Saturday, May 31, 2008

Timbaland to executive produce Pussycat Dolls

The Pussycat Dolls are putting those last minute touches for their performance tomorrow night on the MTV Movie Awards and they confirmed with MTV that not only is Timbaland heavily involved with their new album, he's executive producing it:

"This [MTV Movie Awards performance] is a big deal for us. We just want to kill it. It's all about the Dolls right now, and we're coming strong," said Nicole Scherzinger, the de facto leader of PCD. "We feel really good about this new album, we feel really good as a group, and we feel like this new album is really the next level for us. If you liked the first one, you're going to love this one."

"We're working with some of the same crew on this one. Timbaland is executive-producing, Cee-Lo Green is on it, Polow Da Don, Sean Garrity — they're on it too," Scherzinger said. "There are songs on the album that people wouldn't expect from PCD — some smooth, slow jams, some alternative jams. We're really coming ferocious with the music this time out."


The Dolls will perform their first single "When I Grow Up" which is ironically produced by Rodney Jerkins. Here's a preview:



I say ironic because many years ago there was talk that Timbo and Darkchild had beef. Case in point: go and listen to the end of Ginuwine's "All Nite All Day" with the little interview interlude. At the time, there wasn't too many other big producers producing "girl's albums" except Darkchild so it was always thought to be a diss. Thankfully times change.

Timbaland's new VCast commercial

Watch this:




What do you hear? Yes Keri's Hilson "Energy", yes "new" The Rapture, yup One Republic and......wait for it.....

new Chris Cornell/Timbo!! The track is crazy! It's called "Part Of Me" and from the sound of it, Timbo brought that fire for Cornell. As soon as we get more news you'll be the first to know.

Friday, May 30, 2008

The Pussycat Dolls call on Timbaland for a "good portion" of new album



The real question is how many Timbo tracks will actually make the album. Don't be surprised to see a revamped version of "Physical"

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Chris Cornell stops by on One Republic video shoot for "Say (All I Need)" video

Still recovering from his achilles heel tear, Ryan Tedder and the rest of One Republic were recently in Paris shooting the video for their 3rd single "Say (All I Need)" off their gold selling album Dreaming Out Loud. The video will include a cameo by labelmate Chris Cornell who still has us all eagerly awaiting his new (concept) album.

One Republic also performed their world wide hit "Apologize" on last week's American Idol finale along side runner up David Archuleta. Be on the lookout out for tracks by Tedder from Jordin Sparks, Esmee Denters, Wynter Gordon, Varsity, and Menudo.

And despite many rumors that Timbaland produced the track, NLT's latest single "Karma" is actually produced by yes you guessed it: Ryan Tedder. Here's the video:


$100,000 for a Timbo track? So says Kardinal Offishall

With his new album Not 4 Sale looking to be released this summer and his single "Dangerous" rising up the charts, you'd think that's all there would be to talk about with Kardinal Offishall. Yet when you say you've worked with Timbaland, as Offishall has admitted, people just don't forget. We covered this story just last week and now more details are emerging as to why Offishall chose to pass on this yet-to-be-released. Here's what he had to say in a recent interview with XXL:

XXL: Your second album, The F-Word Theory had Timbaland listed as one of the producers. We did get to hear a few tracks, but never got to hear the Timbaland record, though.

Kardinal: Never will probably. We did it. It was dope at the time, but the person I am…really the reason why the album is called Not 4 Sale is really and truly that’s really what I believe. If I really believe in something, the dollar figure that’s attached to it will not sway what I feel about it. It was a dope record, but it’s not timeless. It’s not a Timbaland record that can come out now and stand up to what Timbaland is dealing with now. So although it’s a Kardinal and Timbaland joint, it’s just one of those things where unfortunately that $100,000 check went down the toilet at the time. For that album we had joints with Busta, Pharrell, most of it was me, but for that album that never came out, I had gotten to work with a lot of people.

I still have my fingers crossed though. Props to Big A on the eagle eye.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Sean Kingston to work with Timbaland

Sean Kingston recently talked with HipHopdx.com and confirmed working with Pharrell and Timbaland for this sophomore album:

"I'll be going in the studio with them, and I can't wait. It's gonna be crazy. I think their styles are so dope, and we can make some magic over those beats. I write all my own music, and all my own stuff, so it's gonna be dope.

This album is gonna touch everything—the urban, the pop...everything. My first album was cool on the urban side, but it ended up being a huge pop album. This time I want to build Sean Kingston as a brand and not just somebody with a couple songs out. I've been writing everyday and coming up with new ideas to release different stuff out there. I'm grinding and I just put my mixtape out there too."


Lookout for the album via Beluga Heights (J.R. Rotem's label) coming soon and as always we'll give you more news as it becomes available. Thanks Big A!

Weezer has fun with Timbaland

Check out Weezer's new video for "Pork And Beans":



Thanks to Stef.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sebastian F/ Justin Timberlake & Timbaland "Hey Lil' Lady" produced by Wizz Dumb

Do I hear a possible album coming from Sebastian soon? Could be but for now take a listen to a track he did with Justin and Timbo:

Hey Lil' Lady

And a note from Sebastian:
Well I know I promise you guys a new song called "Hey LiL LaDy" with JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE & TIMBALAND. Well the word got back to my "So Called Boss" lol and I was told not to play this song for anybody. And when the Boss say something I listen :(..........

So I was sitting here thinking.......And came up with this GREAT IDEA! "F%$& THE BOSS" LOL And I'll give you guys a snippet of it :))))))))))

Until then,

Be safe & Take Care

*sebastian*


Update: The track features Timbaland and produced by Wizz Dumb.

