable.

Also otm is the observation about the Neps' hit'n'miss ratio - last year I tallied about 6 Tim tracks to about 4 Neps in an imaginary top 82 singles I wrote at work - this sin't a big diff, but the Tim tracks were consistently high too - 'Gossip Folks' was 1= (the other was 'No Good Advice') and 'Cry Me A River' is still better than 'Rock Your Body'.

― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 20:12 (twenty years ago) link

well kiley dean 'make me a song' deserves a million word piece! but not for it's progessiveness or anything. in fact i think it might totally be the key to working out the fallen timbaland angel thing. i think sfj was the first to bring its fuckedupness up too

― prima_fassy (mwah), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago) link

There's no way I'd accuse 'Make Me A Song' of being Kiley at her best.

― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 21:21 (twenty years ago) link

There's no way I'd accuse 'Make Me A Song' of being Kiley at her best. Or Tim for that matter.

― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 21:22 (twenty years ago) link

yeah gossip folks and cry me a river are among my favourite timbaland tracks

― robin (robin), Thursday, 19 February 2004 06:52 (twenty years ago) link

I've gotten bored with hip-hop. I'm about to totally change my whole image in 2004. It's going to shock people. Q: What are you going to do that will be so shocking? A: I can't say right now, but it will involve endorsements and TV.

― JoB (JoB), Thursday, 19 February 2004 09:31 (twenty years ago) link

hmmmm.. basically everyone here has the same opinion in here.. both timbaland and the neptunes are extremely gifted producers.. but timbaland is superior to them..

my opinion is that timbaland is an amazing producer... his unpredictable drum patterns have brought him success with the likes of aaliyah,missy, luda, and jay z. ( in the club is my favorite tim beat of all time).. i think that tim though, works best with certain people. ( the ones i just mentioned) its just like the magic quincy jones possessed when working with mj..

i just don't think that he is in anyway better than chad and pharrell though... their resume has a variety of artists in many genre's ( dancehall, hip hop, r&b, alternative, pop).. hell.. even the rolling stones...

yeah, tim has a bigger list of hits.. or classics at the moment... he did have at a headstart of at least 2 years...

i think the reason that i like the neptunes better... i prefer their simple minmalistic, yet bass-driven, catchy hook tracks, better than tims sometimes overshadowing beats which can make some of his produced-songs sound confusing...

another issue with tim... is that he isn't fully responsible for all his beats.. some of the songs you mentioned... cry me a river was co produced by scott storch.. a lot of the missy songs were co produced by her... the article even mentions static playing a role in the melody of Are you that somebody.. these songs are all amazing... but i don't think of cry me a river as a timbaland beat... it is a tim/storch beat ( storch plays the keyboard which is my favorite component of that particular beat).. yes the neptunes are 2 people but there are a lot of single producers who don't co produce ( swizz, premier, rockwilder, just blaze)..

there is a lot more points that i have.. but i hope that people can reply to my post.

― James B., Saturday, 21 February 2004 18:46 (twenty years ago) link

Scott Storch just played keyboards on cry me a river. That was prod. by Timbaland.

― djdee2005, Saturday, 21 February 2004 19:48 (twenty years ago) link

storch plays the keyboard which is my favorite component of that particular beat

What?! The best bit of that beat is the fact that it sounds like someone's brushing their teeth over the top.

― Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 21 February 2004 20:53 (twenty years ago) link

Naw the best part of the beat is the stuttered vocal sample that rides through the chorus.

― djdee2005, Saturday, 21 February 2004 21:00 (twenty years ago) link

no.. i have the liner notes with me.. it was co produced by storch.. it doesn't matter.. im sure that tim composed the majority of that beat anyway.. im just saying that half of his beats aren't fully produced by himself

― James. B, Sunday, 22 February 2004 00:56 (twenty years ago) link

Just had to add that Rumpshaker needs to get into these discussions. Damn, Pharrell was in high school then! And Teddy Riley really is the one who weaved hip-hop and R&B.

― Milky, Sunday, 29 February 2004 15:08 (twenty years ago) link

two months pass...

The neptunes are simply a collection of music we hear everyday, but just takes the left way when it comes to that intersection. producers these days have good platforms but then take the route which already has a footprint of previous artists, and when time comes to being different, they try to be different in a common way. The thing with timbaland and neptunes is that they are observers as well as producers, and they know that music has routes. like plants and life form nothing would be possible withought roots.good would not be possible without the roots of good. in each one of their tracks their are routes of old tracks. you can tell a knockoff as one who throws in too many symbals or base to get their point across when it could be less suddle. "A mind with no ceiling," Roy Ayers and Ramp. commercial is commercial ur mind is art and we will all be amazed by art not commercials we are used to seeing after every new reality show. these might be just words but think about it. Im glad i have discovered this at age 18. watchout we are coming!TRUST, WE WILL TAKE A DIFFERENT ROUTE. hoping to inspire someone else to be brave enough to take another.SEENSITIIIIIIZZZEEE.

P.S. Patrick P. im lookin for u man. we wont meet na but we surely will man

― John Udemba (SIGNALS), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 15:50 (twenty years ago) link

seven months pass...

so why did that "white flag" remix never actually materialize?

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 27 December 2004 00:19 (nineteen years ago) link

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