Thursday, March 31, 2011

Timbaland Thursdays: "Not My Happiness"



Guess Timbo was feeling a little spiritual this week, and decided to give us an uplifting and introspective song for this week's installment of Timbaland Thursdays. The track is called "Not My Happiness." Check it out:



Thoughts?

Update:

As everyone has pointed out, "Not My Happiness" samples "White Blank Page" by Mumford & Sons (peep at 2:56):

Friday, March 25, 2011

Czar's Sample of the Week

What's up Timstans?

It's Friday, and you know that means another installment of Czar's Sample of the Week. Over the past two months, I've re-released each one of my Timbaland sample mixes, and this week we reach Volume 8, my last and final mix. Every once in a while, people email me asking why I don't do Timbaland mixes any more, and I usually give them two answers First, I'm just plain tired lol. While I definitely enjoy doing the mixing, the time and effort I put in to digging for samples, choosing which ones to feature, and then doing the mix takes a tole. So when I did Vol. 7, I just decided that I'd do one more and really be done with it. The second reason is a bit funny. I have a list of Timbaland samples that I'd die to find, and I told myself that if I found one of them, I'd stop doing the mixes. It so happened that as I was gathering samples for Volume 8, I found the sample to Jay-Z's "Paper Chase" and Missy's "Lick Shots," and those were two of the top samples I'd been searching for.

Now, when you all hear Volume 8, you will notice that it's longer and that I'm playing the Timbaland songs as well the samples longer than usual. The mix is longer because I wanted to exhaust my sample vault (basically put everything in there), and the samples/track are played longer because I wanted to do it my way; I love these songs and samples so I just wanted to ride out to them during the mix.

So let's get right to it. Here's Czar's Timbaland Sample Mix Volume 8: The Final Chapter (released in 2008):



Now, I spent all week trying to figure out which sample from Volume 9 to drop today, and I thought it would make sense that because Vol. 8 was the last mix, I would feature the last sample on Volume 9. So here it is:



And for those who think I still don't have it after all these years. Let me showcase a sample from something recent out of Timbaland's Vault:



Well, that's it for this week's installment of Czar's Sample of the Week. I want to thank you all for letting me go down memory road with this (want to especially thank J-Boogie for coming up with the idea!). And I want to thank everyone who supported me, gave me feedback, and even sent samples my way during my sample mix days: Malis, Al Sween, Big A, J-Boogie, Snax, Jonboy, Rooq, Fabio (lek!!), Carlos, Jonathanp, DJ MD, Santiago, and all followers and fans of The Thomas Crown Chronicles. Now, I can't promise that I'll be back every Friday for Czar's Sample of the Week, but I'll definitely drop something when I can. And who knows, maybe one day I will even drop Volume 9 ;-)

Peace,
C.Z.A.R.

Keri Hilson Overload: Keri on *Rip the Runway,* Keri stops by 106 & Park and drops New Video

Amidst the Chris Brown/GMA controversy this week, Keri Hilson stopped by 106 & Park to release the music video for her latest single, "One Night Stand" featuring Chris Brown. Here's what Keri had to say about her performance on BET's Rip the Runway last Sunday night, and her new video:










Here's her performance of "Pretty Girl Rock" on Rip the Runway:



And here's the "One Night Stand" music video:



Definitely has that '90s feel, and some people are even saying that Keri and Chris are channeling Aaliyah and Ginuwine in this.

Thoughts?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Timbaland Thursdays: Timbo ft. Attitude and 6'2 - "F*ck You"



Timbaland Thursday's is back again this week, and Timbo blessed us with another song from the shelved and untitled Attitude/6'2/Timbo album. The song is called "F*ck You." Peep:



At this rate, we'll have all the songs from this album (we can only hope).

Thoughts?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Czar's Sample of the Week

Hey Timstans!!

