During an era when music fans argued over which crew was the best between Death Row, Bad Boy and Roc-A-Fella, I chose The Superfriends. They weren’t officially a record label like the others were, but they were a damn good collective of artists whose creativity transcended our generation.

Timbaland was the chief architect of the crew that included Missy Elliott, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Magoo, and Playa, just to name a few. With Timbo’s trademark sound as the backbone, they created a style that is still being imitated today. Make no mistake, though. The music they made together was unfuckwithable.

Aside from his work with The Superfriends, Timbo has produced so many classics for other artists across multiple genres, and that made it damn near impossible to narrow down my original list of over 60 joints to just 25. And to keep it truly throwback for Throwback Thursday, nothing he produced after 2005 made the cut. In no particular order, here are the 25 that did.

THE BEST OF TIMBALAND (1996-2005):

[WARNING: Ludacris – “The Potion” is NSFW]

Five Random Facts:
1. Timbo started off as a DJ and was known as “DJ Timmy Tim.”
2. He was childhood friends with Missy Elliott and Magoo.
3. He was in a group with Magoo and Pharrell [who was then known as “Magnum”] when they were teenagers called “Surrounded By Idiots.” Listen to their joints from 1991 here.
4. He was also friends with Pusha T and Malice of The Clipse in high school.
5. He was given the name “Timbaland” by DeVante Swing of Jodeci who named his after Timberland boots.

Five Random Thoughts:
 1. The Superfriends had the dance routine game on lock.
2. When some of these joints first came out, Bill Clinton was President, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel were Lakers, and I was taking the bus to Tower Records every two weeks to re-up on AOL discs so that I could chat with girls in the “SoCaL PiNoYz PiNaYz” chat room (shoutout to 56k).
3. Timbo and Missy provided the soundtrack for one of film’s greatest scenes ever.
4. If you really want to feel old, this is what the little white girl from the “Work It” video looks like now.
5. Happy 20th Anniversary to Babygirl’s debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number. Check out this nice piece that Billboard did on it last week.

Fatlace

At first glance, Fatlace is your typical shop with dope beats, comfy sneaks and kids from car meets but stay a while and discover the details that set this place apart from your usual street boutique. Chill with the crew, grab some free candy and enjoy the exquisiteness that is Japantown. You can also check out our online emporium where we carry all of our latest product.

Latest posts by Fatlace (see all)