Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972)^[1] better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.^[2] 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 Elliott'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 2007, Timbaland released the first album in his Shock Value series, Timbaland Presents: Shock Value. Then In 2009 Timbaland Presents: Shock Value II. It is expected that Timbaland will release Timbaland Presents: Shock Value III in June 2012.

Early life[link]

Timothy Zachery Mosley was born on March 10, 1972 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he was raised. He graduated from Salem High School.^[2] During his time as a DJ, he was known as "DJ Tim"^[3] or "DJ Timmy Tim".^[4] His brother, Sebastian, is nine years younger.^[5] Timbaland began making hip hop backing tracks on a Casio keyboard. While attending high school, he began a long-term collaboration with rapper Melvin Barcliff, who performed under the name of Magoo. The teenaged Mosley also joined the production ensemble S.B.I. (which stood for surrounded by idiots) which also featured Neptunes producer Pharrell.^[4] Mosley was also high school friends with Terrence and Gene Thorton, who would go on to be known as Pusha T and Malice of the rap group Clipse.^[6] In 1986, when Timbaland was 15 years old, he was shot while working a part time job at his local Red Lobster and was partially paralyzed for nine months. During this time, he began to learn how to DJ using his left hand.^[7]

Singer and rapper Missy Elliott heard his material and began working with him. She and her R&B group Sista auditioned for DeVante Swing, a producer and member of the successful R&B act Jodeci. DeVante signed Sista to his Swing Mob record label and Elliott brought Mosley and Barcliff along with her to New York, where Swing Mob was based. It was DeVante who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after Timberland construction boots. and Magoo became part of SCI Zakys School stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists such as R&B singer Ginuwine, male vocal group Playa (Smoke E. Digglera, Static Major and Digital Black), and the girl group Sugah.^[4] Timbaland did production work on a number of projects with DeVante, including the 1995 Jodeci LP The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel, and Sista’s (unreleased) début LP 4 All the Sistas Around da World. Elliott began receiving recognition as a songwriter for artists such as R&B girl group 702 and MC Lyte. Due to Timbaland's connection with her, he was often contacted to produce remixes of her songs.^[8]

Career[link]

1994–2002[link]

Timbaland began his producing career strictly for R&B acts. In the early to mid 1990s he produced a few songs for R&B acts such as Jodeci and Sista. In 1996 he made his mainstream breakthrough by producing the majority of both Aaliyah's sophomore album One in a Million and Ginuwine's debut album Ginuwine...the Bachelor. This included the major hit singles "If Your Girl Only Knew" by Aaliyah and "Pony" by Ginuwine. While Timbaland was initially producing for R&B artists, his trademark sound was very much rooted in hip-hop with its fast-paced nature and clear drum breaks. He was taking a hip-hop sound and applying it to R&B, and in this way his sound was instrumental in blurring the distinction between hip-hop and R&B production.^[9] In 1997 he fully produced Supa Dupa Fly, the debut album of Missy Elliott, who had been a childhood friend of Mosley. In this album Timbaland continued with his now trademark electronic production style, but since Missy frequently rapped the music was considered hip-hop. Timbaland's sound was something very different from typical hip-hop up to that point, which often had a "grimey" sound and used samples. Timbaland's clean, electronic, and non-sample based productions were something very new to hip-hop audiences. Also in 1997 he released his first album with his partner Magoo, Welcome to Our World, also a hip-hop album. In the late 1990s his hip-hop production sound would become very influential and common as he produced for many high profile hip-hop artists including Jay-Z, Nas, and The LOX. In 1999 he scored a major hit with Jay-Z and rap group UGK with the hit "Big Pimpin'". He also fully produced Missy's second album in 1999, Da Real World. Still Timbaland in this period produced primarily for R&B artists. He continued to produce for Ginuwine and Aaliyah, as well as contributing significantly to albums by Xscape, Nicole, Playa, and Total. He remixed Usher's major hit "You Make Me Wanna". In the early 2000s Timbaland became an even more high profile and highly sought after producer for both hip-hop and R&B artists. He produced songs including Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)",^[10] Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito",^[11] Petey Pablo's "Raise Up",^[12] and Beck's cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" during this period.^[13] He also contributed three songs, all eventually released as singles, to Aaliyah’s self-titled third album, the exotic lead single "We Need a Resolution" (featuring himself rapping a verse), "More than a Woman", and the ballad "I Care 4 U".^[14] He also makes an appearance in Aaliyah's single "Try Again", which he also produced and co-wrote.

