Timbaland feels his production value lessened when he was on drugs as opposed to when he was sober.
During his recent appearance on The Pivot podcast, the rapper-producer opened up about how his past addiction impacted his production. He admitted that he was high while creating Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, JAY-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, and Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love.”
“It was fun,” Timbaland noted of that creative process. “Those were cool albums, but my best work was done when I wasn’t on drugs. That’s facts. It was just fun, creating. I was doing all of those albums back to back. It was just that experience […] They were great, but they don’t stand [against] my big records.”
Timbaland went on to list that records including Hov’s “Big Pimpin” and “Dirt Off Ya Shoulder,” along with Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” as the ones he made while being sober.
“Those are drug-free, so when I look back at my highlights, that [drug period] is probably a dip. Even though it was still good, that’s just God-given talent in me. Like, God still having his hand on me—that’s why those songs were still beautiful, but they don’t have like [Timberlake’s] FutureSex/LoveSounds in them.”
He confessed that his “dip” came after he produced JT’s 2006 sophomore solo album.
Timbo previously spoke on his past addiction to OxyContin on Club Shay Shay. His addiction began with Vicodin, which made him feel unstoppable, but then he resorted to taking upwards of 160 milligrams of OxyContin daily.
When revealing the origin of his addiction, he said, “Not really being sure who I am and life got the best of me […] I was fighting the enemy within me.”
He also credited JAY-Z and Drake for being his “voices of reason” during that dark period.
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