Sorry I'm late with today's installment, but let's get right into it. We're nearing the close of this special edition of Czar's Sample of the Week, where each week, I re-release one of my eight Timbaland sample mixes alongside a sample from the unreleased Volume 9. This week, I'm re-releasing Volume 7, which is tied with Volume 6 for my favorite Timbo sample mix. While I released Volume 7 in 2006, a year after Volume 6, I just felt like I was in the same head space when I did Vol. 7. I just felt like I was making Vol. 6 pt. 2 Well, without further ado, here's Volume 7 (people with the original Vol. 7 will notice that I removed the sample to "When N****s Get to Poppin" b/c, as we reported here, it's produced by Brian Kidd):



Now, one of my favorite Timbo tracks is Tank's "I Love Them Girls Pt. 2," and I featured an interpolation of the song on Vol. 6 and even posted one of the samples for The Chronicles Anniversary. Check (it's the second sample):



Now, what I love to do, and you can hear it in my mixes, I try to find as many samples as possible in one Timbaland track (the drums and guitar in Fabolous' "Right now, later on" or the guitar and baby giggle in Aaliyah's "Are you that Somebody"). And so I was geeked when I peeped another sample in "I Love Them Girls Pt. 2," and I hope y'all will be as geeked as I was. Peep:



Well, that's it for this week's installment, check back next week for my final Timbaland Sample Mix, Vol. 8, and another sample on Vol. 9.

'Till next time,
C.Z.A.R.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Timbaland Thursdays: Timbo ft. Attitude and Short Dawg - "All Y'all"

Now usually I don't give my opinion on tracks, but this right here is straight FIRE to me. Peep the newest track off Timbaland Thursdays entitled "All Y'all" featuring Attitude and Young Money rapper, Short Dawg:



Thoughts?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

R.I.P Nate Dogg



Nathaniel D. Hale, known in the music industry as Nate Dogg, died Tuesday, his family announced. The rap star, born and reared in Long Beach, Calif. was 41. Cause of death is not known. However, Hale had suffered two strokes, one in 2007 and another in 2008.

Nate and Timbaland worked together a few times with Ms. Jade on "Dead Wrong" as well as the smooth, laid back "Gott Damn Shame":



and of course who could forget "Set It Off" where Nate KILLED his part:




The track that so many of us Timbo stans have been after over the years, however, is the unreleased track "Born To Mac" from Nate's self titled album. Nate always brought that amazing hook but none better in my opinion than on Dre's "Xxplosive."

Rest in peace....

Monday, March 14, 2011

Chris Brown ft. Timbaland - "Naked"



After getting "Paper, Scissors, Rock" last week, another Timbo/Chris Brown track (a song that apparently didn't make the album...or maybe it's for sv3) just leaked entitled "Naked." Check it out:




Thoughts?

Timbaland Thursdays: 6'2 and Attitude ft. Timbo - "Automatic"

Even though Timbaland said he wasn't going to do an installment of Timbaland Thursday's last Thursday, a track surprisingly leaked on the site entitled "Automatic." Peep:



While the tack is probably off the shelved Attitude/6'2/Timbo album, it doesn't have the same vibe of other songs we've heard off the album. Maybe some sounds were added later? Either way, what are your thoughts on the song?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Czar's Sample of the Week

What's up Timstans?!?

I know it's not Friday, but I'm doing an early edition of Czar's Timbo Sample of the Week because...IT'S TIMBALAND'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Tim!!!

I'm excited that his bday happens to fall on a moment when I'm re-releasing one-half of my favorite Timbo sample mix (Vol. 6 is tied with Vol. 7 lol). I originally dropped this mix in September of 2005, and I love this mix so much because it features a lot of my favorite Timbo tracks/samples. Here it is (for those who have the original Vol. 6, you will notice that I took out the "Hey Now (Mean Muggin')" sample. After a few years of thinking about it, I think I got the sample wrong, so I cut it on this re-release):



Now, about two years ago, someone sent me an email informing me that there might be a different song that Tim sampled for the drums on "Hola Hovito" other than the one I featured on Vol. 6, and so I decided to post it. Peep:



What do y'all think?

Lastly, because Vol. 6 is tied for my favorite Timbo sample mixes, here's one of my favorite samples featured on Vol. 9 (it was actually slated to be the intro sample/track on Vol. 9). Enjoy:



Well that's it for this week's episode of Czar's Sample of the Week. Check back next Friday for Vol. 7 and another sample off Vol. 9. Happy birthday Timbo!!!!!!

