CD Review: Timbaland shows great versatility on Shock Value

04/06/07 - Let's face it: first impressions of Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, with his notoriously emo-straightened, diagonally-cut black bangs, black-rimmed eyes and countless tattoos and piercings vs. the equally notorious rapper and hip-hop producer Timbaland, with his bulging biceps and badass glare, do not lead one to believe that the two would ever cross paths on a random Friday night, let alone produce and record a single together. Well believe it ladies and gents, because the two musical geniuses have in fact crossed paths, and it was a particularly spectacular crossing of paths whereby "One and Only" was created and produced.

And you've got to hand it to them, because in an era where the mixing of musical genres, especially two so culturally and instrumentally different as punk / emo and hip-hop / rap, they have not only done something incredibly risky, but they've done a damn good job at it too.

The aforementioned track, "One and Only," is just one-seventeenth of Timbaland's new album Shock Value, released Tuesday.

While the money makin' Tim or Timbo (as his close acquaintances apparently call him) has produced numerous Top 10 singles for sizzling hot artists like Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, Shock Value is only his second solo album. However, since he is apparently somewhat self-conscious and unsure of his abilities to record his music in complete solitude, Timbo has included a number of top-notch musicians on Shock Value.

These guest appearances include the incredibly talented and always original Missy Elliott, the weed-smokin' Dr. Dre, the bulletproof 50 Cent and even a song entitled "2 Man Show." This features Elton John's famous piano playing in the background while Timbaland obnoxiously raps over it with lyrics about Elton's apparent inability to write his own music.

On one hand, I've got to give Timbo a massive round of applause and a pat on his huge, muscular back because what he has done on Shock Value is something many artists these days are either too scared to tackle, or just have failed at tremendously.

He has successfully blended several different genres of music together in several different tracks, all on one album. He has combined punk, hip-hop, 1960s rock and club-esque techno into cohesive tracks.

During a recent interview on MTV, Timbaland said, "I'm not just hip-hop ... My mission is to take over Top 40 radio, what they call popular music, different genres of music, and reach all types of people." This in itself is definitely credit-worthy.

However, as far as the lyrical content of his music goes, Tim needs some major assistance, perhaps even from his fellow musician Elton John. The majority of the songs contain lyrics about the same stuff we hear about in nearly EVERY single rap or hip-hop song.

You could go down a checklist and you'd probably end with every requirement of rap lyrics checked off. Threatens to kill at least one person: check. Talks about how damn clever he is: check. Talks about how damn rich he is: check. Talks, in some derogatory way, about one or all parts of the female body (ass, boobs...): check. The list goes on.

However, as I said before, I can't completely knock Timbo's stuff because as far as music goes, which in my opinion is the hardest part, he's got it goin' on.

So next time you're feeling confused, perplexed, indecisive, and you can't figure out whether to wear your Uggs or flip-flops, black eyeliner or brown, pizza or ice cream, punk or hip-hop, just go out, buy Shock Value and relax, knowing that you don't have to make a decision just yet.