The Thomas Crown Chronicles says goodbye

After an incredible 2 plus years, I will be closing The Thomas Crown Chronicles doors for good. It's definitely been an amazing adventure from a simple idea to something bigger than I ever imagined and I've enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. It was never my intent to keep this site open even this long as I knew sooner or later, as it grew, politics would slowly start eating away at the fun (and freedom) of just being Timbaland fans. Despite that though, I have not a single regret and would do it all over in a heartbeat.

My thanks goes out to all the contributors who sent in music, news, info, samples, and anything at all related to Timbaland. My intention of the site was always to make it as interactive as possible and you all succeeded far beyond my wildest dreams. HUGE thanks goes out to my team, Roderick, Czar, Big A, and Nick. Without you this site wouldn't be what it is today and I would never have even thought of starting it without your Timbo teachings throughout the years. I will always be your padawan.

But I want to give the most thanks to all of you around the world who supported The Chronicles for years, months, even hours. From fans to managers, Romanians to Iranians, you all took a small blog and launched it into becoming the biggest Timbaland website in the world and (arguably) one of the best music sites as well. My appreciation and gratitude will continue for a lifetime.

Despite the closure, I will keep this site as well as the old site open as Timbaland Archives if you will. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into The Chronicles and I hope it continues to be a source for the new generation of Timbaland fans.

Don't be a drone!
Boogie

Wyclef Jean F/ Timbaland "War On Our Hands"

Check out this Wyclef track featuring Timbo titled "War On Our Hands"


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Where is this track from and what is/was it meant for? Good question. Based on the production style, it sounds like an old Timbo track possibly from the Wyclef and Tim sessions where the created the similarly titled "War Stories."

Props to those who hit us up with it!

Kanye West, Jay-Z, and the possible alternate

Now this is very interesting, take a close look or rather listen to this video. Of course initially you'll be thrilled to see vintage Kanye West making a beat but what I really want you to pay attention to is the 2nd half of the video with Kanye rapping:



Do those lyrics sound familiar? Here they are:

Magazines call me a rock star, girls call me cock star
Billboard, pop star, neighborhood block star
Chi-Town go-gettin pimps, we mobsters
Gingerbread Man even said, "You're a monster!"
Yeah, that's how I feel
To be down, you must appeal
To the crew, we're rated R
O.C., O.G., Bobby Johnson son
Ask me, "Rey-Rey, is that yo' car?"
I seen MTV, I know who you are
You did "Takeover," do you got beef with Nas?
I did take over the game, brought back the soul
Got tracks to go, got plaques that's gold
Platinum to go, yeah that's the flow
All I, know, I gots the flow
And I don't play cause I'm from Chicago

Think. Think hard or just cheat and put them into google. What do you get? Surprised?

So the question is, whose beat is that? Kanye's? Or did Timbaland create an alternate beat that was never used for the final album? Or did Kanye like his verse so much from this session he saved it for the final Timbo produced track? A true mystery...

Big props to Tryfe on the find.

Hannon Lane in the studio

The behind the scenes of production continues this time with Hannon Lane in the studio making a beat on a glass bottle! You got to see this:



Crazy beat! Don't sleep on Hannon the dude is a beast. Speaking of, get ready tomorrow for some of the biggest who-produced-it news ever on The Chronicles.

Props to Jordan on the find.

Update:: So who was this track meant for? None other than.....Missy Elliott for Block Party. You heard it here first!

Polow & Ciara the next Timbaland & Aaliyah?

Polow talked with MTV and discussed his work with Ciara on her upcoming yet long delayed album Fantasy Ride (now due in April) and what makes his and Ciara's synergy so special. "We both came up and were raised in the same camp," Polow explained. "We've known each other for a long time. We actually just have this natural chemistry that I don't even have with some of my own artists.

"I understand her and I understand what she should be doing," the producer added. "I look at it like this: When I work with her, I'm a fan, and this is what I want her to be doing."

"And one thing people do say about when I work with Ciara is that I make her sound better than ever," he continued. "I make her sound like a vocalist versus the other stuff she may do that's more performance, where she can get on the dance floor. It's kind of the same thing with Aaliyah. She may not have been the best singer, but her voice was so unique and her sound — she had her own lane, and I think Ciara is like that same thing."

The official first single from the album will be the Polow produced "Never Ever" featuring Young Jeezy with a video already shot over the weekend. Hopefully the 2 Danja tracks we've heard so far "Echo" and "Work" will still be on the album and be on the lookout for The Clutch written "Role Call" that is also a possibility.

Now to me what makes this article so interesting is that Polow never compares himself directly to Timbaland, rather the article plugs in Timbo's name to fit the Aaliyah reference. Why? How could there ever be a "new Timbaland and Aaliyah"? That makes no sense to me. I understand the reference to the chemistry of an artist and a producer but I'm not sure I understand the need to compare them to a singer who passed away long before her time and a producer who's still making #1 hits. Ahh anyway I'm just ranting today.

What do you think, how do you compare Polow and Ciara to Timbaland and Aaliyah? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Props to the Chetmasta for the link.