Timbaland & Magoo’s second album together was slated for release in November 2000. Indecent Proposal was to feature appearances by Beck, Aaliyah, as well as new Timbaland protégés—some from his new Beat Club Records imprint--Ms. Jade, Kiley Dean, Sebastian (Tims brother), Petey Pablo, and Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed for an entire year, finally released in November 2001. It was a commercial disappointment. Beck’s vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the last version, which instead featured Timbaland singing along Steve "Static" Garrett of Playa and Aaliyah.^[15] The first release on Beat Club was the début album by Bubba Sparxxx in September 2001, Dark Days, Bright Nights.^[16] The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland. In a phone call to the MTV show Total Request Live, Timbaland said:

She was like blood, and I lost blood. Me and her together had this chemistry. I kinda lost half of my creativity to her. It's hard for me to talk to the fans now. Beyond the music, she was a brilliant person, the [most special] person I ever met.^[17]

—Timbaland, MTV

2003–05[link]

Timbaland contributed three tracks to Tweet’s début album, Southern Hummingbird, and produced most of Elliott’s fourth and fifth LPs, Under Construction and This Is Not A Test!.^[18] He also produced tracks for artists such as Lil’ Kim ("The Jump Off") and southern rapper Pastor Troy during this period.^[19] Collaborating with fellow producer Scott Storch, Timbaland also worked on a number of tracks on former *NSYNC lead singer Justin Timberlake’s solo debut, Justified, including the song "Cry Me a River".^[20]

Late in 2003, Timbaland delivered the second Bubba Sparxxx album, Deliverance, and the third Timbaland & Magoo album, Under Construction, Part II Both albums were released to little fanfare or acclaim even though Deliverance was praised by reviews and embraced by the internet community.^[21] In 2004 Timbaland produced singles for LL Cool J, Xzibit, Fatman Scoop, and Jay-Z, and he produced the bulk of Brandy’s fourth album, Afrodisiac.^[22] Timbaland co-wrote two tracks (Exodus '04 and Let Me Give You My Love) and produced three tracks of the American-Japanese Pop star Hikaru Utada’s debut English album, Exodus.^[23] He continued working on tracks for Tweet and for Elliott’s sixth album, The Cookbook: "Joy (feat. Mike Jones)", and "Partytime"^[24] and continued to expand his reach with production for The Game and Jennifer Lopez ("He'll Be Back" from her fourth studio album, Rebirth).^[25]

[edit] 2006–07: Timbaland Presents Shock Value

Timbaland started a new label, Mosley Music Group, bringing some talent from his former Beat Club Records label.^[26][27] On the new label are Nelly Furtado, Keri Hilson, and rapper D.O.E..^[28] In 2006 he produced Justin Timberlake's second solo studio album FutureSex/LoveSounds. His vocals feature on the songs "SexyBack", "Sexy Ladies", "Chop Me Up", "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" and on the prelude to "My Love" entitled "Let Me Talk to You." In early 2007, Timbaland mentioned he wanted to work with female artist Britney Spears on her album Blackout. Timbaland provided vocals on the singles the Pussycat Dolls's "Wait a Minute", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous", Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack", and "Ice Box" by Omarion. In an interview published in August 2006 in the UK^[29] Timbaland revealed he was working on a new LP by Jay-Z and that he had worked on tracks with Coldplay’s Chris Martin.^[30]

Timbaland worked on seven songs for Björk’s new album, Volta, including "Earth Intruders", "Hope", and "Innocence"^[31] and he later worked on tracks for the new Duran Duran album, Red Carpet Massacre, including one featuring his frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake.^[32] Later in the year, Timbaland produced songs for Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's LP, Strength & Loyalty^[33] and the song "Ayo Technology" on 50 Cent’s album Curtis.^[34] Timbaland also produced most of the tracks on Ashlee Simpson's third CD, Bittersweet World, including the song "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)".^[35] On 3 April 2007, Timbaland released a collaboration album featuring artists including 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliott, and others called Timbaland Presents Shock Value. A rivalry flared up between Timbaland and record producer Scott Storch in early 2007. The tension initially started on the single "Give It to Me", when Timbaland anonymously backlashed Storch: "I'm a real producer and you['re] just the piano man". In an interview, Timbaland confirmed that he was talking about Storch. The dispute partly stemmed from controversy regarding writing credits for Timberlake's "Cry Me a River".^[36] In 2007, Timbaland's daughter, Reign, was born to his ex-girlfriend Monique Idlett.^[37]