No Tim for Wayne

None of the Timbaland-produced Lil Wayne tracks have made "Tha Carter III," due June 10.

Keri Hilson "Energy" (Full and Alternate)

Here is Keri's first single(?) "Energy" produced by The Runaways:



So now that we have the full do you feel it's a good choice as a first single? Let us know!

Update: Here's an alternate of the track


Check that bridge.

What really happened to Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and (Mad) Skillz

You all remember Skillz right? He was a member of the Supafriendz crew and has appeared on Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" Remix, Tim & Magoo's "Clock Strikes" Remix, and a few others. Recently Skillz talked about the reasoning behind why he, Timbo, and Missy parted ways:

On a much-expected Timbaland-produced Skillz solo album never making its way out to the people following his absorption into Tim’s “Da Bassment” crew in the late ‘90s, and subsequent appearances on Tim’s first solo album, Tim’s Bio, in 1998 and the remix to Aaliyah’s smash-single earlier that year, “Are You That Somebody?”:

Skillz: “I think people were excited Tim was with a real lyricist. He was with a real spitter. But, I don’t think he was ready at that time to focus on anything else. He didn’t have his label situation together. He had just started a situation with Jimmy [Iovine]. I just don’t think Tim was ready [for me yet]. I think Tim was on a different level. I don’t think he had pretty much grown into a producer at that point. He was a real good beatmaker, but early, early I don’t think he had grown into a producer. Missy was doing a lot of the songwriting.”

On Timbaland’s decision to essentially dissolve the Bassment crew that had migrated with him following their exodus from the original oversight of famed Jodeci member
and producer Devante Swing:

Skillz: “I would say Tim had one of the meanest collectives before he knew he had it. You had Missy, who was already huge. You had yourself in a group with Magoo – Timbaland and Magoo, they squeezed out a couple of joints. You had Ginuwine, who had the ladies on smash. You had Aaliyah, who was moving into the Pop [realm]. She was a star in her own right. You had Playa, [which featured] Static [Major] – God rest his soul, rest in peace. [He] was an amazing songwriter. You had me. You had Danja Mowf and Lonnie B [from my Supafriendz crew]. Man, that was a mean squad, kid. Nicole Wray, [Tweet]…You had all the people right there. And I didn’t really understand how he could come from the situation that he came from, as far as dealing with Devante, and what that did to him, and then turnaround and do the same thing.”

On Timbaland’s choosing to forgo pursuing projects from the aforementioned artists and instead launch his Interscope Records-backed label, Beat Club, with then unheard of and unproven newcomers:

Skillz: “Petey [Pablo] was gon’ do Petey anyway [apart from Timbaland]. Petey Pablo is a force to be reckoned with on his own. Bubba [Sparxxx], by that time [2000/2001] I was on my way out the door [from the camp] anyway. I didn’t understand how he could…I just didn’t understand his movements. Like, I didn’t understand how you could get with Jimmy Iovine, who’s one of the most important men in music, who already had Dr. Dre – Dr. Dre has Eminem… So Jimmy already has the biggest white rapper ever so far, and then you sign a white rapper. Jimmy had Eve, who was through Ruff Ryders, who’s a force to be reckoned with, doing her thing, homegirl from Philly holding it down. And then you sign Ms. Jade who’s from Philly as well, [and] kinda close [stylistically] to Eve. And no disrespect to any of these artists, I don’t think they had anything to do with it. I think Tim was so busy trying to kinda do what Dre was doing when Dre can’t even do what you do. Dre can’t make R&B. That’s not his forte. I mean, he can make it, but if it don’t pop then he’ll be like, ‘Ah, that’s not my shit anyway.’ Tim can make R&B songs, Pop songs, Hip Hop. So I don’t really understand why he was so busy trying to follow the same format [as Dr. Dre].”

And finally, Skillz spoke on what led to the final dissolution of his once apparently rock-solid relationship with Timbaland and Missy Elliott:

“I see Tim every now and then. It is what it is. Missy, I see Missy. It’s just that every time I see Missy, or everytime I hear like ‘Get Ur Freak On,’ I get a bad feeling because of something that happened [between us] in the past. If I can say anybody kinda did me dirty at one point it would be her. You know what it was? I’ll say this, fuck it. It was one particular time where she needed me to do a show. Missy might not even remember this. She needed me to do like Hot 97 Summer Jam and my daughter was sick. Like, I’m in Virginia and my daughter’s sick and Mona Scott, her manager, is calling me. They blowing my phone up: ‘Skillz we need you in New Jersey.’ And I’m like, ‘Yo, I can’t come. My daughter is sick.’ [She then replies back] ‘Skillz I really need you to make this happen. What is it gonna take to make this happen?’ And I’m like, ‘Yo, my child is sick.’ I [was] a new father [at the time] and I don’t know [what to do] and I’m like, ‘I can’t do that.’ So she was like, ‘Aww, just come. You can bring her. I’ll have a nurse here for her. I’ll make sure everything’s taken care of.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know about all that.’ So you know, me milling it over from being younger, I needed the money. And they had upped the money to about like three or four thousand I think it was, just for me to come to Summer Jam and do the show with Missy.