Chris Cornell's Scream pushed back...again

Speaking of Chris Cornell, sadly his and Timbaland's long over due album Scream has been pushed back a month to March 9th. No reason as to why or if possible new songs have been added but get ready to wait another 2 months for the project to drop.

Will Chris Cornell and Keri Hilson's albums ever come out? Honestly, I'm getting nervous ya'll. Props to Kevin.

Chris Cornell hits Europe

After a successful string of small venue tour dates around the U.S., Chris Cornell has decided to go to bring his show to his European fans. Promising to be in the same intimate settings as his other shows, Cornell will hit up club venues in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and London in February. For all you ticketholders get ready to hear the entire Scream album from start to finish backed with Cornell's kick ass live band.

"It's a musical journey - like watching a great movie - where you sort of forget about the normal format and get lost in the experience of the album," says Cornell, who also plans to add some favourite songs from the past to the set.

No word if Timbaland will be joining Cornell on tour but get your tickets early and if you go to the show write in to The Chronicles and let us know how it went. Here are the dates:

23 Feb London - Scala
24 Feb Paris - La Cigale
26 Feb Amsterdam - Paradiso
27 Feb Berlin – Columbia Club

Props to Kevin and Luke H. for the info.

Word Is: Timbaland to work with Leona Lewis

I first read this story with a lot of skepticism but recently MTV UK picked it up so it has to be true....right? Ha!

Well Word Is Team Leona Lewis and her team dined with Timbaland and his team at the Delano Hotel in Miami last week. After a lengthy dinner meeting and obvious knowledge and respect for each other's work, the two decided to work together on Lewis' sophomore album due out sometime next October. No word as to who else will be part of the collaboration (possibly Ryan Tedder? Jim Beanz?) but we'll definitely keep you posted.

And it seems as though Lewis will be teaming up with Justin Timberlake to record a cover of the Whitney Houston's global smash "I Will Always Love You." You all knew that it was written by country star Dolly Parton right? Of course you did. My question is why? Everyone knows the track, Houston's version is phenomenal, it sold a bazillion records so what's the point of doing a cover version? I know I know to make even more money and sell even more records. Let's hope their version is as good as the original.

Props to Luke H. for the info.

Update:: The news (at least the first part) has been confirmed to be true and to give you that little something extra, The Chronicles can exclusively tell you the session begins in April with Leona, Timbaland, J Roc, and Jim Beanz. Can't wait to hear what they come up with!

Danja & Marcella talk "We Takin' Over" (Part II)

And here's the 2nd part:

Behind the scenes with Danja & Marcella Part II

It doesn't get much better than this folks. Definitely 2 of the best videos we ever had on The Chronicle. Next up Timbaland and Demo?? Let's hope so!

Props again to El Jefe.

Danja & Marcella talk "We Takin' Over" (Part I)

Ever wonder how Danja and Marcella created the DJ Khaled banger "We Takin' Over"? Let them tell you in their own words:

Behind the scenes with Danja & Marcella Part 1

For a non producer like myself, I'm amazed! If only we could get a behind the scenes explanation like this for every Danja track! Big props to El Jefe on the find.

Kiley Dean "My Own" (No Intro)

Though it's been going on 7 years since the Kiley Dean/Timbaland sessions, they will always go down in history as some of the best music Timbaland has ever created. With the red hot Candice Nelson and Walter Milsap III duo handling the bulk of the writing, the group created undoubtedly one of the top 10 unreleased albums ever. By now we've all heard the Simple Girl, as well as many other tracks from the sessions but still, even now, more are being heard.

It was only a few months ago that a previously unreleased Kiley/Timbo track called "My Own" leaked sadly with Kiley doing a DJ drop as an intro but today we have the non intro version. Check it out:

Timbaland addresses Shock Value II rumors

One word: "bogus" and that's straight from Timbaland's mouth when addressing the rumors of the fake Shock Value II tracklist that's been floating around. "It's funny," Timbo said about the surprisingly detailed report, which claimed it was based on an advance preview of five tracks from the album. "I'm surprised people are watching me like that. I am recording the album, but I don't know none of them joints, none of them songs." Well there is one song he does know which we told you about yesterday "Across The Sky."

Timbo did not say who was on the album, however, he did talk about the direction of the sequel to his platinum selling collaboration album. "I'm just revamping. I'm not even at a stage to say where I'm at. I'm not at a beginning, I'm not at a middle. I'm just zoning out trying to find a new sound I wanna attack, and I think I got it. It's something you never heard, something I never tried.

"It might be something you might have heard, I don't know," Timbaland added. "I'm trying to figure it out myself. I'm just having a bunch of fun right now. I don't wanna go too left, but I wanna give them something different." Though Timbaland has said in past interviews that he wants to work with all new artists for the sequel, as the recoding process has continued Timmy's changed his mind a little. "As you see, it's not a lot of artists out here. I'm going back to whoever fits the song. If this person fits the song, I'mma use him. I gotta do what my gut feeling is telling me to do."

