Timothy Zachery "Timbaland" Mosley (born March 10, 1972) is an American rapper, record producer, and songwriter. Timbaland's first full credit production work was in 1996 on Ginuwine...the Bachelor for R&B singer Ginuwine. After further work on Aaliyah's 1996 album One in a Million and Missy Elliot's 1997 album Supa Dupa Fly, Timbaland became a prominent producer for R&B and hip hop artists. As a rapper he initially released several albums with fellow rapper Magoo, but later released his debut solo album Tim's Bio in 1998.
In 2002, Timbaland produced the hit single "Cry Me a River" for Justin Timberlake, going on to produce most of Timberlake's subsequent LPs such as FutureSex/LoveSounds and The 20/20 Experience and their respective hit singles. A Timbaland-owned imprint label, Mosley Music Group, featured artists such as Nelly Furtado with the album Loose (2006). In 2007, Timbaland released a solo album, Shock Value, which was followed by Shock Value II in 2009.
Aside from the aforementioned artists, Timbaland's production credits from the 2000s forward include work with Jay Z, Nas, Ludacris, Bubba Sparxxx, Madonna, Rihanna, OneRepublic, Brandy, Drake, Rick Ross and others. As a songwriter he has written as of 2014 85 UK hits and 99 hits Stateside.