So, I went. I left my daughter with her grandmother. I went and did the show. And you know, they paid me. They took they time. Elektra [Records] always used to take they time cutting me the check. So I finally got my money. Anyway, to speed the story up, I signed to Rawkus. [And then] I’m like, ‘Missy, what’s up, I need you on [my] album.’ She’s like, ‘Alright cool, I got a hook for you.’ She said, ‘Send me the beat.’ So I sent her the Hi-Tek beat, which [became] ‘Crew Deep.’ Missy sung the hook. Hook was hot! I had The Clipse and Pharrell on the remix, song [was] ready to go. And then it’s time for me to shoot the video. I was like, ‘Miss, I just need you to come through, show a quick cameo, mouth the hook a little bit.’ And I already had to take Missy off of the hook and put Kandi from Xscape on the hook because [Elektra] wouldn’t clear Missy’s voice [to be used for the song]. So, I go to L.A. to shoot the video. And I remember calling [Missy] and calling her, and calling Mona, and she never came to the video. And from where we were shooting she was like maybe five or six blocks [away]. Her hotel was maybe five or six blocks [away]. And she never came to the video. So like, it’ll be times when…Like, I remember one particular time I was watching TV, and they showed an old performance of us on the MTV Awards. It was me, Missy, Ludacris, Trina and Petey Pablo. I’m hyping Missy up, singing ‘Get Ur Freak On.’ And my daughter, she’s old enough, she’s like, ‘Dad, you on TV with Missy.’ And I just turned the [channel]. Every time I see that, or I see [the video to] that song, I think about being like a bad father. You live and you learn. And what that taught me is never put anything before your family – money, it doesn’t matter. Never put anything before your family.”


All I can say is who knew?

Monday, May 26, 2008

Dima Bilan & Jim Beanz "Believe" their way to victory at Eurovision 2008

With votes from 43 countries, the 2008 Eurovision winner is none other than Dima Bilan for his Jim Beanz written and produced track "Believe." Bilan brought Russia home it's first Eurovision prize and he received a personal congratulations from Russian president Dmitri Medvedev. Here is his finals performance:



At the press conference after his win, Bilan dedicated the award to Jim Beanz. As well as thanking Timbaland's production team:



After their 8 week run a top the Russian charts with "Number 1 Fan" and now their win with "Believe", Dima Bilan and Jim Beanz are far from through. Look for an album in both English and Spanish on the way for Bilan with heavy involvement from Jim in production, writing, and vocals.

A HUGE congratulations to Dima Bilan and especailly to Jim Beanz for the big win and global recognition of his talents!! There's plenty more to come just wait...

Friday, May 23, 2008

M$ney invites you to the "Future"

Money is officially launching her red hot debut single "Future" and she wants you to be there for the launch party. Here's your invitation information:

When: Friday June 20th, 2008

Where: Boulevard 3 on Sunset in Hollywood, California

When: "Future" Fashion Show 10:00PM
Red Carpet 11:00PM-12:00AM
M$ney's Performance: 12:30AM

I'm planning on being at the show so I hope to see all of you there too! Come out and support the "Future" and M$ney!

Missy Elliott drops FANomenal August 26th

We've been waiting patiently, we've heard a few new tracks, and now we finally have a date. August 26th, Missy Elliott's 7th (8th if you include the Best Of) studio album FANomenal will be hit stores. As we know, producers on the album include Soul Diggaz, Danja, and Timbaland. To help promote the new album, Missy recently performed her rumored first single "Act A Fool" in Malaysia at the XLive Music Festival. Here's a peek:



What about the Danja produced "Best Best" as the first single you ask? Seems as though there's been some debate on which track would indeed be the official first single. Looks like "Best Best" won the debate though as the single is scheduled to be released June 2nd, only a few weeks away! We'll keep you posted as more news becomes available.

In the meantime if you haven't checked out MIssy Watch make sure you do. Will and his team don't miss a thing when it comes to Missy.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Did you know? Timbo & Kardinal Offishall

A couple years back, Kardinal Offishall talked about his up and coming album at Fire & Glory and a track from Timbaland that was purposely left off the album. Here's what Kardinall had to say:

The Timbaland and Kardinal song does exist and it did cost a house to produce the song,” says the Toronto-based MC. “Mind you, it wasn’t directly out of my pocket — he got a whole heap of money. But I made a conscious decision not to put that on the album. Not ’cause I don’t think Timbaland’s talented and because the song wasn’t sick, but I don’t believe that the music I create or people that I work with are any less talented than Timbaland. They just haven’t had as much opportunity and maybe don’t have the light. A lot of these cats have incredible beats, incredible. The only difference between them and other producers is the opportunity.”

Of course info like that had the Timbo stans salivating but as with any exisisting-but-not-yet-released Tim track it's all about the waiting game. Fast forward to 2008 and we're still waiting (patiently) for the track. Recently Kardinal briefly touched on the subject of the Tim track yet again in an interview:

"I did the Clipse ‘Grindin” remix and then I met Pharrell and then Missy plugged me with Timbaland. The song I did with Timbaland never came out, but my point is a lot of stuff got donewith networking outside of your bloack and your city. You have to realize that the world is your station and that’s how I get down."

Will we ever hear this mysterious Kardinall/Tim track? I wouldn't bet on it but you just never know.

In the meantime if you haven't already definitely check out Kardinall's latest single "Dangerous" F/ Akon co-produced by a longtime Chronicles Remix It! contributor hAZEL. Congrats my friend!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Jim Beanz to work with Esmée Denters

More and more details are emerging about Justin Timberlake's first signee, Esmée Denters, debut album. We talked about Timbaland, Royal Court, and The Clutch working with Denters and now we can add Jim Beanz to the list. Look out for 2 tracks "Closer" and "Lonely Sunday" off her album both produced and co-written by Beanz.

Jim Beanz has also been in the studio working with Fantasia on her next album with details on that project forthcoming.

Chris Cornell update

The Timbaland produced Chris Cornell album is looking at September for a release date. The possible 14 track album is still in the process of being recorded and due to these added recording sessions, Cornell has postponed his European Tour until the Fall of this year. Timbaland has called the album his best work of his entire career and you can look for Jim Beanz and Royal Court to be a part of it as well.

