Timbaland – “Shock Value 2″ (Album Review)

The cover art is dope. What do you think?

King Eljay – Guess what? Timbaland’s back at it again (surprise, surprise) with a new album that’s sure to shock fans in every single way possible. Unfortunately for him, that might not work out as well as it did the first time around…with one HUGE, Bran’ Nu exception…

(How about we roll out the rating system for this and see how it FLOWS? Check here for the details on it.)

Flow (Album Playability):
Because of the fact Timbaland jumps genre almost every single track, it’s hard to judge this one. If you like pop/rock/hip-hop infused with Tim’s new, traditional, eclectic style, then this will be great for you. If you prefer Timbaland’s OLD classic style and you aren’t too big on the new one, then you’re not going to appreciate this as much. I personally liked how it flows because I appreciate most of the genres represented on the album. As far as the songs…some were hit and miss. Sorry Miley Cyrus, but I’m not ever listening to “We Belong To Music” ever again.

EVER.

Lyrics:
Because it’s a compilation album of sorts, once again it’s hard to judge on this one as well. Some songs are deep and lyrically inclined (“Say Something” with Drake, “Long Way Down” with Daughtry, “The One I Love” with Keri Hilson and D.O.E.), some are just fun tracks to vibe to for some people (“Ease Off The Liquor”, “We Belong to Music”), but it honestly depends on your musical inclination. For me, I felt like the album met in the middle.

The headphones aren't really plugged in. It's probably just a picture. Disappointing...I know.

Originality:
Let it be stated that there is NEVER any question if Timbaland is original or not. The day he stops being original is the day that he falls off completely. If you’ve followed Tim from the beginning, you’ve seen how he’s evolved his style and remained relevant. Regardless if you like his new style NOW as opposed to THEN (which is understandable), his originality is all over this cd. He takes each artist and meshes them into his own style, for better or for worse.

Wildcard:
Timbaland has drifted further and further from the hip-hop scene, but he does have a seemingly nice backup business plan. He reinvents music artists, and the test subject for today is Bran’ Nu, aka Brandy. She’s featured on two songs (“Meet in the Middle” and “Symphony”) and to be completely honest… she’s a dope rapper. I’d be interested to hear an album from her more than Nikki Minaj…

Sound:
This one’s easy. It’s Timbaland. Of course the production is astounding, even if some of the songs aren’t.

Bottom Line:

Tim’s officially crossing over. It’s sad to see, and hopefully he’ll get back into hip-hop soon, but for this album, it’s only a glimpse of hip-hop, and more of the eclectic side of Timmy. But even as far as crossing over, his last album performed this more effortlessly, and included EVERY genre well, and this album excludes us hip-hop heads. Even still, it’s a solid compilation album if you’re not big into hip-hop and you like Tim’s sound.

Final Rating: —>3.25 / 5 <—