Timbaland and Magoo - Welcome To Our World (October 28, 1997)

In the midst of the bizarre war of words between superproducer Timbaland and wannabe superproducer Scott Storch, I decided to dust off an older album that could possibly prove Storch right.

If he had made his point ten years ago.

See, the indisputable fact is that Tim Mosely is a fucking fantastic producer. Completely changed the sound of hip hop. He can make a club banger and something to ride in your car to in the same sitting. The fact that he doesn't even really do hip hop tracks anymore speaks volumes for the amount of respect he gets in the music industry alone. Accordingly, he's also changed the face of pop music. Next up, of course, is Norwegian polka.

Whereas Scott Storch has...well, he did the beat to Terror Squad's "Lean Back", which was good but not great. He was a founding member of The Roots, a great rap group that uses a live band (read: sells zero copies). He's worked side by side with Dr. Dre. And who could forget his collabos with Paris Hilton and Brooke Hogan?

Storch obviously was offended enough by Timbo's dismissing of him as a "piano man" on his newest single, so he decided to go into the booth and rap. He's not any good, either. And of course, this being a rap beef, the other guy on the record calls Tim a fag. Raise your hand if you didn't see that coming.

It's funny and a bit unsettling watching a beef unfold between two people who are best known for their beats, but are fighting with their rhymes. It's funny because neither of them can rap for shit. It's unsettling because everyone already knows that Timbo won this one, and now it's just wasting our time, time better spent on reading the other posts on this blog. 

I should point out that I'm biased. I'm a huge fan of Timbo's work. He's a pop artist now, and he gets as much shine as the artists that he works with, but he came up out of the hip hop shadow. Not every track he does is genius, but pair him up with a great rapper and the shit is bananas. God help me, I even like his work with Justin Timberlake. And even the Nelly Furtado work, even the song that he allegedly stole from some guy in Finland.

As I said before, I'm a lover of a good pop song. Timbaland can make a good pop song.

In 1997, though, he was mainly known as an R&B producer just hitting his stride, producing hits for established artist Aaliyah (R.I.P.) and his own fam, consisting of Missy Elliott, Ginuwine, and the group Playa (which I've never actually heard any music from). To showcase his work, he made the odd decision to release an album featuring himself rapping over his own beats. He teamed up with his friend Magoo, another guy who can't really rap, and they ran with the idea for several albums.

Have I mentioned enough times yet that neither of the artists are great rappers? Or even good ones? Timbo always sounds better when he's on someone's hook or ad-libbing. And Magoo may sound great when he's trying to get you to switch your long-distance service provider. On a record together, though, they apparently sounded okay enough to go platinum. Which means this album must be good, right?

Welcome To Our World is probably the worst example in the world to use when you're debating about the genius that is Tim Mosely. I also realize that some readers (all two of you) may not agree with this album being featured on a hip hop blog. But, tough shit, this is the album I found today.

1. BEEP BEEP

Sure, it's over four minutes long, but don't be fooled: it's a fucking intro on a rap album.

2. FEEL IT

I assume that Timbaland wrote his own rhymes for the album. Read into that whatever you wish.

3. UP JUMPS DA BOOGIE (FEAT MISSY ELLIOTT AND AALIYAH)

True story: when the single for this track was released, it was credited to "Magoo and Timbaland". Then when the album comes out, the names are transposed. In an unrelated note, "I Know What Girls Like"??? What were you thinking?

4. CLOCK STRIKES

People say that Magoo sounds like Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest. Hearing this song, I can see their point.

5. 15 AFTER DA' HOUR

This is like an episode of Seinfeld - about absofuckinglutely nothing.

6. MS. PARKER (INTERLUDE)

Because what would a rap album be without skits? An R&B album, that's what.

7. LUV 2 LUV U (REMIX) (FEAT SHAUNTA)

This still sounds as good as I remember. Hilariously sequenced before the original track.

8. LUV 2 LUV U (FEAT PLAYA)

For good reason, obviously; this sounds weak.

9. SMOKE IN DA' AIR

Reminiscent of really shitty early Ginuwine songs.

10. INTRO BUDDHA (INTERLUDE)

See #6.

11. PEEPIN' MY STYLE

Turns out that Mr. Mosely is a fan of Easter candy. Who knew?

12. WRITTIN' RHYMES

But not a fan of Spellcheck.

13. DEEP IN YOUR MEMORY

Beat doesn't match the song.

14. CLOCK STRIKES (REMIX)

Much better than the original, even if it uses the same Knight Rider sample as that Busta Rhymes song. There's a remix of this remix that features Skillz, the video of which rips off From Dust 'Til Dawn, featuring a recreation of the Salma Hayek dance sequence. Great, now I'm distracted.

15. SEX BEAT (INTERLUDE)

A song about the rise of capitalism, on a rap album? Huh.

16. MAN UNDERCOVER (FEAT AALIYAH)

I'm sure that other rapper on that Scott Storch song was using the title of this song as his evidence. Never mind the fact that this is basically an Aaliyah song that was left off of her own album.

17. JOY (FEAT GINUWINE AND PLAYA)

The beat isn't very joyous.

18. UP JUMPS DA' BOOGIE (REMIX) (FEAT MISSY ELLIOTT)

So, in the "remixes have better beats than the originals" competition, Timbo is three for three.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The Timbaland on this album isn't the same guy who's making those hits now. The talent is evident; some of the beats on this album are pretty good. But you know what may be better next time? An instrumental album.

BUY OR BURN? Burn it. This is probably readily available in any used CD store, but it's there for good reason. To separate T.I. from The UN, of course. What did you think I meant?

BEST TRACKS: "Clock Strikes (Remix)"; "Luv 2 Luv U (Remix)"

-Max