You remember how Timbaland compared the album to The Wall by Pink Floyd? Remember that, it's important.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Usher "Appetite" (Full)

Here's the full version:

Sunday, May 18, 2008

T.I. F/ Bobby Brown "One and Only"

You all remember Mike Jones? Who? Yes Mike Jones. After the success of his first album, he went to work on his 2nd album American Dream which included a track called "One And Only (Tenderoni)" produced by Danja. Despite his initial success, Mike Jones' sophmore effort didn't catch on and was scraped.

But T.I. knows a good track when he hears one and he and Danja defintiely have that chemistry so T.I. took the beat for himself, added a few verses, and here we have a snippet (sorry for the DJ) of:

"One and Only (Tenderoni)"


Thanks to Bigmac for the news.

Listen to Usher's "Appetite" (Snippet)

You can preview Usher's entire album on Amazon including "Appetite" produced by Danja and written by The Clutch.

Thoughts?

Keri Hilson's 1st single "Energy"



Drum roll please: After all the anticipation, after all the "promo" singles and leaks, and after a bunch of changes, according to Amazon Keri Hilson's first single will be called "Energy" and will be released on May 27th. Here's a clip:



Said to be written by Tank and the producer? Well it obviously isn't Timbaland so it must be Polow right? Well interestingly enough, Polow recently talked with Rhapsody and along with saying he got the first single he said some interesting things to say about what could have been a The Dream and Keri Hilson collabo.

So is this it? After all the wait is this really the first single? It's too short of a snippet for me to judge yet but finally Keri Hilson is coming! Props to all those who sent me info on this.

Update: Look as thought the track is produced by The Runaways which seems an odd choice for a single when you have Polow, Timbo, and Danja on your album. Maybe this is another promo single.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Fader Magazine Icon: Aaliyah

I just bought the latest issue of Fader Magazine with Aaliyah on the cover. The article is made up of various people from her friends to colleagues to family all commenting the impact that she left in this world. Here are a few:

Missy Elliott: Me and Tim, our sound was so far left that it was kinda hard for people. They liked it, but they didn’t know if they really liked it, because it was so different from everything else on the radio. But the weird thing was, as soon as we did “One in a Million,” she immediately thought it was a hit. We didn’t have to convince her, she was like, I’m telling you, this is hot. I knew then there was a chemistry. She wasn’t close-minded. She was an artist that got it.

Timbaland: She was a sister to me. She was very talented and gave a lot at a young age. I miss her very much.

Jomo Hankerson: In the process of recording One in a Million, we got a demo from Timbaland and Missy. The song was called “Sugar and Spice,” which felt a little too kiddie to us, but the structure of the record, the melody, had what became Tim’s signature triplebeat on it. We were overwhelmed, and we sent it to Aaliyah. She called us back like, The track is crazy, this is the best thing I’ve ever heard. So we flew Timbaland and Missy into Detroit to work with her.

Atlantic thought we should remix the record [One In A Million] and take the triplebeat down to make it more radio-friendly, but we were very bullheaded about it. We heard they were trying to get remixes done, so we took the tapes out the studio! Back in those days before ProTools you could really control where the music went. If you had that two-inch reel, you had the record. So we grabbed the two inch reels and all the tapes so nobody could do any unauthorized remixes and we stuck to our guns on that version of the record.


Cassie: The first song that I learned when I went to meet with producers was “Miss You.” When you’re working on a song and you want to put yourself in a place, you think of someone you want to emulate. I think about her a lot. She’s a constant part of the music-making process for me. I defi nitely feel like we’ve faced similar criticisms. I met a lot of people who knew her personally who told me she had a hard time performing live. I watched her on Regis and she was just sitting on a stool with her hair over her eye and maybe she didn’t hit the right notes, but you didn’t care because she believed in herself so much. That’s what you look up to as a young girl.

Ciara: I have tons of respect for her. It’s funny too, because I remember a time period when Missy Elliott was telling me that I reminded her of Aaliyah and I felt that was really touching because she was saying that I reminded her of her on a personal note and I’ve heard so many great things about her personality. I heard she was very sweet and for Missy to say that was very, very meaningful to me. As an artist too, because of those comparisons, it has really, really motivated me to create my own thing and just be true to who I am. If she was here, I would’ve loved to maybe do a song or do a video together. To be able to merge our styles would’ve been really cool.

Mark Ronson: I still remember, and I said this in my speech out of guilt for beating Timbaland for the Producer of the Year Award [at the 2008 Grammys], getting the “One in a Million” 12-inch, putting it on my turntable, and playing it over and over even though I didn’t quite know what to make of it. Aaliyah sounded like a fairy whispering over this insane hi-hat pattern. There were no other slow-tempo records then, there was just Ginuwine’s “Pony” and “One in a Million,” so if you were gonna play them in a hip-hop club you were making an event of it.

Barry Hankerson: It really popped open for Static and Missy and Timbaland as well as Aaliyah; that was a crucial role that I had, because nobody had ever heard their music at that point. In fact, Craig Kallman at Atlantic Records told me I was crazy for even listening to it. We did One in a Million with very little money. We were stressed because we had been so successful with the fi rst album, and we knew we had to follow it up, but she was never worried. She was just like, It’s gonna be fi ne Uncle Barry. This is my time. Don’t worry.

Tank: She was really adamant about developing the power in her voice. She was like, I like singing pretty, and I like having the angelic voice, but I want to sing harder. I want to sing from the soul. With singing, it’s not totally about what you can do, it’s about being able to see where to put these things. Aaliyah could do all the runs, but to be like an artist painting, to know where to put the tree, it takes a little more imagination. Her confi dence was everything. She was like, I’m a woman and I’m Aaliyah, I can try it if I want to.

