Rumors (2009)
Timbaland Presents Shock Value 2 (Dec 2009)
Track Scan
By Arik C.
I guess I'm a bit late to the new Timbaland track hate fest, but I'd still like to get in on the fun.
"Rumors" has a quality I've noticed a lot of tracks have at this period of hip hop history: The quality of indiference. It's a paint-by-the-numbers club track. I'm sure Timbaland has a checklist for his singles now:
[x] Beat heavy on drums with a smidge of snyth.
[x]
[x] Actual, respectable musician to keep people from dismissing track right away (Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Nas, or even Magoo will do.)
Bam, you got your track. And I hate to sound like a Timbaland hater. Since the guy started scaling the pop charts along with hip hop/rap it's become very easy to attack him. With the exception of FutureSex/LoveSounds and select tracks off of Furtado's Loose, Timbaland's work in pop has sacrificed creativity for mass appeal, something that plagues all the best producers from time to time. I understand all producers want to change their sound, but Timbaland might have changed his rank among the few-left superproducers. (Will.I.Am the new Timbaland anybody? Cool & Dre the new...well...Dre, anybody?)
Keri Hilson seems like a great girl, but she's doing herself a disservice by accepting every Timbaland invitation. Timbaland's handing them out to everybody now, and an invite by Timbaland no longer really has any meaning. Any day now I expect Tim to call me, asking me to do something, anything on the sure-to-come Shock Value 3. So where Hilson once probably couldn't believe she was loved by Timbaland, she should now move on. Get out a solo album with maybe a single Timbaland joint. Love the guy for helping you start, but move on yourself. Even Missy eventually pushed Timbo to the side (2005's The Cookbook, and that's when Timbo was still pretty consistent.)
Jay-Z is such a gentlemen. He shows up. He spits what can't be a full verse, and then probably walked out of the studio. He knows this isn't going to be on his greatest works anthology that comes out in 2046 (50th Anniversary of Reasonable Doubt. That's when I expect it), he knows he doesn't have to suck up to producers anymore, but he's too much of a gentleman to tell Timbaland to come back later. Remember, all Jay-Z needs to do to stay relevant is say "I'm a beast, Guru!" on the intro of a single track once a year. He's that big. Anything he does for anyone is a favor.
But I love Timbaland. His work from '96-'06 is perhaps unmatched in consistency and number of hits. I say Shock Value 2 will be a stinker, as "Rumors" is more mundane and boring than almost every track on Shock Value 1, but people are always saying Saturday Night Live has jumped the shark and it always rebounds. I'm sure Timbaland will, too. Maybe in the 2010s.
Oh yeah, and I don't think Timbaland says anything on this record. What does that say about it?
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