It is well known that Timbaland has a library of hits under his belt. Perhaps the only other person in hip-hop with as impressive a rap sheet is his fellow Virginia-native Pharrell. A couple weeks ago, at the latter’s inaugural Something in the Water music festival in Virginia Beach, the two legendary producers appeared in conversation on a special live episode of Pharrell’s Beats 1 Radio OTHERtone. They were joined on stage by a host of Virginia Beach music luminaries in Pusha T, Teddy Riley, and Pharrell’s Neptunes partner in crime Chad Hugo.
the GOATs @Timbaland and @Pharrell going back and forth over who made the best beats 🐐🐐 pic.twitter.com/yBrmQRXpGR
— andy (@aboynamedandy) May 15, 2019
The episode’s most interesting moment came about halfway through the conversation. Timbaland recalled a memory from the late 90s when he and Missy Elliot happened to be working in the same studio as Pharrell.
“Missy was working in I guess let’s call it ‘Studio A,’ and I guess they had a ‘Studio B.’…And I walked to the back door and I heard, ‘I hate you so much right now…’ And I said, ‘What is that…I was like ‘Aww man, I wish I had made that beat.'” Timbaland was, of course, referring to the iconic chorus from the 1999 Kelis song “Caught Out There,” which The Neptunes produced.
The pair then went on to share some of their favorite selections of each other’s work. Pharrell performed an ebullient beatbox rendition of Missy Elliot’s “The Rain.” Timbaland recalled the first time he heard Kelis’s “Milkshake” in the back of taxi in New York and having to ask his driver to pull over so he could revel in it. The two clearly have a lot of respect for each other and derived a lot of joy from each other’s work. It was yet another reminder that there is truly something in the water in Virginia.
You can watch the full conversation here.
