Music has always played a central role in Timbaland’s life.
The producer first gained prominence in the 1990s by helping shape the sound of artists like Ginuwine and Aaliyah. As a kid, he made beats in his bedroom and began performing as DJ Timmy Tim.
After temporarily losing the use of his arm due to partial paralysis from being accidentally shot by a coworker as a teen, Timbaland was forced to improvise his DJing technique, using his shoulder to scratch records.
On remixing the Babybel “I’m Your Baby” track
Timbaland recently partnered with Babybel, the snack cheese brand known for its small wax-coated wheels. As part of an exclusive Mini Wax Tracks Music Drop, he remixed the brand’s “I’m Your Baby” song, creating both pop and EDM versions of the track.
“I think what attracted me was the chorus, it was so catchy,” Timbaland said.
He added, “I was just explaining that one of my favorite commercials was the ‘Conjunction Junction, what’s your function’ back in the day. It was just those repeatable choruses that you don’t hear anymore in a commercial. When I heard ‘I’m Your Baby,’ it was like I needed to do something different that lives when I’m not living, and I feel like the remixes that I did with Babybel, it will play on for years and years, and my kids’ kids will know about it.”
Timbaland shares how he approaches AI in music
Timbaland’s approach to music has always included experimentation with sound and production techniques, and his perspective on AI follows a similar philosophy.
“You gotta understand, I was a guy who put crickets in a record, and a baby,” he said. “People beat me up, behind closed doors the execs used to be like, ‘We can’t play no records with all these weird sounds in them,’ this and that. But my whole thing was, music is all around us. The birds chirping, the wind blowing, all of it is music.”
Timbaland recalled that early in his career, his access to instruments and equipment was limited.
“We didn’t have a lot growing up. My parents didn’t have a lot. I’ll give you an example, the song ‘Give It to Me’ with Nelly [Furtado], me and Justin [Timberlake], that was all buckets, rakes, spoons and drums because I looked at it as how I would make music if my mom couldn’t afford to buy this keyboard. All of this music is in me,” he said. “So what I did is, I go back to the essence of music that is all around.”
Why he sees AI as a creative tool for musicians
Timbaland said he views AI as a tool—one of many—for artists to bring their ideas to life.
“It’s no different in going into the future, where we’re at today. You have to look [at it as] it’s just a tool to get what’s in you out. And that’s all. I look at it as just tools,” he said. “What new tool today can get all of this musical idea out of me? Now we’re in the world of AI, guess what? If you use it correctly, it’s a tool, and other people look at it as a threat.”
He continued, “But we’ve been threatened in the music business all our life. Coming from Virginia, trying to create music to break out, our threat was we were too country. We always had competitors, and people just be afraid of new competition. But if you understand Timbaland, and what Timbaland is, he is an innovator who is going to try things, and if he likes those things, he’s going to stand by those things. That’s just where I’m at with it. I stand 10 toes down on what I believe in.”
“This is only for the creative minds who understand it. I understand the regular, average person can use it, but I’m not talking to the regular, average person. I’m talking to the creative mind who’s beyond the creative scope of genius. That’s who I’m talking to. And so people now, understanding my creativity, are more curious of how I’m going to go about it and how I’m going to elevate it.”
From Jan. 21 through Feb. 6, Babybel and Timbaland fans can preview the remixes and enter to win a limited-edition Mini Wax Tracks set that includes mini vinyl records and a turntable to match.
The post Timbaland Advocates For AI In Music: ‘If You Use It Correctly…People Look At It As A Threat’ appeared first on Blavity.
