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.
NEWS
There is no question that Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out made a serious impact and continues to hold weight. The project showed that hip hop is not limited by age and proved that a long-awaited return can still land in a major way regardless of the time away.
If you need a reminder, the Virginia duo’s fourth studio album debuted comfortably within the top five of the Hot 200. It secured the number four position and moved an impressive 118,000 units in its first week.
On top of that, it picked up a win at this year’s Grammys, earning Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips.” The album also received four additional nominations, including Best Music Video, Rap Album, and Album of the Year.
It is hard to believe the project will officially hit its one year mark this summer on July 11. Even so, Pusha T is making it clear that both supporters and critics should not be overlooking it anytime soon.
While performing at Coachella yesterday, King Push told the crowd that LGSEO still sits at the top, regardless of genre.
He said, “‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is still the album of the motherfckin year. Whole new year, still album of the year,” per Kurrco. “Album of the motherfcking year until we drop again. We don't care who dropping. It don't matter.”
That is a strong statement for obvious reasons, especially considering the recent claims surrounding Push himself.
Over the same weekend, hip hop social media lit up after several alleged reference tracks connected to Quentin Miller and Push began circulating. Three tracks surfaced in total, but one that drew the most attention was an alleged record titled “Real Gon’ Come.” It is said to come from the DAYTONA era, around 2017 to 2018.
The situation gained traction because fans remember the past tension between Drake and Pusha T before Drake’s clash with Kendrick Lamar. During that feud, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters on tracks like “Infrared,” which appears on DAYTONA. On that song, he raps, “The bigger question is how the Russians did it /
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people argue it is not a major issue since Miller’s alleged contributions were limited to hooks. Others point out that the songs were never officially released, so they see no real problem. Meanwhile, critics view it as clear hypocrisy on Pusha T’s part, a perspective that DJ Akademiks has also supported.
