Super-producer also working with Missy Elliott, but not on her whole album: 'I gotta get my own thing up and poppin'.'
A few weeks ago, Timbaland was making predictions about the whole 50 Cent vs. Kanye West chart battle. Now that the numbers are in, he would like to see more Super Tuesdays - and he even has an idea about who he would want to be up against on record-store shelves.
"I gotta go against my daddy," he said Friday from the ABC studios in New York, where the super-producer is filming a guest spot for the soap opera "One Life to Live." "I call [Dr.] Dre my daddy. To make it be some talk, I gotta go against my big brother. He's my big brother. [Who are] the two quarterbacks? Peyton Manning and Eli? When they have to go against each other, it's like, 'Do I really wanna go against my big brother?' Dre is my mentor. That would drive people to the stores. Like, 'Oh snap, Tim and Dre!' That would be big. I asked Jay-Z who he would go against. He said, 'The only person I would go against is my other homeboy: my friend Eminem.' "
Tim says Jay has approached him about working on his American Gangster album. Jay is looking for a follow-up to the Pharrell-produced lead track, "Blue Magic."
"He wants me to do the next single," Tim said. "He just does it for fun. We talked about [his next album]. He says it's just a hobby, ain't nothing else to do. When a person tells you that, what you supposed to say? 'You crazy'? He said, 'I don't wait for nothing. I'm there. I'm doing it for the love of music.' What am I supposed to say? 'You wack for doing it'? ... Some people think Jay fell off. Or he's just over people's head. I think that's what it is. That's another thing: It could hurt him or it could make him be not the legend he is. That's the only thing I'm scared of for my friend."
Another friend Tim has studio visions for is Missy Elliott. He maintains that he will definitely be producing on her next album, just not the entire album.
"I probably won't do the whole thing 'cause I gotta get my own thing up and poppin'," he said, referring to his Mosley Music Group label. "I can't make [Missy's recording home] Atlantic [Records] money. Nothing personal. We had a time and a crazy run, but I gotta get my own indie label poppin'. I couldn't do the whole thing. I had to do partial and try to oversee it the best way I can for her. But I can't make Atlantic a ton of money and leave Mosley Music with nothing. That don't make logical sense. Missy is my sister, but I got a family: Nelly [Furtado], Keri [Hilson], One Republic. If I don't function, then they don't function and they can't get their careers off.
Hilson and One Republic were in tow at the "One Life" taping, where Tim and his artists will be performing. Tim said the next videos coming from his album Timbaland Presents: Shock Value will be "Apologize," which features One Republic, and probably "Miscommunication," on which Keri makes another guest appearance. He's also thinking about releasing "One and Only" featuring Fall Out Boy.
"We shot the video for 'Apologize,' " he said. "The concept is me in the studio. I just wanted my part to be 'shoot me in the studio recording my part.' They got other stuff going on, but I left. I couldn't stay.
"These are all my people I'm putting out," he added about his label. "Up-and-coming stars that are gonna keep me laying low for a minute so I can chill out and take a vacation. I went on one for the first time in 15 years. I wanna take more. While they are working, I can chill out and collect the money. ... Well, not collect the money, just be involved as a daddy figure - 'Nah, do this. Change this' - like I used to be. I put my face out there and became this great star. Now I'm worldwide. From Africa to Israel. I gotta do a tour in Australia. I'm there."