A Definitive Guide to Timbaland’s Best Beats, Ranked

In hopes of providing some relief and entertainment for fans during the coronavirus crisis the world is currently being faced with, Swizz Beatz recently reignited his friendly producer wars. This time, on Instagram Live. The first in an ongoing series of epic beat battles found the Grammy Award-winning Swizz, who has sparred with Just Blaze and Kanye West in the past, once again facing off with Timbaland.

“Attention. Attention. Attention ... It’s official. We doing this for the culture,” said T. Mosley, prior to the live-streamed event that had more than 20,000 viewers tuning in. Although both super producers bodied the session, one major takeaway from the Swizz Beatz and Timbaland IG Live-hosted back and forth is that their catalog run deep, especially from Timbo.

Those that checked in to the historic head-to-head match-up were taken on a walk down memory lane and reminded of all of the classic hip-hop anthems and futuristic R&B jams Timbaland has been responsible for. With an impact that has been felt by multiple generations of hip-hop, pop and R&B fans, Timbo has crafted countless hits for himself and others. He curated several successful solo projects, including the albums Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment, the multiplatinum Shock Value and Shock Value II. The likes of Drake, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Jodeci, Ginuwine, Nas and Aaliyah are a few of the major artists who have added to their collection of platinum plaques and Billboard Hot 100 hits due to the production savvy of the Virginia-bred hitmaker.

Here, XXL delivers a definitive guide to Timbaland's best beats, ranked from good to greatest.