Method Man: The word in the hood was, she had a cockeye. Cause she always wear them shades, yahmean? But the next album came out andit was like, Whoa, she killin it on some real warrior shit. I didn’t see anyone doing what she did. I mean, Britney Spears triedbut I laughed at that fuckin video. It was hilarious, yo. I liked that song Britney bit, where Aaliyah had the snake [“We Need A Resolution”]. It was deep.

Download the full article

As for myself I got into Aaliyah the minute I saw the video for "Back And Forth." Something about her, she had this swagger, her voice was really smooth and deep and most of all controlled no screeching, and the way she moved was so fluid and effortless. When I heard "One In A Million" my jaw literally dropped. I couldn't believe it was the same girl who did "Down With The Clique" and it was the first time I heard a beat stutter like that. I just didn't understand how someone could do that to a beat. I copped her album the day it came out and as much as I loved the song "One In A Million", it was when I heard "Heartbroken" that everything changed for me. I never listened to music the same way after that track. To this day it's the most played Timbo track I own and definitely a top 5 Tim beat for me. I think a huge piece of Tim and Missy passed when Aaliyah did as their music has never been the same since. Rest in peace baby girl!

What about all of you? When and how did you get into Aaliyah?

Bubba working again with Timbaland

A message from Bubba Sparxxx:

YO FAMILY WHAT GOES ON?.....ME, TRU LIFE, AND DAVE ARRIVED IN MIAMI YESTERDAY....I GOT WITH TIMBALAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2 YEARS....YALL STAY TUNED FOR THE SKINNY ON WHATS HAPPENIN WITH US DOIN OUR THANG AGAIN......UHHHHH OHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!.....SCREAM AT ME IF YOU IN THE MIAMI AREA.....REPRESENT BABY!!!!!!!....BUB 1

More details soon...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Hudson, Hilson, and Carey make changes

The music industry these days is constantly shifting and moving to best accommodate a final product that best resonates with the consumers. Yeah yeah Boogie that's just a fancy way of saying the industry wants to make money and therefore albums get pushed back, what was a guaranteed single gets changed, and as we've seen many time lately tracks get cut (no Tim after all on Busta so I heard). With that said there have been a few changes to be aware of:

Mariah Carey's Danja produced "Migrate" slated to be the 2nd single has been replaced with the track "Bye Bye" which I'm sure you've all heard by now. Will "Migrate" be the 3rd single? We'll have to wait and see.

Jennifer Hudson's Timbaland produced, Clutch and Jim Beanz written "Pocketbook" was also supposed to be the first single off the Sex And The City soundtrack however the track is no where to be seen on the official tracklisting and it looks as though Hudson's "All Dressed In Love" will be the first single. "Pocketbook" will still be on her debut album being released September 30th with the first single being "Spotlight."

And finally Keri Hilson's 1st single may change yet again. First it was Danja's "Happy Juice" then it was Timbo's "Return The Favor" which she performed at his People Magazine party, then "Mic Check" was also being considered and now the latest is that the Tank featured "Ohh" MAY be the first single. At this point we'll just wait till her single hits the radio before giving you any other news. Speaking of Keri, have you check out her feature on the Chris Brown track "Superhuman"? Definitely worth checking out.

Ciara and Danja get "Crunk" and "Dance"

For Ciara's 3rd album Fantasy Ride, she's taken a page out of Janelle Monáe's playbook and will be releasing 3 individual CDs each packaged with 5 to 6 tracks. The first is called "Groove City" and includes tracks like her Polow produced hit "Promise." The 2nd is called "Crunktown" and includes tracks in the same vain as her debut hit "Goodies". Finally the last disc will be called "Kingdom of Dance" and will include more faster paced dance hits.

Tricky Stewart is co-executing producing the entire project with Danja in charge of the "Crunktown" and "Kingdom of the Dance" discs and Ticky and Jasper on "Groove City." The Clutch will be involved as well but no word on any track names quite yet. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Danja on the cover of Billboard Magazine

and Jermaine Dupri is not too happy about it:

Monday, May 12, 2008

Danja wins SESAC Songwriter of the Year

Just as Timbaland won the top honors at the 2008 ASCAP awards winning Songwriter of the Year, Danja has also won Songwriter of the Year at the 2008 SESAC Awards. Danja dominated this year's awards winning with 8 different songs. Here are the winning tracks:

Songwriter of the Year:
Nate “Danja” Hills

Song of the Year:
“Say It Right”
Recorded by Nelly Furtado
Written by: Nate “Danja” Hills

Plus honors for:

“Say It Right”
Artist: Nelly Furtado
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Muz
WBM Music Corp.

“The Way I Are”
Artist: Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Bale’wa Muhammad
Publisher: Danjahandz Muzik
Jahqae Joints
Universal-PolyGram Intl. Tunes, Inc.
WBM Music Corp.

“Give It To Me”
Artist: Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Muzik
WBM Music Corp.

“What Goes Around…Comes Around”
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: WBM Music Corp.

“Summer Love”
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Muzik
WBM Music Corp.

“Until The End Of Time”
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Muzik
WBM Music Corp.

“Lovestoned”
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Muzik WBM Music Corp.

“Ayo Technology”
Artist: 50 Cent
Songwriter(s): Nate “Danja” Hills
Publisher: Danjahandz Music
WBM Music Corp.

HUGE congratulations to Danja as he more than deserves the accolades. Also congrats goes out to Balewa Mohammad of The Clutch for his 3 wins at this year's awards.

