Timbaland Says There Are No Stars In This Generation Of Artists

Timbaland was featured in New York Magazine's 2013 Culture Awards issue, and in the extensive story he unleashed his thoughts on the state of music today as opposed to his own heyday in the late-1990s and throughout the majority of the 2000s.

"Every year changes, every generation," he told the mag, speaking about how surprised he was when he was no longer making hit after hit after hit. "I feel like I was getting whacked... The music of today, it’s not like the music I’m making."

Timbo stayed quiet for a few years before making a triumphant return to the spotlight this year, fueled by his work on Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience and Jay Z's Magna Carta...Holy Grail, both of which were nominated for Grammys this year. Yet those are two artists whose popularity was at its zenith when Timbaland was the hottest thing behind the boards, and now all three are aging warriors in a profession that may no longer need them.

"They have no stars in this generation," Timbo said, though he made an exception for Drake, who will appear on his new album Textbook Timbo. "They have these D.J.’s, techno-whatever, that’s not music. That just goes to show you that drugs is that popular... I don’t want to feel like I’m dissing people. Because guess what, they found a way to make a living for theyself. So who am I to dis the next man who know how to make a living for theyself?"

Read the rest of the interview—which is extensive and worth it—right here.