Plagiarism accusations[link]

Timbaland's plagiarism controversy occurred in January 2007, when several news sources reported that Timbaland was alleged to have plagiarized several elements (both motifs and samples) in the song "Do It" on the 2006 album Loose by Nelly Furtado without giving credit or compensation.^[38][39][40] The song itself was released as the fifth North American single from Loose in July 2007.

2008[link]

Timbaland helped produce many albums for various artists in 2008, including Madonna's Hard Candy,^[41] Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World, Keri Hilson's In A Perfect World, Flo Rida's Mail On Sunday, Letoya Luckett's Lady Love, Lindsay Lohan's Spirit in the Dark, Chris Cornell's Scream, JoJo's All I Want Is Everything, Nicole Scherzinger's Her Name is Nicole, Missy Elliott's Block Party, Matt Pokora's MP3, Keithian's Dirrty Pop, The Pussycat Dolls's Doll Domination, Busta Rhymes's B.O.M.B, Lisa Maffia's Miss Boss, Teairra Mari's Pressed For Time,^[42] Jennifer Hudson's début album, Dima Bilan's Believe, Samantha Jade's My Name Is Samantha Jade, New Kids on the Block's The Block, and Keshia Chanté's Night & Day. Timbaland produced the Russian entry the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, Believe by Dima Bilan, which was co-written by Bilan and Jim Beanz. The song then won the contest when it was held in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2008. In February 2008 the first 'Fashion against AIDS' collection -an initiative of 'Designers against AIDS'^[43] and sold in H&M stores in 28 countries- was launched, for which Timbaland designed a T-shirt print, posed for the campaign and spoke out in a video, to help raise HIV/AIDS awareness among urban youth and to advocate safe sex. On 8 February 2008, it was announced that Timbaland would be releasing an album exclusively for Verizon Wireless's V CAST cell phone service and was designated its very first "Mobile Producer in Residence." Timbaland will be joined by Mosley Music Group/Zone 4 singer/songwriter Keri Hilson to begin work on the mobile album’s first track aboard the fully equipped Mobile Recording Studio. The only track to surface so far is Garry Barry Larry Harry "Get It Girl". In his first effort within the video game industry, he worked with Rockstar Games to produce Beaterator, a music mixing game for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Network, and iOS released in the September 2009.^[44]

In September 2008 it was announced that Timbaland would be inducted into the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin as an Honorary Patron in October 2008.^{[45][citation needed]} Timbaland is producing the movie Vinyl which follows the lives of 5 young women facing life-altering decisions about their relationships to members of a rock band. Timbaland's Mosley Media Group is teaming up with Effie T. Brown's Duly Noted Inc. to create the movie. Marcus Spence, Monique Idlett Mosley (president of Mosley Music, Timbaland's wife, and publicist) will be producing the film. Shooting starts in spring with Richard Zelniker as director.^[46]

[edit] 2009–2010: Shock Value II and robbery case

Timbaland spoke to MTV's Shaheem Reid back in July 2008 to confirm that he was working on the follow-up to his platinum selling Shock Value.^[47] At the time he confirmed that he had one track with Madonna which although recorded for her album Hard Candy it had not been used and could end up on this album instead.^[47] He was insistent that he would also collaborate with Jordin Sparks, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and T.I..^[47] However, none of these collaborations (except Miley Cyrus) made it to the final tracklist. He also said that alongside T-Pain who will definitely appear, he hoped to get Jay-Z on board,^[47] although he ultimately failed to do so. Timbaland began working on the sequel to Shock Value in July 2008.^[48] In March 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his label, Blackground Records, alleging that they attempted to blackball him after he decided to move from music performance into production.^[49]

In September 2009, Timbaland announced that Shock Value II will be released on 23 November in Europe and 24 November in North America. However it was pushed back to 8 December, preceded by the first single which features a new recording artist named SoShy entitled "Morning After Dark". New featured guest appearances on the album include DJ Felli Fel, Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Bran'Nu, Drake, Chad Kroeger, Sebastian, Miley Cyrus, Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry, Esthero, The Fray, Jet, Daughtry, OneRepublic, Keri Hilson, Attitude and D.O.E.. Ultimately Madonna, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Usher, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Linkin Park, The All-American Rejects, Paramore, Gucci Mane, T-Pain, T.I. and Akon never appeared on Shock Value II. Shock Value II is infamous for its use of over-the-top vocal effects. Despite charting low, Timbaland has had three top forty singles to date.

