Timbaland? More Like Timbalame! DING DONG
So I was listening to Timbaland’s “Give It to Me” (feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake) yesterday, because it was 6:45 and that is when I listen to Timbaland’s “Give It to Me” (feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake), when I noticed that Timbaland was directing an unusual taunt at me:
I get a half a mill for my beats you get a couple grand
never gonna see the day that I ain’t got the upper hand
I’m respected from californ.i.a. way down to japan
I’m a real producer and you just the piano man
your song gonna top the charts, I heard em, I’m not a fan
OK, well first of all, Timbaland, you make a lot more money than me. I’m not going to argue with you there. But I make a couple grand per beat, and even if I only make one beat per week, I’m still pulling in a six figure salary. It just seems ridiculous for someone who knows how hard it can be to make a living doing something that you love and that keeps you feeling creatively satisfied to make a mockery of a six-figure salary.
This upper-hand stuff just makes you sound paranoid.
Also, I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal to be respected from California to Japan. They’re right next to each other, and there’s a huge Japanese population in California because of this. You don’t see me talking about how I’m respected from Michigan all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Besides, who isn’t respected in Japan? I’m sorry, but Edward Furlong was a respected singer in Japan. Edward Furlong.
Oops, I think you meant this line about Billy Joel.
OH COME ON, TIMBALAND. This is like Paris Hilton complaining about the invasiveness of the paparazzi. The charts made you, motherfucker. And don’t act like the fact that my songs are hugely popular somehow makes me less of an artist. There are a lot of respectable musicians making the charts these days. Even Arcade Fire’s new album debuted at, like, number two or something, and lots of the more mainstream artists (ever heard of Justin Timberlake? YOUR BOYFRIEND) who are putting out chart-ready pop songs are still undeniably talented. This is where your whole taunt just falls completely flat to me, and it’s so disingenuous that it makes even some of your less preposterous boasts ring false. How is that upper-hand working out for you?
I’m just saying that it’s a dangerous road you are walking, Tim, when you make Nelly Furtado the most reliable narrator in your song: “you love my ass and my abs and the video called promiscuous,” TRUE!
May 31st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
This post doesn’t seem to consider the issue of race. You’ve attempted to decontextualize Timbaland to the point where you’re able to place him on equal footing with Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, in terms of your analysis. This could be a sign of a your generous class/color-blind progressiveness, where artists are judged on the merits of their creative contributions.
But this attempt isn’t exactly egalitarian — giving credit to Timbaland for being self-aware about his expected role in hip-hop music. In this case generically expressed by Timbaland as exaggerated oneupsmanship materialism. Timbaland even ironically admits to playing the role of the stereotypical black Producer: shuckin’ beats for Massa. But this is seemingly subverted by the role-reversal in the “feat. [black rapper]” gimmick that has Furtado and Timberlake as the featured artists, coonin’ and bufoonin’ in the music video.
The Billy Joel reference could also be seen as an attempt at subverting his co-optation by a suburban (white), middle-class audience. So, while Timbaland might get called out on his incoherent comparison to “The Piano Man” by them/you, he still gets paid for saying it anyway.
Your post’s trump card bluffs with respectable populist class-warfare, but tells coy racism: Timbaland might be a talented multimillionaire, but he’s still just a dumb Negro.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Worker 3116 = Scott Storch
May 31st, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Did I miss the part of the post that asked for a deconstructionalist wrap-up? Really riveting stuff. Someone went to university!
January 8th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
American music gave birth to so much great music,
Gospel, jazz, blues, soul, rock, rap but today popular music is in freefall
and Timbaland is the ultimate symbol of this trend.
Timbaland:Music for marketing.
Timbaland is well liked by the “critics” (pay by the big corporations) because they can say “Now I understand black music! That’s good black music.”
What they like in Timbaland “music” it’s the Techno/Pop/synth/Gay sound played by a black man.
His “music” is souless, cold, mechanical and said nothing.It’s the perfect beat for the fascist Bush years.
Perfect for the white pop artists who got nothing to say but pretend to play “black music”.
Perfect for black artist who want to reach the white teens/gay buyers.
For 10 years it’s the same beat with a new sound stolen somewhere (Arabic, Indus or Finnish music).
Boring after 8 measures, and feed by force via all the clear channel/MTV.
The Financial power decided that “Timbo” was the perfect good big black (and propably gay) boy to represent their computerized/aseptized “music”.
What’s so “fantastic” about him? His goofy face??
He’s changed the sound of music, sure, but for the worst.
January 13th, 2008 at 12:20 am
I don’t see the racial working of this post. I can see how marKUS and ARCH work it. ARCH has a good argument. The post itself is egalitarian since its based on the fact that they are equals in terms of the work they do (one just happens to be recognized as more talented=his songs make MONEY –that’s the point of a business a the end of the day). The post is critical of Timbaland’s dismissal of the producer(s) he is competing against. For all that you know the poster can be black and a producer or his argument can be flawed - perhaps Timbaland is directing his commentary at someone in the business. so really: 1. Don’t be so sensitive (both the poster and critics) 2. Consider the post as a whole without interjecting false bias.
finally: you are full of shit..so shut it..ugh! Timbaland is full of himself but I still kick it to his beats..tight.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Arch rules. Pwned.
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