Timbaland Quits Hip-Hop
Timbaland used to puzzle hip-hop heads in a good way. Across a string of innovative hit singles with acts like Missy Elliott, Jay-Z and Bubba Sparxx, Timbo brought a wild mixture of futuristic sounds and unique composition to the masses. After Missy's 'This Is Not a Test,' he made his initial proclamation that he was done with hip-hop and wanted to work in other genres, citing Coldplay as an example of where his work was headed. The content on 'Shock Value II' pretty much finalized this new evolution. The record features collaborations with popsters like Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake and (gulp) Miley Cyrus, and Timbaland has again proclaimed that he is done with hip-hop.
The reason? According to a recent interview with MTV, Timbaland doesn't think hip-hop fans are with him anymore and they certainly aren't buying enough records to justify working in the genre any longer.
"I know 75 percent [of the people who buy my album] are women who love Timbaland and most are women who watch 'Desperate Housewives' and all those others," he said to MTV News. "I did this research. It's the women who watch 'Sex and the City,' 'Desperate Housewives' -- all the real go-to-the-bar women like Timbaland, and mostly European women. It lets me know that my fan base is mostly women and they are from all cultures. So it's not a person who loves mostly hip-hop. It's a person who loves everything besides hip-hop."
While admitting that he's making music for consumers based on marketing is a little suspect, Timbo says that his generation is outgrowing hip-hop and no longer has much say in the culture. Some new rappers, such as Drake, will continue to receive the almighty invite to work with the super-producer, but for the most part, hip-hop is dead to him.
"I was done with hip-hop a long time ago," he continues. "Once my generation left, I left. I do it, but there's nobody from my generation besides Jay who's doing it. I look at Lil Wayne as being from my generation. Some people are still acceptable. Kanye is acceptable from my generation."
We do feel it's important to put this in a little context. The 38-year-old Timbo is in the same generation as the 27-year-old Lil Wayne? It seems like this could be translated as meaning that Timbaland will only work with the extremely financially successful and hyped artists in hip-hop (aka pop stars). Otherwise, he's dead to the culture