Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1971), better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, singer and rapper.

Timbaland's first full credit production work was in 1996 on Ginuwine...the Bachelor for R&B singer Ginuwine. After further successful work on Aaliyah's 1996 album One in a Million and Missy Elliott's 1997 album Supa Dupa Fly, Timbaland became a prominent producer for R&B and hip-hop artists. Initially he released several albums with fellow rapper Magoo.

Timbaland has worked with Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry, Keri Hilson and British X Factor winner Leona Lewis on their upcoming projects. He has also produced tracks for Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Keshia Chanté and Jay-Z's upcoming albums. Timbaland also produced Chris Cornell's 2009 album Scream. Shakira was asked to record vocals on the song "Give It Up to Me" to be included on Timbaland's forthcoming album but it was placed on her third studio album She Wolf and released as the second US single instead. In September 2009, Timbaland announced that Shock Value II will be released on November 23 in Europe and November 24 in North America. However it was pushed back to December 8, preceded by the first single which features a new recording artist named SoShy and Nelly Furtado entitled "Morning After Dark".

Early life

Timothy Zachary Mosley was born in Virginia on March 10, 1971 and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he graduated from Salem High School. Originally a disc jockey known as "DJ Timmy Tim" or "DJ Tiny Tim". Mosley began making hip hop backing tracks on a Casio keyboard. While in high school, Mosley began a long term collaboration with rapper Melvin Barcliff, who performed under the name of Magoo. The teenaged Mosley also joined the production ensemble S.B.I. – "Surrounded By Idiots" – which also featured Neptunes producer Pharrell. Mosley was also high school friends with Gene Thorton, who would go on to be known as Malice of the rap duo Clipse.

Singer/rapper Missy Elliott heard his material and began working with him. She and her R&B group Sista auditioned for DeVante Swing, a producer and member of the successful R&B act Jodeci. DeVante signed Sista to his Swing Mob record label and Elliott brought Mosley and Barcliff along with her to New York, where Swing Mob was based. It was DeVante who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after Timberland construction boots, which were popular in hip hop fashion.

Sista, Timbaland, and Magoo became part of SCI Zakys School stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists such as R&B singer Ginuwine, male vocal group Playa (Smoke E. Digglera, Static Major and Digital Black), and the girl group Sugah. Timbaland did production work on a number of projects with DeVante, including the 1995 Jodeci LP The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel, and Sista’s (unreleased) debut LP 4 All the Sistas Around the World. He loves to roll his eyes.

Elliott began receiving recognition as a songwriter for artists such as R&B girl group 702 and MC Lyte. Due to Timbaland's connection with her, he was often contacted to produce remixes of her songs.

Career
1996–2002

Timbaland produced songs including Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)", Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito",[9] Petey Pablo's "Raise Up", and Beck's cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" during this period. He also contributed three songs, all eventually released as singles, to Aaliyah’s self-titled third album, the exotic lead single "We Need a Resolution" (featuring himself rapping a verse), "More than a Woman", and the ballad "I Care 4 U".

Timbaland & Magoo’s second album together was slated for release in November 2000. Indecent Proposal was to feature appearances by Beck, Aaliyah, as well as new Timbaland protégés—some from his new Beat Club Records imprint--Ms. Jade, Kiley Dean, Sebastian, Petey Pablo, and Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed for an entire year, finally released in November 2001. It was a commercial disappointment. Beck’s vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the final version, which instead featured Timbaland singing alongside Steve "Static" Garrett of Playa and Aaliyah.

The first release on Beat Club was the debut album by Bubba Sparxxx in September 2001, Dark Days, Bright Nights. The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland. In a phone call to the MTV show Total Request Live, Timbaland said:

She was like blood, and I lost blood. Me and her together had this chemistry. I kinda lost half of my creativity to her. It's hard for me to talk to the fans right now. Beyond the music, she was a brilliant person, the [most special] person I ever met.

2009–present

Timbaland worked with Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry and British X Factor winner Leona Lewis on their upcoming projects. He has also produced tracks for Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Keshia Chanté and Jay-Z's upcoming albums. Timbaland also produced Chris Cornell's 2009 album Scream. Shakira was asked to record vocals on the song "Give It Up to Me" to be included on Timbaland's forthcoming album but it was placed on her third studio album She Wolf and released as the second US single instead. Additionally it was revealed that one of the songs Timbaland had produced for Beyoncé's 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce was reworked by Keri Hilson and Jay Z for Shock Value II but not included. He was a guest host of World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw on December 28, 2009.

Shock Value II

Timbaland began working on the sequel to Shock Value in July 2008. In March 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his label, Blackground Records, alleging that they attempted to blackball him after he decided to move from music performance into production. A fake track listing appeared online later in 2009 suggesting that the album would feature Rihanna, Usher, Jordin Sparks, Beyonce, Jonas Brothers and Linkin Park collaborations amongst others.

In September 2009, Timbaland announced that Shock Value II will be released on November 23 in Europe and November 24 in North America. However it was pushed back to December 8, preceded by the first single which features a new recording artist named SoShy and Nelly Furtado entitled "Morning After Dark". New featured guest appearances on the album include DJ Felli Fel, Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Drake, Chad Kroeger, Sebastian, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Esthero, The Fray, Jet, Daughtry, OneRepublic, Keri Hilson, Attitude and D.O.E.. The album also features Brandy Norwood who appears as her new alter-ego, the rapper Bran'Nu. There were rumors that Timbaland would work with the Jonas Brothers on the track "Dumb", but the track did not make it to the final tracklist and Jonas Brothers never appeared on Shock Value II. Madonna, Rihanna, Usher, Jordin Sparks, Beyonce, Kanye West, Linkin Park, All- American Rejects, Paramore, Gucci Mane, T-Pain, T.I. and Akon also never appeared on Shock Value II.

Thomas Crown Studio

Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley built a private recording studio in Virginia Beach. The studio was conceived and developed with long time engineer, Jimmy Douglass. The studio is managed by Garland Mosley and Brian Byrd. This full service audio production center has been created in an existing (approximate) 5,000 sq. ft. two-story industrial park building. A complete renovation of the building resulted in a two-studio recording and post production facility, and continues the growth of the Virginia Beach music community, that has spawned the likes of The Neptunes, Missy Elliott and Nate "Danja" Hills.

Personal life

Timbaland has a son from a previous relationship, named Demetrius.In November 2007, Timbaland and his then-fiancee Monique Idlett had their first child, a daughter named Reagan. Monique was also a publicist working at Timbaland's Mosley Music Group record company. The two later married in Aruba.