The irony of it all is that Timbaland called into MTV to refute the rumors but it was MTV that apparently reviewed a sneak 5 track preview of Shock Value II. Yet there was no article on MTV to backup these claims and why? Because as we told you the tracklisting was never real rather just some very bored person with a lot of time on there hands decided to make one up.

Coolio? Tim Dog? Don't believe the hype ya'll! Oh and one more thing Timbaland did confirm a 2009 release date for SVII. It's coming soon!!

Props to all those that sent in the article.

Music Video: D.O.E "On The Real" & "

D.O.E continues on his grind with his latest videos for the tracks:

"On The Real" F/ Precious Paris


and "Watching Me" F/ Joell Ortiz


A big congrats goes out to D.O.E for his highly successful mixtape The fall of John Doe. The RISE of D.O.E. with 12,000 downloads and counting. Get your FREE copy here!

2008 the year of Izza Kizza

Just think it was almost a year ago today that Fader Magazine did an article on Mosley Music Group artists quenching our thirst for the first Timbaland news of the year. We first learned about Keri Hilson's "Mic Check" and the Cory Bold produced "Alienated" and we were formally introduced to the creature called Izza Kizza. As 2008 rolled out, you would have thought Kizza was a multi platinum artist on his 3rd album with the media coverage he was getting. Countless magazine articles, blog and website interviews, the sickest myspace on the net (shout out to Hectah!), and with one of the most successful mixtapes of the year Kizzaland, Izza Kizza led the field of up and coming MCs of 2008.

Just how big was Izza's year? 20,000+ downloads of Kizzaland with countless blogs and websites putting it in their top 5 and top 10 lists. Blender magazine placed Izza's "Millionaire" as the #47 best song of the year. Rolling Stone also listed Izza as one of it's top 10 Buzz-Worthy Breakout acts of 2008. All of this with no official album?! That's when talent speaks for itself.

So do you think someone as creative and talented as Izza Kizza will get any rest in the new year? Not a chance. 2009 looks to be an even bigger year with a buzz video for the track "I'm The Izza Kizza" dropping this month, an official 3rd single dropping in February, and a sequel to Kizz's highly successful mixtape tentatively titled The Wizard of Izz dropping in May with a slew of big name collabos.

As we've told you since day 1, don't sleep on the one called Izza Kizza. Congrats on a successful year!

Most Anticipated Albums of 2009

MTV listed its most anticipated albums of 2009 which included Chris Cornell's Scream and Missy Elliott's Block Party both with a release date of February. Curiously, there's no mention of Timbaland's Shock Value II which has also been rumored to be released in February.

The Chronicles has been getting reports now to expect a March release for Shock Value II though we can not confirm the date. Despite the rumored tracklist resulting in continuing fake "Meltdown" singles all over youtube, there is one track that we can confirm for the album and that will be Madonna's "Across The Sky" featuring Justin Timberlake originally meant for her Hard Candy album. The track along with a few others recorded together are kept deep in the Madonna/Timbo vaults.

Across The Sky, tells the story of a woman who is quite disenchanted by love, a woman who knows deception, a woman who lied and has been lied to quite a lot in her life. A woman who admits she is not a saint but that finally fells like a new person now that she has found a new love in her life and she is ready to travel "across the sky" with her man, poetically holding his hands in hers.

Stay tuned for more news as we get it!

Ashlee Simpson wins!

2008's Music Video Production Association (MVPA) awards were recently announced with Ashlee Simpson's "Outta My Head" winning Best Art Direction. Congrats to Simpson, Timbo, and The Royal Court!

All things Timbaland ha!

Danja's Crib

Danja has had quite a successful last couple of years and what better way to celebrate then to reqrd yourself for all the hard work. Here are some pics of Danja's new crib in Los Angeles, California:




Props to Big T.R.U.T.H for the info.

Sample of the Week

What's up Tim stans? I was talking to Boogie yesterday about Tim samples (Vol. 9? Sample Wars III maybe?) and I realized that it'd been a long time since I came threw here and did a sample of the week. So since it's the new year and all, I thought it would be nice to post a sample. This is honestly a sample from one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists who worked with Tim: Kiley Dean. Hope y'all enjoy:


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Peace,
Czar

EDIT:
Since Tim pitched and sped up the sample, I've uploaded a pitched and sped up version of the sample so y'all can hear it better:


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Unreleased Britney Spears

Seems as though Britney Spears recorded a grip of tracks for her Circus album with bonus and exclusive tracks popping up all over the various different versions in each country. We can also tell you about 2 unreleased Spears tracks to be on the lookout for that were produced by Danja and written by The Clutch. They are:

"Abroad" and "Take The Bait" both with credits to Danja, 4 members of the Clutch, and Marcella. Hit us up if you found them!

Prop to Tom of The Keepers on the info.

Chris Cornell and Timbaland

Check out the Sundance Chanel inspiration sessions with Timbaland and Chris Cornell:

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


At least 2 more albums?! I'll believe it when I get the first one in my hands on February 9th.

Props to Eddie and Aayize.