Timbaland sat down for a panel discussion tonight for the 2023 Pop Conference at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. In a group that included Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Take a Daytrip, Timbaland took some time to discuss the creation of the Aaliyah classic “Are You That Somebody,” breaking down samples and inspirations that informed the song’s creation.
Appearing via video on a screen behind the other speakers, Timbaland listened to a play-through of “Are You That Somebody” and laughed at Take a Daytrip’s mention that a hook from Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” was inspired by a scene from Shrek 2. “I actually was trying to make the Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory beat from the ‘Oompa-Loompa’ song,” he said, before singing the hook from the Wonka original. “I took that rhythm and I listened back to it and I was like, ‘Man that’s a dope addition.’ That’s what I was trying to attempt, but in a hip-hop way.” He added: “I gotta thank Willy Wonka for that.”
He also discussed some of the individual components that went into the song, including a sampled single guitar chord from the Meters that he ultimately utilized for one of the song’s central melodies. He also discussed the iconic baby noise pulled from a ’60s sound effects record, which he called “the missing piece of the whole beat to me.”
Aaliyah’s full discography arrived to streaming platforms, though it came amid a dispute between the late singer’s estate and the label. Barry Hankerson, the founder of label Blackground and Aaliyah’s uncle, has promised that a posthumous album called Unstoppable is in the works. The Weeknd and Aaliyah song “Poison” was released last year.