"Morning After Dark" featuring SoShy and Nelly Furtado is the lead single from Timbaland's third studio album. The song was written by Tim Mosley, Jerome Harmon, Deborah Epstein, Michelle Bell, Keri Hilson, Nelly Furtado, James Washington, John Maultsby and produced by Timbaland and Jroc. The single premiered on October 16, 2009 on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest with Timbaland describing it as the kick-off song from the project.^[50][51] Following her performance, the song was sent for radio adds on May 25. The song peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. With this success, the song became Sparks' fifth consecutive top 20 hit and third nonconsecutive top 10 hit. On May 24, Sparks headed to Europe to begin promotion for the single."Say Something" featuring Canadian rapper Drake was released to US iTunes on November 3, 2009.^[52] It was officially sent to U.S. radio on January 5, 2010.^[53] It is the album's second single and has so far reached number 23 on the Hot 100, making it the second most successful single on the album. "Carry Out" featuring Justin Timberlake is the third single from the album but was initially only released in the U.S. It was sent to US radio on December 1, 2009.^[54] It is the most successful single on the album, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video premiered on February 18, 2010.^[55] It was released as the third UK single on April 26, 2010.^[56] "If We Ever Meet Again" featuring Katy Perry is the album's fourth single. The music video premiered on January 18, 2010. In the UK, it was released February 15, 2010 and reached number one in New Zealand and number three in the UK and Ireland. The song has reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 so far.^{[citation needed]}

Timbaland worked with Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry and British X Factor winner Leona Lewis on their upcoming projects. He has also produced tracks for Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Stufje Aburkina, Keshia Chanté and Jay-Z's upcoming albums. Timbaland also produced Chris Cornell's 2009 album Scream. Shakira was asked to record vocals on the song "Give It Up to Me" to be included on Timbaland's forthcoming album but it was placed on her third studio album She Wolf and released as the second US single instead.^[57] Additionally it was revealed that one of the songs Timbaland had produced for Beyoncé's 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce was reworked by Keri Hilson and Jay Z for Shock Value II but not included.^[58][59] He was a guest host of World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw on 28 December 2009.^[60] Timbaland appeared on the 25 March 2010 episode (titled "Blowback") of FlashForward as an evidence agent. His songs, "Morning After Dark" & "Symphony", appears on the video game, Def Jam: Underground

On 26 March 2010, it was reported that Steven Tyler, intrigued by the 2009 Chris Cornell record Scream, would be teaming up with Timbaland to record a rap album. Guest appearances by Reverend Run and Darryl Mac of Run-D.M.C., Kid Rock, and T-Pain are rumored to be featured on the new project. In April 2010, a feud between the producer and R&B singer, Ginuwine, arose after Timbaland failed to make an appearance at the singer's music video shoot of "Get Involved".^[61][62] Later in April, Timbaland released a new single featuring T-Pain and Billy Blue titled "Talk That". In June 2010, when questioned by RWD magazine about the UK music scene he made the bold claim to be the inspiration for the dub-step music scene. “The UK scene... they’re always telling me that I started it. You have Dub-bass...”. When questioned further about it he went on to say: "It’s funny cos they went back to some of my old music that really created that sound and just, instead of going fast, they went slow with more bass."^[63] In August 2010, a "possible suicide attempt" APB was put out for Timbaland after his home was burgled. When his family were unable to contact him, they called 911 and a manhunt began. Police eventually found his car and brought him back home, where paramedics examined him, before declaring he was not a threat to himself. When questioned, Timbaland said he only took a drive to think about the robbery as he thought the possible thief could have been someone close whom he trusted.^[64]

