In honor of the one-week mark since the release of Beaterator for PSP, which has been inspiring a new generation of future superproducers all around the world, we present the final 5 in our top 20 countdown list of our all-time favorite Timbaland jams…

#5         "Get Ur Freak On" - Missy Elliott (YouTube) (iTunes) (Amazon)

Instantly recognizable, 2001’s “Get Ur Freak On” is clearly at the apex of Tim & Missy’s catalog of innovative, genre-bending dance smashes.  Tim’s bhangra-inspired drums and staccato string riff cause an almost involuntary reaction among club-goers, as do Missy’s tribal-chant rap stylings;  touches of Japanese and Hindi dialect add to the world party vibe.  The remix featuring Nelly Furtado freaked things ever more exotically, and helped usher Ms. Furtado into Timbaland’s inner circle of collaborative artists.

#4        "Cry Me a River" - Justin Timberlake (YouTube) (iTunes) (Amazon)

The sleek, orchestral “Cry Me a River”, both ornate and gothic at once, almost singlehandedly elevated Justin Timberlake from ‘N Sync punchline to credible pop/R&B star.  Timbaland stepped away from the zone of robotic digital funk in 2002 to help Timberlake forge new territory – a grand, dark downtempo tale of obsession, paranoia and revenge.  The surreal music video co-starring Tim furthered speculation that this was Justin’s sly post-mortem commentary on his relationship with Britney Spears.  From here, the young singer and the wise beatmaking sage would form a collaborative alliance and the rest, as they say, is (pop music) history.

#3        "One in a Million" - Aaliyah (YouTube) (Amazon)

Coming in at #3 is, as we see it, the defining Aaliyah / Timbaland production.  Departing from the more traditional R&B sound of her R Kelly-helmed debut album, Aaliyah linked with hot upstart producer Timbaland in 1996 to guide the direction of her sophomore effort.  This title track off the One in a Million LP was Tim’s sound coming into its own – introducing his penchant for incorporating naturalistic samples (in this case, rhythmic country crickets and a plaintive guitar) with futuristic synths and drum patterns (the double-time versus negative-space approach that would become his trademark throughout the late 90’s and beyond).  When it hit, R&B fans were mesmerized by a ballad unlike any heard before.

#2         "Big Pimpin'" - Jay-Z (YouTube) (iTunes) (Amazon)

It’s “Big Pimpin’”, baby.  Many, if not most, of the hip-hop cognoscenti consider Jay-Z to be perhaps the greatest rapper of all time – with a catalog of hits across his 15-20 year career too innumerable to name.  Of that vast span of rap smashes, no song is as universally welcome from hardcore hip-hop clubs to Bar Mitzvah DJ playlists as “Big Pimpin’”.  Tim’s undulating Middle Eastern sample gets a dash of West Indian influence, a bit of Southern swagger courtesy of Texas legends UGK, and of course Jay-Z’s Brooklyn up-top touch to create a 1999 landmark hip-hop track that would ultimately take the Jiggaman all around the world.

#1         "Pony" - Ginuwine (YouTube) (iTunes) (Amazon)

It’s been thirteen years, and we can’t get enough of “Pony” (why do you think we featured it on the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack?).  In 1996, Timbaland was still just an up-and-comer from Virginia… well outside of the music industry’s centralized playing fields of New York and California.  In very short order, thanks to this distinctly original single, that all changed.  Timbaland shook the urban music world way up with his “what is this?” concoction: chopped vocoder samples, retarded drum & bass-inspired drum patterns, quirky synths, and driving rhythms fused with Ginuwine’s over-the-top suggestive lyrics.  An erotic slow jam for the new millennium, this is the record that started it all, folks – and to us, still the greatest of all time.

Previously:          #20-16                  #15-11                  #10-6