Chris Harbem  

Timberland, Hip Hop’s Sell-Out Producer

In the world of music making there are your players and then there are your aspiring players.

Though mega-producer Timberland was introduced to the music business by R&B producer DeVante from the famous late 20^th century singing group Jodeci who gave a few poor kids a chance to learn and record at no cost in a group learning environment within a house in New Jersey, and he was GIVEN a developmental recording contract even after the group learning opportunity did not work for him; he has proven that his take on music has been able to keep him working for over a decade since his very humble start in the field.

The time working as a producer has taken him from aspiring player to definite player with mega-producer credits and standing amongst his other hip hop producing peers.

Timberland became known as a member of the Timberland and McGoo production team of the 1990’s of the 20^th century.

The production team, both from producer Devante’s New Jersey housed group learning project, worked with another of Devante’s group learning prodigies Missy Elliot. The three of them made hits that made Timberland and Missy Elliot mega stars in the hip hop music genre.

In the 21^st century, however, Timberland has left behind his New Jersey ghetto roots, his humble urban group learning beginning, and the hip hop culture within which he was reared.

Timberland of the 21^st century is now a wealthy gentlemen who works from a quiet suburban/rural area of the southern state of Virginia far away from the rough streets of New Jersey.

The new Timberland now boasts of charging record labels $500,000 for his remix productions of songs, and he never gives any complements to others from similar backgrounds to his own who were not GIVEN the same opportunities. In fact, he is known more for disrespecting, or putting down, all that are not living up to his economic class or social standing much like a 19^th century wealthy European aristocrat, and not like a poor kid from New Jersey.

Even more, Timberland of the 21^st century cares not to even produce or make music for African American entertainers, but only Euro-American entertainers. Any African American singing a song with production work done by Timberland has to get someone to pay $500,000 for the work to be done.

Being a poor kid from New Jersey GIVEN a chance to learn from a producer like Devante, who learned from producer Al B.Sure, who learned from classically schooled brass musician/composer/ & producer Quincy Jones, and later being GIVEN another chance to record at no cost by a MAJOR record label when he did had not yet produced a breakthrough HIT record for them to sell, which means he was not supposed to be signed, must be a truly distasteful experience for this ex-ghetto kid turned millionaire ghetto or urban music producer.

Hell, if I was given chances to record for free like the unemployed get welfare checks, I’d want to forget about where I came from too.

Or would I?

I don’t think so.

I think I’d rather be cool and not forget where I came from and not be a sell out like Timberland.