Timbaland
Timberland presents “Shock Value”
(Blackground/Interscope)
By A. Scott Galoway

The evolution of Tim “Timbaland” Mosley from hip hop soul guru to global techno-pop maestro comes full circle with this star-flooded disc. Ain’t nothin’ but a victory party as Timbland gets on the mic singing and rapping, mostly about beat supremacy and pimpalicious seduction to bumpin’ intergalactic beats. Like most pop CDs today, there are WAY too many songs, but in this iTunes dominated time, everyone is gonna rip what they like any way. The more they have to choose from the better. Everybody wants to be down with a winner like Tim, so he accommodated as many A-list VIPs as disc capacity allowed. One note of caution: post-Don Imus’ firing, there are a bit too many “niggas’ flying on the album (the first joint alone has a handful). Beyond that, highlights are “The Way I Are” (f/ his newcomer Keri Hilson and D.O.E.), “Bounce” (f/ Dr. Dre, Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake), “Fantasy” (f/ Money), the pop-rocker “Scream” f/ Keri again, with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls), the exotic “Bombay” (f/ Amar and Jim Beanz), the dizzying rocker “Throw it On Me” (f/ The Hives) and the epic finale, “2 Man Show” featuring Sir Elton John on piano getting jiggy as Tim “directs.” “Sign o’ the times…”