Justin Timberlake and Timbaland perform onstage during the Songwriters Hall Of Fame 50th Annual Induction And Awards Dinner at The New York Marriott Marquis on June 13, 2019 in New York City.
Theo Wargo/GI for Songwriters Hall Of FameTimbaland and Justin Timberlake are certainly no strangers in the studio, but it looks like these two have been working on some new music together.
On Wednesday (Dec. 29), Timbo posted a video of him, JT and Ant Clemons — who performed “Better Days” alongside Timberlake during the Celebrating America concert following President Joe Biden’s inauguration — vibing in the studio to a new snippet. “Soon to come,” the Verzuz co-creator captioned the snippet with a series of suspicious eye emojis.
But what’s particularly noteworthy about the new sample is the signature baby voice that Timbaland first made popular on Aaliyah’s Grammy-nominated 1998 single “Are You That Somebody?” which was recently released on streaming services for the first time, much like the late R&B singer’s discography. Clemons is heard screaming in the video, which Anderson .Paak teased him about in the comments section. “N—a why you screaming like that @antclemons,” he wrote, to which Clemons responded with a series of cry-laughing emojis.
In the video, Clemons exclaims to Timbo, “You brought the baby back! You should put the baby on this and Lil Baby.” “And DaBaby,” JT chimes in with a laugh. “And my baby.”
Timbo and JT reunited this past spring on Justine Skye’s latest album Space and Time: Timbaland executive produced it and the former *NSYNC member was featured on the song “Innocent,” which gives songwriting credits to Timbaland and Missy Elliott due to its interpolation of Aaliyah’s “If Your Girl Only Knew.”
Earlier this month, the megaproducer teased another major release/reunion with Missy, which would be her first full-length album since 2005’s The Cookbook.
Hear what Timbaland and Justin Timberlake have been cooking lately below.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