And just to give you a little breakdown of who is with who in terms of publishing:

Timbaland, Candice Nelson, Keri Hilson, Jim Beanz, King (Royal Court), D.O.E, Sebastian: ASCAP
Danja, Balewa Mohammad: SESAC
J. Que, Zeke Lewis: BMI

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Kanye + Pharrell + Lupe + Timbaland - EXCLUSIVE

Kanye West will be featured on the remix to N.E.R.D.'s "Everyone Nose." Kanye rapping on a beat by the Neptunes and Tim!

Remember where you heard it first!

Update: The remix will additionally feature Lupe Fiasco, and is due to be released tomorrow.

Usher gets 1 from Danja & The Clutch but not Timbaland



Usher's new album Here I Stand is due in stores May 27th and though Timbaland talked both in Scratch Magazine and in a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, plus the confirmation that Royal Court and Timbo did work with Usher, the track(s) did not make the the final album. Danja however will be on the album with a track called "Appetite" written by The Clutch and Marcella. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Forever Young 
Produced by James “JLack” Lackey for US Production/JLack Tracks
2. Love In This Club featuring Young Jeezy
Produced by Polow Da Don for Zone 4 Inc.
3. This Ain’t Sex
Produced by C. “Tricky” Stewart For RedZone Entertainment and Jazze Pha for Futuristic Entertainment
Co-Produced by Terius “The Dream” Nash for Radio Killa Records
4. Trading Places
Produced by L.O.S. DA MAESTRO for Urban Legendz/Music Line Entertainment. LLC
5. Moving Mountains
Produced by C. “Tricky” Stewart for RedZone Entertainment and Terius “The Dream” Nash for Radio Killa Records
6. What’s Your Name featuring will.i.am
Produced by will.i.am
7. Prayer For You Interlude
8. Something Special
Produced by Jermaine Dupri for So So Def Productions, Inc.
Co-Produced by Manuel Seal & LRoc for So So Def Productions, Inc.
9. Love You Gently
Produced by Andre Harris and Vidal Davis for Vidal/Dre Productions
10. Best Thing featuring Jay-Z
Produced by Jermaine Dupri for So So Def Productions, Inc.
Co-Produced by Manuel Seal for So So Def Productions, Inc.
11. Before I Met You
Produced & Arranged by Bryan-Michael Cox for Blackbaby Entertainment, Inc.
12. His Mistakes
Produced by Stargate for 45th & 3rd Music LLC
Co-Produced by Ne-Yo for Compound Entertainment
13. Appetite
Produced by Danja for DanjaHandz Productions
14. What’s A Man To Do
Produced by Stargate for 45th & 3rd Music LLC
15. Revolver 
Produced by Alexander “Prettiboifresh” Parhm
16. Lifetime
Produced by James “JLack” Lackey for US Production/JLack Tracks
17. Love In This Club Part II featuring Beyoncé and Lil Wayne
Remix Produced by Soundz
18. Here I Stand
Produced by Andre Harris and Vidal Davis for Vidal/Dre Productions
19. Will Work For Love
Produced by J.R. Rotem for Beluga Heights

Source

Maybe we'll get a Timbo B side.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Rare Reel




My apologies for the sound at the end.

Dear Timbo, we miss you....

Aaliyah on cover of Fader



Look out for next month's Fader Magazine's Icon issue with none other than Aaliyah gracing the cover. Ciara, Missy Elliott, Damon Dash, Kidada Jones, and Kid Sister are just a few artists who show love to baby girl.

I'm still waiting for the Aaliyah tribute album with all those unreleased Timbaland tracks we were promised so long ago. Rest in peace baby girl....

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Did You Know? Sandman and Timbaland

We've already discussed past Re-Up Gang and Timbaland productions and also told you the news about Timbaland working with The Clipse. Before all of that, however, Timbaland had worked with 1/4 of the Re-Up Gang, Sandman, for his solo album back in the Biggie Smallz and Steve Stoute heydays. In a recent interview with Sixshot, Sandman talks about his history through the music game, from working with Clark Kent to getting signed to Star Trak:

****I hosted his two biggest DVD’s he ever had, which were Hell Up In Philly and Heavyweight Champs. I happened to be an MC with depth. A lot of these niggas who hop on these DVD’s do have one hot rhyme and one hot style. Before the DVD’s with my nigga Star I was rappin’ on the streets and you weren’t rapping for people you knew because you never knew who was getting off of work or who was walking by that bus stop.

You had to be an MC’s MC, and that’s what I became. By the time I took rap seriously I didn’t even care about it no more. I used to be on the corner making anywhere from 2300 to 4300 a day. I was just laughin’ at niggas who thought they was dope. Eventually I got with Clark Kent and he heard my shit and went fuckin’ bonkers. He told me he hadn’t seen that level of creativity since Jay and Big. I still own some of my rhyme books from when I was 13 so I was always good for my time. You grow with the game and I was always a nigga that was with the game on the outside. It seemed too far-fetched for me but I got with Clark and we cut the album. We got some beats from Timbaland and The Trackmasters.

I put on a lot of Philly producers that weren’t really making a lot of noise at the time. It was a crazy situation because Steve Stoute got fired and he was the one who gave me my deal at Interscope. I was gonna sign to Puff, I had a verbal agreement with him but that situation with the club and whatnot kinda threw us out of the loop. Stoute got fired as the president of Black Music which fucked all my shit up. Me and Clark needed each other. It wasn’t a situation where like Dre ran with Em. I was looking forward to making my old head a dominant name again.****

Great to hear someone finally talking about the genius of Clark Kent. Dude was one of my favorites back in the Biggie days and I've been hoping to hear more from him. Will we ever hear those Timbaland tracks? You never know, maybe a re-worked one for the next Re-Up Gang mixtape. Props to Big A on the find.