[edit] 2010–present: Shock Value III, Future Productions and Timbaland Thursdays

In November 2010, Timbaland announced that he would be releasing a new song every Thursday, called Timbo Thursday; like artists such as Kanye West, who has G.O.O.D. Fridays, and Swizz Beatz, who claimed Monster Mondays. In an interview with Rap-Up.com Timbaland stated, after recently joining Twitter, “So, my brother told me Kanye is puttin' out a new song every Friday called G.O.O.D. Fridays, Swizz got Mondays, I don't know if they are on Twitter but can you hit them up, and tell them reserve that Thursday for Timbo the king baby. We’ll call it Timbo Thursday, cool?” Timbaland plans to release his next album, Shock Value III, in 2012. Some artists that will appear so far on the album will be David Guetta, Pitbull, Sebastian, Deuce, Attitude, Keri Hilson, Dev, Lyrica Anderson, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Missy Elliott, Chris Brown, Rekapse, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Demi Lovato.^[65] Timbaland is featured on the deluxe edition of Chris Brown's latest album, F.A.M.E., producing the song "Paper, Scissors, Rock", which also features rapper Big Sean. Timbaland also worked with teen star Demi Lovato; he produced and had a small feature in her song "All Night Long" on Lovato's latest album, Unbroken, and confirmed a brand new track with Lovato to be featured in his new album, Shock Value III. On January 13, 2011, Timbaland began his Timbaland Thursdays free music initiative. The first song released was "Take Ur Clothes Off", featuring Missy Elliott.^[66] This was followed by "Round Da Way Tim",^[67] "Lil' Apartment" featuring rapper Attitude and singer 6 Two^[68] and "808" featuring Brandy Norwood.^[69] Hilson revealed that the songs that Timbaland was releasing through the initiative come deep from within his vast back catalogue, so there was a good chance that one of the records could feature her vocals.^[70] And, indeed, a track entitled "You Lied, You Cheated" was released on 10 February 2011.^[71] On 17 February 2011. Timbaland collaborated for the first time with Lyrica Anderson on the song entitled "Mentally". According to the official website, Timbaland posted that, "Anderson is currently working with Timbaland on his new project."^[72] On 25 February 2011, a song that features indie pop artists J'Royal Price from Memphis, Tennessee and JimmyCodean from Norfolk in Virginia was entitled "Hot Mess".^[73] "Whenever You Like", featuring Brandy Norwood, was released on March 3 via Timbaland Thursdays. On March 17, 2011, he released another installment titled "All Yall", featuring Attitude and Young Money's Short Dawg. On March 21, 2011, he released an official track called "Automatic", featuring Attitude and 6 Two, both of whom collaborated on another Timbaland Thursday track, "Lil' Apartment". On March 24, 2011, he released yet another collaboration with Attitude titled "F*ck You". On March 31, 2011, he released another track titled "Not My Happiness" and on April 7, 2011, he released "I Won't Board This Plane", both of which are solos by him, following "Round Da Way Tim". On April 15, he released a snippet of Timbaland and Blind Fury.^[74] After releasing Tawanna's "See You Again", dedicated to Aaliyah on 20 May 2011,^[75] he stopped the weekly free music, as he is in South Africa,^[76] and to helps produce tracks for his brother, Sebastian.^[76] As the first official single from Shock Value III, "Pass at Me" featuring Pitbull, with uncredited production by David Guetta, was released on 13 September, 2011, after having been used to promote a book titled Culo. "Break Ya Back" featuring Dev will serve as Shock Value III's lead and second official single. The third single will be "Red Bone", featuring Sebastian and Petey Pablo, with a video having already been filmed. Timbaland also appears on David Guetta's LP, Nothing But the Beat, on "I Just Wanna F." with Dev and Afrojack.^[77] Timbaland recently said on Twitter that his new album will drop in June 2012. Timbaland also announced he will be joining Deuce movement called "Nine Lives" look for some collaborations between the two

Thomas Crown Studio[link]

Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley built a private recording studio in Virginia Beach. The studio was conceived and developed with long time engineer, Jimmy Douglass. The studio is managed by Garland Mosley and Brian Byrd. This full service audio production center has been created in an existing (about) 5,000 sq ft (460 m²) two-story industrial park building. A complete renovation of the building resulted in a two-studio recording and post production facility, and continues the growth of the Virginia Beach music community, that has spawned the likes of The Neptunes, Missy Elliott and Nate "Danja" Hills.

