let the muSSSic play

This song is a duet between Furtado and Timbaland, who produced the album. The lyrics are a flirtation between the two, typical of a couple who meets at a dance club or other social gathering. They are both sexually active, but the girl doesn't want the guy to take advantage of her and think of her as a slut, so even though she is attracted to him, she will tease him and test him to make sure he has strong "game," meaning he is a good talker and exudes confidence. As the song progresses, he proves himself and she agrees that they both want the same thing. At this point, there is no need to play games, as he has passed the test.

At the time, Furtado was romantically linked to fellow Canadian Steve Nash, who was the MVP point guard of the Phoenix Suns basketball team. Furtado mentions Nash in the line, "Is that the truth or are you talkin' trash, is your game MVP like Steve Nash?"

The verses are rapped, which was familiar territory for Timbaland, who often raps on his productions, but was a departure for Furtado, who was known for her singing on hits like "I'm Like A Bird" and "Turn Out The Light."

In an interview with Blender magazine, Furtado said that the song is not about sex, but verbal foreplay: "Tim and I called it 'The BlackBerry Song' because everything we say in the song you could text-message to somebody."

Justin Timberlake appears in the video dancing with the extras. (thanks, Donovan Berry - El Dorado, AR)

Furtado and Timbaland perform this in the video, which cuts between scenes of them on the phone and in a dance club. They also performed the song on Saturday Night Live, acting out the flirtation with Furtado playing up her sexuality and Timbaland displaying a relaxed cool.
Source:Songfacts

Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake perform on this with Timbaland. Furtado duetted with Timbaland on her 2006 hit single "Promiscuous," making this track something of a favor returned. He has also produced a number of tracks for her, including "Promiscuous," "Maneater," "All Good Things (Come To An End)" and "Say It Right." For Justin Timberlake, he produced "SexyBack," "My Love" and "What Goes Around."

The single is a dig at several unnamed music stars. Timbaland has confirmed in an interview with MTV that fellow producer Scott Storch, with whom he co-wrote Timberlake's 2002 single "Cry Me A River," is the target of his verse. Though the production of "Cry Me a River" is credited solely to Timbaland, Storch has claimed that he was responsible for producing it.

There are contradictory reports that Justin Timberlake's target is either Janet Jackson or Prince, while Nelly Furtado has denied in interviews that her verse is about Fergie despite many reports to the contrary.

On the same day that MTV premiered the music video for this song, Scott Storch responded by releasing "Built Like Dat," featuring the Latino rapper Nox, which makes various accusations against Timbaland.

Furtado expressed regret about contributing to this track in a December 2010 interview with The Metro: "I wish Justin, Timbaland and I hadn't put out that dis song Give It To Me," she said. "It was like the first ever pop dis song – a genre usually reserved for rap. We put a lot of negative energy out into the world."
Source: Songfacts

This features Timbaland's protégé Keri Hilson along with Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls. Timbaland and Hilson wrote "Wait A Minute" for The Pussycat Dolls, which peaked at #28 in the US in 2007.

Hilson also featured on 3 other tracks from the Shock Value album: "The Way I Are," "Hello" and "Miscommunication."
Source:Songfacts

The song is about the pain of a relationship going wrong and the necessity of moving on. The group OneRepublic performs on the track.

OneRepublic was formed in Colorado by songwriter and record producer Ryan Tedder and his high school friend Zach Filkins. The pair relocated to Los Angeles, where they recruited guitarist/keyboardist Drew Brown, bassist Brent Kutzle and drummer Eddie Fisher. OneRepublic garnered much support from the online community, especially on MySpace. Their guitar anthem "Apologize" got a lot of attention, but it was still a surprise when Hip-Hop, Dance and R&B producer Timbaland produced a remix and included it on his Timbaland Presents: Shock Value album. It was this version that bought the song to an international audience.

Ryan Tedder is a Grammy nominated writer for Paul Oakenfold's A Lively Mind album. He also co-wrote and produced "Do It Well" for Jennifer Lopez and Leona Lewis' UK chart topper "Bleeding Love."

In an interview with ilikemusic.com, Tedder was asked how his collaboration with Timbaland came about: "Well I've known Tim for about 6 years. I used to be signed as a solo artist back in the day. So he just kept tabs on me as my career progressed and we used to be signed to Columbia records and we got dropped a little over a year ago, and right after we got dropped our band exploded on MySpace out of nowhere, so all these labels starting calling us. Timbaland was one of them and he offered us the most interesting situation. He told me 'Aplogize would've been a hit with or without me', as it was already a hit on the internet but what he did was speed up the process tremendously."

This was a massive international hit. Among the countries "Apologize" topped the chart in were Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. It also spent 14 weeks at the top of the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart before being dethroned by Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love."