Christina Aguilera passes on Timbaland

Christina Aguilera doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing for her new album, and what do you ask is everyone else doing? According to Aguilera, getting productions from Timbaland. Here's her insight:

"This record is going to be very different from my previous record 'Back To Basics.' I'm working with a lot of different people so it's a little hard for me to really go for a specific theme this time around, but I can assure you that it's going to be a very very interesting record. Am I nervous? Of course but I'm also very excited. I never like to play it safe so it's always a little risky to release a record that doesn't sound like everything else out there. I mean, I love Timbaland's music for example but I would never work with people like that because everyone else is doing it already."

I wonder who all the "differet people" are...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Keri Hilson on MTV Jamz



Sandra Rose and her team recently stumbled on a taping of MTV Jamz segment with none other then Keri Hilson. Sean "The Pen" Garrett will also be joining Hilson for the show which will be airing on MTV sometime next week. We'll let you know more as information becomes available. Thank you Sandra for the news!

Portishead disses Timbaland?



Without question Portishead is my favorite band of all time, yes even more than Timbo, so you can imagine my excitement to see them on the cover of this month's Remix Magazine. Their new album Third definitely lived up to the 10 year hiatus so to go behind the boards to see how they created the album was definitely something to look forward to.

Much to my disappointment, however, Geoff Barrows the most vocal and most opinionated member of the group blasted American music including some choice words on Timbaland. Here is an exert:

"[America's music] is shit, isn't it?" he continues. "The hip-hop artists are just rubbish. Jay-Z's records always sound good, but he got the sack from Universal. If you end up with a country Britney, it doesn't matter 'cause they're all twats anyway. Timbaland came to England trying to find a Coldplay to produce. Everyone told him to fuck off. He went to America and got his own band and they are gi-normous, the most revolting people you have ever seen in your life. They are called Timbaland. We all like it underground but no one is buying. Even Moby is struggling."

"Mark Ronson's album is shit", Barrown exclaims referring to celebrated Amy Winehouse-associated producer's release Version. "He is a massive superstar in the UK. He considers himself as Quincy Jones. I'll tell you who else is really bad: DJ Spooky. He is so full of shit. At least Mark Ronson is talented. I saw DJ Spooky at the Knitting Factory, and I tried to buy a beer to throw at him. There are black people in England, so you don't have to come here and make out that there aren't any black people in England's art community. You have someone like Madlib who is a fucking genius-a genius! [He's] a real true artist in what he does, when he takes American TV soundtracks and turns them into hip-hop. Then Spooky turns up and plays a couple of shit European drum'n'bass records."

Full Article

I take it no more Portishead samples for Timbo but hey everyone's got their own opinion. Timbo the King!

Hard Candy is #1

Along with having the #1 album and the #1 song ("4 Minutes") in the U.K., Madonna will have the #1 album in the U.S. this week with a little over 280,000 records sold. She now has seven #1 albums making her the second woman to do so in music history. Also with the top ten success of "4 Minutes", Madonna has more top 10 hits, 37 to be exact, then any other artist in the rock era.

Congrats to Madonna, Timbo, Danja, Hannon, Justin, and The Neptunes! Another #1!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

T.I.'s "What's Up What's Happening" official first single by Danja

Rolling Stone got a preview of T.I.'s new album Paper Trail including the official first single produced by DanjaHandz called "What's Up What's Happening." Here's more:

****T.I., who was on house arrest while awaiting sentencing for felony gun charges, is finally out and about. “In some ways, I miss the house,” he said last week when he stopped by the Rolling Stone office in New York. In between speaking engagements at schools to fulfill his 1,000 hours of court-ordered community service, Tip played some cuts from his forthcoming album Paper Trail.

The defiant, gospel-flecked street single “No Matter What” leaked last week, but Tip says the real single, the Danja-produced “What’s Up, What’s Happening” will be out in a couple weeks. It’s a bass-heavy club track full of shout-outs to haters who thought the MC’s legal troubles would sideline him. On “Collect Call,” he raps about all the fair-weather friends who disappear when things get hot over an R&B groove. “Let My Beat Pound” is a bass-heavy trunk-rattler produced by J.R. Rotem with a robotozed hook that’s meant to intimidate others on the road: “My trunk sounds like a midget trying to get up out of there,” he drawls. “You Ain’t Missing Nothing” is a dubious message to those in prison: With jazzy, soul sample, Tip promises “The time will do itself, all you gotta do is show up.” On “Sitting on Top of the World,” which features a hook by B.O.B., the MC reflects on his path to rap fame. And on “I’m Illin” he claims to be “the hottest nigga since Tupac.”

Of course, after promoting the album, which comes out August 12, Tip will still have to serve a year in jail. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” he says. “But I’ve got a lot of water.”****

Source

Danja Video Interview

Lots of Danja news this week and here we go with a great interview from Rhapsody:



Another 6 T.I/Danja tracks? We've heard 1 "No Matter What" but I wonder if we'll ever hear the other 5. Who would have thought Danja was an Air fan? But that goes to show the dude is not your conventional "hip hop" or "rap" producer. The best point Danja makes is that while Tim and Pharrell broke in hip hop and R&B and came back to pop, Danja broke in pop and has to "back track" to hip hop. For all those producers out there which would you rather break in, Pop? Hip Hop? R&B?

Props to Big A.

