Friday, December 7, 2007

Backstage with Timbaland

I'm not going to lie, I've always thought "what would I say/do when I meet Timbaland?" Would I say what a big fan I was, would I stay quiet, would I tell him about my collection of rare Timbo tracks and dork out? Well Tuesday night I was put to the test as I got backstage passes not only to meet Timbo, but D.O.E, Keri Hilson, Sebastian, Freestyle Steve, One Republic and the whole crew at a radio show here in Seattle, WA.

2 people went that night to meet Timbaland and the crew: J Boogie the writer for The Chronicles who thought of a million questions to ask everyone and who brought an iPod full of alternate version and snippet Timbo tracks to see if I could impress the man ha! And Josh the Timbaland fan who was trying to not to freak out that I was meeting not only an idol, but someone I have been listening to all of my adult life.

I'll tell you what J Boogie got from the experience:

D.O.E: He's working hard on the new album. Instead of choosing nothing but big time producers for the project which means more money but more importantly more time wasted on getting everyone's schedule in line, D.O.E has been using a lot of up and coming producers looking to create a different sound than what people may expect from him. Don't think though that he won't have Tim and Danja on the album as he plans on getting studio time with them as well.

Keri Hilson: Almost completely finished the debut album. Timbo, Polow, Antonio Dickson, The Dream, and Tricky Stewart will all be on it. Of course me being me, I asked about Brian Kidd and unfortunately it doesn't look like he will be on the album. I forgot to confirm the 1st single DOH!

Sebastian: He too has been working hard on his album, getting in the studio mainly with Hannon Lane (YEAH!) and looking to do work with Timbo of course. Again I asked about Brian Kidd (what can I say I'm a fan) and he mentioned that possibility may just happen.

Freestyle Steve: Now Steve pointed out to me that I didn't have link to his myspace page on The Chronicles and here he is Timbaland's DJ oops! I quickly added him the next day and am thinking about putting together a series of Live with Freestyle videos here on The Chronicles. In the meantime he's got a little project he's working on that I'll let be a surprise but I will say expect to learn a lot more about Freestyle here very soon.

One Republic: Ryan Tedder is one talented dude point blank. Tim and One Republic did their track "Apologize" during the show and EVERYONE was singing it word for word. Then after the track was finished, Tim grabs and the mic and says "ya'll want One Republic to do their 2nd single?" Screams of "yeaaah!" bellowed but the interesting thing was Ryan and the band looked thrown off. They were looking at each other, rushing around, when I realized: they weren't planning on doing the song, Tim just put them on the spot. Well Ryan decided to do it totally accapella, grabbed the mic, and just started singing their 2nd single "Stop and Stare" and who do you think joined in? Timbo of course who came in with the beat box and right there on the spot magic was created.

Timbaland: To be truthful I didn't get a chance to talk to Timbo. He was busy that night and I decided that perhaps in a different environment I would be able to ask him why he created 6 versions of "We At It Again" and if the alternate version of "Try Again" was planned :)

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All in all you couldn't ask for a better fan experience. The entire crew were incredibly humble, cool, funny, and more than welcoming. They all gave me new energy to continue to do The Chronicles and spread the word on good music. I have to give HUGE props to my man D.O.E was coming through and treating me like family. It was a night I will never forget....

12 comments :

  1. Wow you held it together to ask those questions J, I'd be so starstruck and nervous! Can't wait for Keri's new single cos its The Clutch and I hope One Republic work more heavily with Timbo next time around because Ryan Tedder makes some awesome R&B tracks. (J.Lo's "Do It Well" & Leona's "Bleeding Love") I hope all the Mosley Music artists all do well, hopefully Timbo's star power will guarantee it.

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  2. maaaaan i wish i was u lol

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  3. lucky!!!

    anyway, what alternate version of "try again" are you talking about? are you talking about the one with sebastian's added rap? or like a totally new mix tim has?

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  4. shocked!!

    :|


    Farraj

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  5. Thats kool u got to meet tha whole crew!!

    i met timbaland myself this year when he was touring with justin in tha UK.. i got to shake tims hand and but i really didnt know wat to say other then your i love ur music :S i felt like a lemon.lol. but it was a great experiance to meet ur musical idol :)

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  6. Are you gonna get another chance at interviews? It must have been fun even if you didn't interview tim.

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  7. Good on ya J Boogie!! I'm pretty sure all those folk there were humbled to know a site is dedicated to their goings on and affiliations with Timbaland. It's a shame you didn't get some air time with Tim himself, but that time will come I'm sure.

    :D

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  8. Good for you J. Boog!!!

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  9. What's the alternate version of 'Try Again' then?

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  10. hehe, Freestyle Steve's hint shows that ppl are aware of this site and that it's worth/nice to be linked here :-)
    Keep it up!

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