This song had a 25-week run in the US Top Ten. It was the longest any song has been in the Top 10 since 1999, when Santana featuring Rob Thomas' "Smooth" spent 30 weeks in that section of the survey.
Source:Songfacts

Timbaland told MTV News that this was inspired by a Black Eyed Peas track. He explained: "When I did this song, I was in love with this record called... you're gonna be surprised. The record didn't have anything to do with [this song], but when I heard 'I Gotta Feelin',' I said, 'I want a record just like that on my album.' I said, 'I gotta do me a 'I Gotta Feeling' record.' Me and one of my producers, Jim Beanz, we came up with this concept. I said, '['I Gotta Feeling'] is happy, but I like it.' It gives a good feeling."

Timbaland enlists Katy Perry to accompany him in this song about two people being attracted to each other in a bar but being too shy to do anything about it.

Unusually for Timbaland, he sings on this number rather than raps. He explained to MTV News: "It's not like it's incredible singing, but it made sense for me and it fits my voice. To get somebody else to sing it, it might sound too overdone. I like it better with mistakes - I make mistakes. With me singing it, it gives it a different kind of swagger to it."
Source:Songfacts

This is the first single from Timbaland's third studio album, Shock Value II.

The song features the seductive vocals of French-American singer SoShy, who is a recent signing of Timbaland's Mosley Music Group. Frequent Timbaland collaborator Nelly Furtado also contributes a verse.

Timbaland told MTV News that the song was inspired in part by the popular vampire franchise, Twilight. He said: "The song, I can't describe it, it's so different. It's not different for me, but I can tell you this - it fits everything going on with the vampire theme. It fits everything with Twilight."

Featured artist SoShy (real name Deborah Epstein) was born in France to a French-Argentine-Italian mother and French-Russian father, She split her childhood between Los Angeles and New York City. Timbaland told MTV News: "She's like Amy Winehouse to the 10th power. But not crazy. Sane. Not saying Amy Winehouse is crazy; she's ambitious. Soshy is ambitious, but she has a point to prove."

Two more pieces of SoShy trivia:
1. She co-wrote "Lost Cause" for alternative rock/pop artist Chris Cornell on his 2009 album Scream.
2. Her single "Dorothy" is featured on the FIFA 10 soundtrack.
Source:Songfacts

This song features 2 performers who are signed to Timbaland's Mosely Music Group: singer Keri Hilson and rapper D.O.E. The song is a role reversal from the common rap music theme of rich, braggadocios singer allowing a hot girl to impress him with her womanly charms in anticipation of a sexual encounter. In this song, Hilson is in control as the male rapper has no money. She likes him anyway, and takes the position of financial power by offering him a "tip" if he "strips."

This was popularized in a commercial for McDonald's where the song plays in a roller skating rink where a bunch of kids are having some good, wholesome fun. At the beginning of the spot, we see the record with the name of the song. This kind of marketing is very effective as the commercial reaches such a wide audience.

Hilson was 24 when this was released. In addition to her work as a singer, she is a member of the songwriting collective known as The Clutch. Her songwriting credits include Mary J. Blige's "Take Me As I Am," Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute," Ciara's "Ooh Boy," and Omarion's "Ice Box." Before working with Timbaland, she sang on singles by Xzibit and Lloyd. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Source:Songfacts

This is the third single from American record producer Timbaland's third studio album, Shock Value II. The long player is Timbaland's first not to carry a Parental Advisory or to contain the "n word".

The song features Justin Timberlake with whom Timbaland has collaborated several times previously, including on the Grammy-nominated "Give It To Me." He told MTV News: "We got a chemistry that cannot be described. People ask, 'Well, what are you and Justin like?' Can't tell you what it's like - it's a chemistry that can't be described. Something you would have to see for yourself and be, like, 'Them two got magic.'"

Timbaland told MTV that this is his favorite track on Shock Value II. He explained: "That is my favorite, favorite record. Me and my best friend J.T. - Justin Timberlake. That [song] reminds me of a 2010 'Drop It Like It's Hot.' All these sounds from all over."

Timbaland told MTV News that the studio session for this song was similar to their previous collaborations. Timberlake came in, heard the track, and without a pad or pen, composed the lyrics in his head. The producer explained the lyrical content to MTV News: "We tried to give another slang for women. Instead of 'Your phat butt' or 'Your big breasts,' we say, 'Oh, I need you. Can I be your carry out? Be my carry out. I want you to be my dinner, my leftovers, my everything.' It's a different slang. We're grown men, I wanna be subliminal to females. Like, 'Oooh, carry out? That's kinda sexy.'"

"Carry Out" is a southern name for a shop or restaurant where customers pick up food for consumption elsewhere, and in this song Timba and Timber use the term as a metaphor for what they would like to happen with some eye candy of the female persuasion.
Source:Songfacts