Peace,
C.Z.A.R.

Timbaland Vault: Petey Pablo - "Did it, Done it"

We got another track out of the Timbo Vault, and this one features Petey Pablo. He's spitting over the "Symphony" beat off SV2. Enjoy!



Thoughts?

Monday, March 7, 2011

Chris Brown ft. Timbaland and Big Sean - "Paper, Scissors, Rock"



Well, we finally have it. Timbo recently tweeted "Paper, Scissors, Rock," a song produced by him and JRoc for Chris Brown's upcoming album, F.A.M.E. Peep:



Most will remember this as the demo by James Fauntleroy leaked last year (supposedly originally meant for Jamie Foxx's album). For those who want another listen to the track:


Thoughts on the track? Y'all like the Chris Brown version or the Fauntleroy demo?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Czar's Sample of the Week

What's up Timstans?
Well it's Friday, and we all know that Friday means another installment of Czar's Timbo Sample of the Week. This week, we're going to do something a little special.

As I told everyone almost a month ago, each week I'm re-releasing one of my eight Timbo sample mixes along with one sample from my unreleased Volume 9. With that, here's Volume 5 (for those with the original Vol. 5, you'll notice that I cut out Kiley's "So Caught Up," because, as we all know now, Tim didn't produce that track):



Now, I usually refer to Vol. 5 as "Volume 4 pt. 2." Volume 5 came a couple of months after I released Vol. 4, and it actually featured samples that I included in the original Vol. 4, but simply cut. Part of the reason why I cut those samples out had to do with the fact that I thought Vol. 4 was too long with them in there. You'll notice that I end with Brandy's "Should I Go" on Volume 5, and that has to do with the fact that I thought about stopping the whole Timbaland sample mix thing. So after people enjoyed Vol. 4, I decided to feature all the left over samples as a way of clearing out my vault, and sharing the rest of the samples with everyone.

Before I get to a sample from Volume 9, I want to share something special about yesterday's Timbaland Thursday's track "Whenever You Like." Now, upon first listen to the track, will say that Timbo interpolated T.I.'s hit 2006 track "What you Know."


Annnnnndddddd, you'd be somewhat correct. While most of us know the T.I. song, "What you Know" is also a product of interpolation. Peep this:



While the original poster of this youtube video nicely points out that DJ Toomp (the producer of "What you Know") either interpolated The Impressions 1968 record "Gone Away" or the 1970 Roberta Flack version, s/he forgot to mention that the common denominator in both records is the amazing singer-songwriter-producer Donny Hathaway (if you don't know his music, you need to get to know his music asap!). Donny Hathaway features the same melody in his song "I Believe to My Soul" (1:40 and 2:45) off his classic and inspiring record Everything is Everything (get that album NOW!) Check the track:



So which track do you think Timbo interpolated? T.I./DJ Toomp? The Impressions? Roberta Flack? Donny Hathaway? Have another theory? Let us know!

Now, speaking of great artists, tomorrow is the birthday of one of my favorite R&B singers of all time, and so in her honor, I'm sharing a sample off Vol. 9 that features one of her biggest songs. Happy Birthday and R.I.P. Lady T!!



Until next time,
C.Z.A.R.

Timbaland Thursday: "Whenever You Like" F/ Bran'Nu

Boogie here fillin' in for Czar who's been holdin' it down here on The Chronicles (thanks homie!). It's Thursday, Timbaland Thursday to be exact and Timbo breaks us off with another track featuring Brandy aka Bran'Nu deep from the vaults. Take a listen:

Timbaland F/ Bran'Nu "Whenever You Like"

Another leftover SV2 track? Or possibly a passover from SV3? Or from the unreleased album Brandy and Timbo did but never finished (I like this theory the best). Pretty straight forward track, nothin' too special on the beat but what about Brandy? She can spit!

Check back tomorrow for a little Chronicles bonus on this track...

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

It's Here!! A Talk With Timbo and Missy



The highlight for me was Missy talking about a record called "Bring it Back" (or "Break Ya Back"...kinda hard to hear) that she says is going to "change the way hip hop is all over."

Thoughts?

 
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