Seeing what has come since, I'd definitely have ranked Stronger ahead of them haha - but each to their own and all that.

I have such a clear #1 for 2007 that I largely forget what else made the top this year, am trying not to spoil it for myself by looking

The only two songs I like a bit are "A Moment In Time" and "Beautiful Girls", but both no real favourites. Looking forward to the top 10.

10 Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake Give It To Me

#2s kept off #1: Stop Me (Mark Ronson)

 

Virginia-born producer Timbaland rose to prominence during the mid-90s after a hand in producing Ginuwine’s debut album Ginuwine… the Bachelor. In the following two years, he would become a highly sought-after R&B/Hip-Hop producer after playing a crucial role in the production on Aaliyah’s 1996 album One in a Million and Missy Elliott’s 1997 album Supa Dupa Fly.

Through the turn of the millennium, Timbaland would continue to create magic with Missy and Aaliyah, as well as producing for the likes of Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg. He would also provide remixes for Destiny’s Child and a young Nelly Furtado as early as 2000!

Timbaland’s pop breakthrough came in 2002, when he teamed up with ex-NSYNC member Justin Timberlake on the track Cry Me A River. The innovative production combined with pop-perfect melodies (and some tasteless marketing choices) helped redivert Justin's debut solo album onto a successful path after his first single Like I Love You missed the top 10 in the US.

Justin and Timbaland’s working relationship tightened from there on. The following year, Timbaland produced the JT-assisted Bubba Sparxxx track Hootnanny. 2004 saw the pair collaborate on Shark Tale soundtrack Good Foot, then a year later also teaming up on the Black Eyed Peas track My Style for their album Monkey Business.

By 2006, it was time for Justin to deliver the follow-up to his hugely successful debut, of course enlisting the help of his reliable producer. Timbaland had a hand in 10 of the album’s 12 tracks, including all of the album’s 6 singles. The album proved a huge success and by Spring 2007 had spawned three top 5 hits and Justin’s first solo #1 single.

Timbaland’s 2006 was especially successful, having played a big role in not just one but two of the year’s biggest pop albums. Nelly Furtado had ditched her folk roots for her third album and instead enlisted the help of Timbaland to achieve a reinvention of sorts. Similarly to Justin, Timbaland’s production magic enabled Nelly to have her biggest era to date, nabbing three top 5 hits and her first #1 single. By the start of 2007, Nelly Furtado had become the first artist ever to achieve a top 10 hit with a download-only release: the sublime Say It Right.

It seemed natural then for Nelly and Justin to “return the favour” and feature on Timbaland’s own (re)introduction as a lead act (his 1998 debut Tim’s Bio: Life from da Basement was more a compilation of production credits). Give It To Me mainly serves as a triple-diss track taking aim at the likes of (allegedly) Prince, Fergie and Scott Storch. I’m unsure of how serious the supposed beef was, but the story goes Nelly took aim at Fergie for seemingly dissing her with the “I ain’t promiscuous” line on Fergalicious. Meanwhile, Justin clapped back at Prince for taking aim at his song Sexyback, who claimed sexy never left. Timbaland’s beef with Scott Storch seemed the most genuine of the three, with their fallout stemming from a production credits dispute involving the aforementioned Cry Me A River. Poor Scott was being publicly called out left, right and centre during this time: it was only the previous year Christina Aguilera released the track F.U.S.S. as part of her Back to Basics album, standing for ‘f*** you Scott Storch’!

The song proved a big success, earning Justin and Nelly their second UK chart toppers, while giving Timbaland his first as lead. It climbed from 8-1 with sales of 27,000 and finished the year as the 22^nd best seller. The song also became Timbaland’s first and only US #1 hit as lead artist.

Ok, the production is fab! The spacey synths paired with the Hip-Hop beats produces a strangely hypnotic sound which I love. Timbaland and Danja were really the dream team producers at this time. The pair’s innovational blend of genres is on full display here and it’s firmly the main attraction of the track for me. I’m not a huge fan of the spoken-rapped verses but can appreciate how they make sense here. The chorus is also a bit of a letdown. Considering the verses are full of attack, the chorus goes a bit limp which makes me wonder whether it was a bit of an afterthought, considering the verses are where the “drama” happens. Nelly smashes her verse (her voice has such a unique quality it’s difficult not to stan tbh) and Timbaland’s part is enjoyable enough. Even Justin brings the confidence (cockiness?) required for the track. That said, his verse is peppered with cringeworthy attacks such as Prince’s chart irrelevance and his supposed bitterness for not writing Sexyback(!!), making him appear more petty than anything. Overall, the song is just okay. Would I ever choose to play it? No.

Give It To Me's release happened to coincide with the lead single from another hot producer of the moment - Mark Ronson. The Daniel Merriweather-assisted Stop Me interpolated The Smith’s Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before with The Supremes’ You Keep Me Hangin’ On, creating an orchestral-disco hybrid to rival Timbaland’s innovation. I have a firm preference for Stop Me, helped in part by the two original songs being fab. Daniel’s vocal carries so much soul and emotion, it really sells the song and I'm glad he managed to carve out a solo hit of his own soon after if nothing else. Unfortunately for Mark, he would miss out on another chance at #1 later in the year…  

A trip down Buzzjack memory lane:

The Sunday chart thread from the week Timbaland and co. made #1!

The Sunday chart predictions thread of Timba vs Ronson:

I think it's a fair placing for Give It To Me. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't near the best from any of those three artists that year.

Give It To Me was okay but I definitely thought it was a little underwhelming given the names involved in making it, it wasn't a patch on what both Justin and Nelly had produced with Timbaland on their recent albums. I much preferred the follow up so I'm glad to see that finish higher here too.

I adore this track, it would be top five for me. It's very minimal and subtle but the hypnotic groove and melody always worms its way around my head. I love Nelly Furtado's verse and the chorus is decent for me, and has become used in various club hits in the past few years. It topped my personal chart for three weeks.

Nothing else of note with that's dropped out so far but I do quite like 'Give It To Me' - though prefer the other one still to come!

It's a banger!

Not heard Timbaland's since 2007! 😮I rated it as a peak of 28 at the time, though it did have a long run of 18 weeks - so not up to the other 2007 Timbaland tracks, but it ticks over nicely enough without actually having a song to speak of in the mix.