Tours[link]

Timbaland was supposed to support Shock Value on the Shock Value 2008 Tour in Australia, but the tour was cancelled one day before it began. In early 2010, he toured 13 cities in North America from January 15, 2010 to February 3, 2010 on the Shock Value II Tour.

Discography[link]

Solo albums

• Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment (1998)
• Shock Value (2007)
• Shock Value II (2009)
• Shock Value III (2012)

Timbaland & Magoo albums

• Welcome to Our World (1997)
• Indecent Proposal (2001)
• Under Construction, Part II (2003)

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Timbaland

• Official site
• Timbaland on Twitter
• Timbaland's Blog
• Timbaland's channel on YouTube
• Timbaland at Allmusic
• Timbaland at Yahoo! Music
• Timbaland at the Internet Movie Database
• Timbaland at Billboard.com
• http://www.timbalandthursdays.com

Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson performing at Supafest in Australia, April 2011
Background information
Birth name	Keri Lynn Hilson
Born	(1982-12-05) December 5, 1982 (age 29) Decatur, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	R&B, pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Zone 4, Mosley Music, Interscope
Associated acts	The Clutch, Polow da Don, Timbaland, Chris Brown, Akon, Kanye West
Website	kerihilson.com

Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent, as a songwriter and background vocalist for several R&B and hip hop artists. By the age of 14, Hilson had secured a record deal with the girl group D'Signe, who later disbanded. She attended Emory University in Atlanta, while she continued writing songs for artists, including Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige, with the production and songwriting team, The Clutch. In 2006, Hilson signed with American rapper and producer Timbaland's record label, Mosley Music. Her breakthrough came the following year after appearing on Timbaland's single, "The Way I Are", which topped charts around the world.

Hilson's debut studio album, In a Perfect World..., was released in 2009, and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, eventually being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album spawned the hit singles, "Knock You Down", "Turnin Me On" and "I Like". It also earned Hilson two Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Knock You Down". Her second studio album, No Boys Allowed, was released in 2010 and was considerably less successful than its predecessor; however, it included the hit single, "Pretty Girl Rock". Hilson's achievements include a BET Award, MOBO Award, NAACP Image Award and two Soul Train Music Awards. Apart from her work in music, she has pursued a career in acting. Hilson made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film, Think Like a Man, in 2012.

Biography[link]

1982–2007: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Keri Lynn Hilson was born on December 5, 1982 in Decatur, Georgia.^[1][2] She was raised in an African-American neighborhood and came from a middle class family.^[3] Hilson and her siblings did not attend a school within the neighborhood because her parents cared a lot for their education, stating that "they shipped us off for an hour to get to school every day. It was just that important for us to maintain the life that they had created".^[3] From the age of 12, Hilson wanted to pursue a musical career, after watching television talent shows, Star Search and Showtime at the Apollo.^[1] Her mother then hired a piano teacher to give her piano lessons; however, Hilson wanted to become a singer and therefore "converted those sessions into vocal lessons, accompanying the teacher on piano".^[1] By the age of 14, Hilson had secured a record deal with the girl group D'Signe, who later disbanded.^[4][1]

Hilson spent most of her teenage years working with producer Anthony Dent, as a songwriter and background vocalist for the likes of Usher, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Ciara and Polow da Don.^[1] After graduating from high school, Hilson attended Emory University in Atlanta for three years and studied a course in theater.^[3] She continued working as a songwriter and background vocalist during her schooling years.^[1] Hilson eventually stopped working with Dent, and began working more with Polow da Don.^[1] She also became a member of the songwriting and production team, The Clutch.^[1] Together, they wrote Mary J. Blige's "Take Me as I Am" (2006), Omarion's "Ice Box" (2006), Ciara's "Like a Boy" (2006), The Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute" (2007) and Britney Spears' "Gimme More" (2007).^[1][4] In 2006, Polow introduced Hilson to American rapper and producer Timbaland, who then signed her to his record label, Mosley Music Group.^[1] In November 2006, Hilson was featured on American rapper Lloyd Banks' single, "Help", for his album Rotten Apple (2006).^[5]

The following year, Hilson was featured on three singles; in June, on Timbaland's song "The Way I Are", the second single from his album Shock Value (2007); on Rich Boy's "Good Things" with Polow da Don; and thereafter, in December, on Timbaland's song "Scream" with Nicole Scherzinger, the fifth single from Shock Value.^[6] Out of the three singles, "The Way I Are" achieved the most success, topping nine charts around the world.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

[edit] 2008–09: In a Perfect World...

