Alright folks, here we go... Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley has been in the game for a GOOD God minute. It was because of him that I really began to fall in love with Hip-Hop. Year after year, he ceased to amaze not only me but music aficionados alike with his incredible knack for mind-blowing musical composition and instrumentation. I don't even have to list his discography of hits because if you don't know them, then you shouldn't be reading my blog. Real talk. Anywho, Shock Value II comes as a sequel of sorts to Timbaland's album Shock Value which was released in 2007. This 2nd installment definitely has some shock value... sadly, parts of it were shockingly awful. I really hate to say this as I champion this man to be the best producer bar-none and a personal musical hero. But sadly I must admit, I was shocked when hearing this album and NOT in the way I wanted to be.
The album definitely had great promise, even though when I looked at the tracklisting and saw some of the features: Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, The Fray, JoJo, and Chad Kroeger to name a few. I could already tell that this was going to be Tim's least urban album to date. Now I definitely give Timbo the utmost props for defying the lines of what he is penned to be, which is a hip-hop producer. He, Dr. Dre, and OutKast are the main reasons why Hip-Hop evolved from being a genre that was predominantly listened to by black people. He is much greater than this, a musical composer. He took OneRepublic's "Apologize", which was already stellar in its original inception and mastered it beautifully.
So heres the breakdown. The album started off very solid. The two stands outs were track 4, Meet in the Middle feat. Bran'Nu aka Brandy (yes, sitting up in my room Brandy). Bran'Nu is her rapper alter-ego. I know your thinking, wack right? Actually she went in! Don't expect her to be dropping lyrics like MC Lyte or Mia X or my new favorite femcee, the Young Money Barbie Doll Nicki Minaj, but she did her thing. The other stand out track in my opinion was Tomorrow In The Bottle with rocker sensation Chad Kroeger, lead single of Nickelback and Timbaland's younger brother Sebastian. The vibe of the song was sickening from the drop of the beat. Its an ode to relationships and the perils that sometimes arise from them and hoping for a better tomorrow. It is probably my favorite track on the whole album. Even the track with Hip-Hop's New Big Deal Drizzy Drake was really solid, just didn't blow me away like I expected.
Then the bomb dropped... SIGH. As I stated before how much I admire Timbaland's expansive musical prowess, it has its flaws. It just goes to show that no one is truly capable of doing all. Anyhow, Timbaland paired up with Tween sensation Miley Cyrus. I will say this, I am in no way hating on Miley. I happen to like her. I actually watched the Hannah Montana movie, YES, I'm not ashamed to admit it. But when it comes to pairing her musical stylings with such a visionary as Timbaland, it plain and simple doesn't work. When I first read the tracklist and saw this, I foresaw the doom to come. I had a small glimmering hope that maybe Tim could step her game up and work his magic, but sadly, it seems that he worked down to her level. Honestly, you wouldn't quite know that it was produced by Timbaland if he wasn't on the song. Again, I'm not saying that Miley sucks. I give props where they are due. She works well within her means, she's not acting like she's Christina Ag or Beyonce and trying to sing things she damn well can't pull off. She milks her angle well so for that, she gets a standing O. But this song gets a flat out NO!
Moving on to the rest of the album, the single Morning After Dark, is what it is. Its a single, and it does what singles do. Makes you dance! Not the hottest track from Tim but it works. Tim also collabs with America's Favorite Faux-Lesbian Katy Perry and though I had several friends dislike it, I truly love it. It does provide the shock value as its really pop-like and definitely Top 40 savvy so for this collaboration, Tim gets an A+ from me.
The next two tracks really weren't anything too spectacular. I could have done without his track Ease Off the Liquor as it really didn't do too much for me. The final two tracks were great though. One was with The Fray, which I will admitedly say I'm not too familiar with their albums, but the song was really cool. It also featured Canadian songtress Esthero. Then came Timothy Where Have You Been which I really really love. It features the band Jet (Are You Going to Be My Girl) and basically chronicles Timbaland's journey as a producer and looking back on where exactly Tim has been.
Now being a true fan, I BOUGHT (emphasis on BOUGHT) the Deluxe version of the album which including 4 bonus tracks, one with American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, one with OneRepublic, and then two track with Mosley Group artists Keri "All Those Legs" Hilson and rapper D.O.E. Honestly, if Tim had inserted these tracks and took out the ones that I disliked above, this album would have been truly amazing. So all in all, I give this album a 7.5/10. It truly was disappointing to give it such an average rating to such a visionary but Timbaland truly didn't come through with every track. I truly don't know what to attribute to this lack of cohesiveness but whatever caused it, Tim needs to re-focus, otherwise his genius will begin to be questioned.
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