This week, Miley Cyrus and The Weeknd got in the Christmas spirit by gifting us with brand new music. But like the cool uncle who came through with the N*SYNC tickets your parents couldn’t cop, legendary producer Timbaland has one upped everyone: he dropped a previously unreleased Aaliyah track on Christmas morning.
“Shakin” is one of 17 tracks on the Virginia-born beatsmith’s new mixtape King Stays King, an effort which also features 2 Chainz, Young Thug, and three appearances by Tink — the Chicago rapper Timbo has nurtured after claiming Aaliyah appeared to him in a dream.
Timbaland worked with the late R&B princess from 1996 — when he produced the majority of her sophomore album One in a Million with frequent collaborator Missy Elliott — until her tragic death in 2001. Though it’s unclear when exactly “Shakin” was cut, the track’s opening tags “90s baby, 90s flow” obviously suggest some time in the 90s. However, “Shakin”‘s bouncy 808-beats feel closer to “More than a Woman,” a Timbaland-produced single off Aaliyah’s self-titled album (her third and final full length, released in 2001). Either way, it’s a welcome banger! Timbo and co-producer Strato breathe contemporary life into the vintage hook with autotune-inflected choruses and “Hotline Bling”-referencing verses.
King Stays King closes out a particularly packed year for the prolific Timbaland. In addition to contributing three dastardly beats to high school pal Pusha T’s recently released sophomore solo album, the producer published a memoir and created Empire‘s season two soundtrack. He’s also teased the release of a new album, Textbook Timbo, for some time in 2016.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Image via WikiMedia Commons