Give It To Me
Hip-hop's unchallenged pop auteur, à la Brian Eno, Timbaland
has parlayed his subtle experiments in bottom-heavy orientalism into
that rara avis: commercial success and critical acclaim. Leaked from
his second proper solo album (absent Magoo, that is), "Give It To Me"
exhibits a talent immune to formula, a miracle of bankable
avant-gardism. The opening verse sustains Nelly Furtado's rebirth
as a sexpot, flowing from a moment of opacity ("Amnesty International
got bankrupt") toward a moment of self-consciousness ("You love my ass
and my abs and the video called 'Promiscuous'").
Fulcrum that he is, Timb takes the middle verse, building a mountain of serene, nothing-to-prove braggadocio that transcends Billboard rankings: "Your song gonna top the charts, I heard 'em, I'm not a fan-n-n-n-n." The beat on this track alone-- another stuttering, spectral, densely layered marvel-- certifies this unyielding faith in his aesthetic. Where the sliced-and-diced syllables of "Stay Fly" were stylistic flourishes, here they're utilitarian, reshaping lines in the mold of the wheeling, serpentine melody. On cue, Justin Timberlake shimmers in for the farewell verse, distilling the essence of "Give It To Me", with its preening vanity and halting carnal rhythms, into one question: "Now if se-sexy never left, then why's everybody on my shit-it-it?"
Fulcrum that he is, Timb takes the middle verse, building a mountain of serene, nothing-to-prove braggadocio that transcends Billboard rankings: "Your song gonna top the charts, I heard 'em, I'm not a fan-n-n-n-n." The beat on this track alone-- another stuttering, spectral, densely layered marvel-- certifies this unyielding faith in his aesthetic. Where the sliced-and-diced syllables of "Stay Fly" were stylistic flourishes, here they're utilitarian, reshaping lines in the mold of the wheeling, serpentine melody. On cue, Justin Timberlake shimmers in for the farewell verse, distilling the essence of "Give It To Me", with its preening vanity and halting carnal rhythms, into one question: "Now if se-sexy never left, then why's everybody on my shit-it-it?"