Video: Fat Joe "You Ain't Sayin' Nothin'/Cocababy"

Danja's first video appearance (longer then a few seconds):



Still one of my favorite Danja beats.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Danja and The Clutch deliver Chapter 4's "2 Piece Juicy"

Danja and The Clutch strike again on a track called "2 Piece Juicy" that has been labeled as a Young Steff track. Who is Young Steff you ask? According to his myspace he is a new artist off of Rich Harrison's label Richcraft Records. Reading through his bio though it seems a little odd that there's no mention of Danja or The Clutch.

Well that's because it's not Young Steff on the track, rather it's a group called Chapter 4 (formerly 3rd Storee) who recorded the song for their J Records album before unfortunately being released by the label.

Hot beat from Danja and once again it shows his versalitily. The could be Indian sample caught my ears first and foremost, maybe Czar can take a stab at it. As expected the vocal arrangement is crazy from The Clutch.

Thoughts?

Rumor Mill: Lil Wayne - "Party Control"

Wikipedia is a sheisty web site. As much as we hate to admit it, even its uncredited information tends to be correct. So that's why I'm a little less than skeptical that the Wikipedia entry for Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" says that the album includes a song called "Party Control" featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado.

Could this be the mysterious "Crowd Control", a song that was originally supposed to be on Nelly's "Loose"? The song was discussed in various interviews as a monster, even a single. However, it never made it to "Loose", as it was being saved for Justin's "FutureSex/LoveSounds." The official track list for the European version of "FutureSex/LoveSounds" included "Crowd Control", but again the song didn't make its appearance.

The mystery was supposedly solved with the release of "Give it to Me" from Tim's own "Shock Value." "Give it to Me" was assumed to be the elusive "Crowd Control" under a different name. But the appearance of "Party Control" on various unofficial "Tha Carter III" track lists still is strange.

What do you think?

Update: "Party Control" is nowhere to be found on the official "Tha Carter III" track list. Wikipedia is shady!

DanjaHandz to work with Young Dro

Young Dro has just released his mixtape I Am Legend and is in the process of putting together a DVD entitled "The Swag Shop" with producer Dark Gable. Along with those projects, Dro also confirmed with MTV that his long awaited second album The Young and Restless will be coming out sometimes this year with Midi Mafia, T.I., Fantasia, Mannie Fresh, Akon, and DanjaHandz scheduled to be on the project.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Who Flipped It Better: Timbaland Vs. Alchemist

For our latest installment of this series we compare 2 very different producers who've used the same sample but flipped it both in their unique style of production. First up let's take a look at a classic Timbaland track from 2001 specifically titled for it's sample. Here is:

Timbaland & Magoo "Indian Carpet"


The Alchemist must have also liked what he heard when he first heard the original track as he too flipped the same sample for a track off of Guru's Baldhead Slick & Da Click album called:

"I'm Here" F/ Killah Priest, Black Jesus, & Timbo King (ironic??)


Another interesting tidbit, both of these albums came out within only 2 months of each other. Of course that doesn't say anything about when each track was bad but still interesting none the less. Ok 2 producers, 1 sample, who flipped it better? Bonus: What is the sample?

Big A with the big I mean good ears :)

The wrestling "Bad Girl"s of Danity Kane

Danity Kane's 2nd single from their gold selling hit album Welcome to the Dollhouse will be the DanjaHandz produced "Bad Girl" featuring Missy Elliott. The video will have the DK ladies wrestling the women of the World Wrestling Entertainment Mickey, Layle, Maria, Melina, and Kelly and begins shooting next month.

Is Missy going to be the ref?

The Game confirms Timbaland on new album

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The Rapture "No Sex For Ben" produced by Timbaland (confirmed!)

We told you in one of our Did You Know posts about the possibility of The Rapture and Timbaland working together back in 2006 but unfortunately it was never to be......or was it? The Grand Theft Auto IV Soundtrack that was just released has a very Timboesque beat set to The Rapture's "No Sex For Ben." Here take a listen:



Sounds like Timbo doesn't it? The intro, the beat boxing, all of it. I'm still skeptical though as the Timbo bites have been getting better and better lately. Also according to this BBC Article this track was played last year at a concert by The Rapture. So how did it get missed? Or is this a new Timbaland Remix/Version? I'll leave it up to all of you, what do you think? You know I love a good mystery and I have my feelers out so we'll update you with more info as it becomes available.

Update:: The track IS produced by Timbaland. Here are the credits:

Published by And Your Bird Can Sing (ASCAP)/ Le Sound Albert (ASCAP)/Hung
Up On A Dream (ASCAP)/ Hurwitz/Andruzzi (ASCAP)
Produced by Timbaland
Engineered by Demo/ Mixed by Jimmy Douglass
Courtesy of The Rapture

Big thanks to Jazzta and Hammer for all the info!

Madonna on 106 & Park

Look for Madonna on of all shows 106 & Park for the network debut of her video for "4 Minutes" featuring Timbo and Justin tomorrow at 6:00PM Eastern. Madonna also performed 6 songs from her new album Hard Candy including "Candy Shop", "Miles Away", "Give It To Me", and "4 Minutes" with a little help from her new pal Justin Timberlake in New York at the Roseland Ballroom. "I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have been able to make a record with him [Timberlake], Timbaland, Pharrell and Kanye," Madonna told the crowd.

With 100,000 copies sold on its first day of release, Hard Candy is looking to go #1 on next weeks charts, making it her 7th number 1 album putting her 1 shy of tying Barbara Streisand for the most number 1 records ever for a female artist.

Royal Court & Esmée Denters

Along with Timbaland, Esmée Denters also worked with Royal Court over the last week including a track called "Walk Away" which everyone was so impressed with it's being considered as the first single. Let's hope so.

 
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