Hilson in April 2009

In 2008, Hilson appeared in the music videos for Usher's single, "Love in This Club", and Ne-Yo's single, "Miss Independent".^[12][13] Her debut studio album, In a Perfect World..., was released on March 24, 2009.^[14] The album contained pop-oriented R&B songs.^[15] It was initially planned to be released the previous year; however, the album was delayed several times because Hilson wanted to make sure it came out to her liking, stating "I'm just a perfectionist. I have had many [release dates], but it's all for a good cause. The label wants to make sure the album has its proper release, and I'm thankful for that. Very grateful, even though fans look at it like it's a bad thing."^[16] In the US, In a Perfect World... debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first-week sales of 94,000 copies.^[17][18] By October 2009, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[19] Its first single, "Energy", released in May 2008, peaked within the top eighty on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[20] It reached the top fifty in the United Kingdom, and peaked the highest in New Zealand at number seven, and was certified gold in the country.^[10][21][22] Hilson also featured on three singles in 2008; in June, on rapper Nas' song "Hero"; in September, on Kardinal Offishall's "Numba 1 (Tide Is High)"; and thereafter, in October, on Chris Brown's song "Superhuman".^[23][6][24]

"Return the Favor", featuring Timbaland, served as the second international single from Hilson's In a Perfect World... album, while "Turnin Me On" featuring Lil Wayne, was released as the second US single. The latter achieved commercial success, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, eventually being certified platinum in the US.^[20][19] The next single, "Knock You Down" featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo, achieved more success, reaching number three on the Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, eventually being certified two times platinum.^[20][19] The song also reached the top ten in Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.^{[20][25][21][10]} "Make Love", "Slow Dance", and "Change Me" featuring Akon, were released as the album's fourth, fifth and sixth US singles, respectively.

Hilson, along with Gym Class Heroes, Gorilla Zoe and T-Pain, were supporting acts on Lil Wayne's I Am Music Tour in North America.^[26] At the 2009 BET Awards, she was nominated in four categories, including Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Artist, as well as Viewer's Choice and Best Collaboration for "Turnin Me On" with Lil Wayne.^[27] She eventually won the Best New Artist category.^[28] In 2009, Hilson was featured on five singles; "Number One" with R. Kelly, "She Don't Wanna" with Asher Roth, "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere" with Fabolous, "Medicine" with Plies, and on the remix of Sean Paul's song, "Hold My Hand".^[29][6] Hilson was nominated for Breakthrough Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2009 American Music Awards, but lost to Beyoncé Knowles.^[30] The re-released edition of In a Perfect World..., in January 2010, included the single "I Like", which reached number one in Germany, Poland and Slovakia, and peaked within the top ten in Austria, Norway and Switzerland.^{[31][32][33][34]} At the 52nd Grammy Awards, Hilson was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Knock You Down" with Kanye West and Ne-Yo.^[35]

[edit] 2010–present: No Boys Allowed

Hilson performing at the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert

During the first half of 2010, Hilson guest featured on rapper Trina's single, "Million Dollar Girl", and on T.I.'s single, "Got Your Back".^[6] In April 2010, it was made known that she had replaced Jennifer Hudson as the new face of the cosmetics and personal care products company, Avon.^[36] "Breaking Point" was released as the first single from Hilson's second studio album, No Boys Allowed, in September 2010; it only appeared on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart at number 44.^[20] On December 2, 2010, Hilson was among one of the many female artists who performed at the VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert, where she sang "Turnin Me On", "Knock You Down", "Pretty Girl Rock", and a duet with American country music duo, Sugarland, on the Aretha Franklin song, "Think".^[37] No Boys Allowed was released on December 21, 2010.^[38] Described as a "girl power album", No Boys Allowed was primarily of the R&B and pop genres.^[39][40] Despite the album's title, Hilson stated "it's not about excluding men. It's more about women understanding that there comes a time in your life when you want a man. A real man. A grown up. Not a boy. And that's not a bad thing."^[41] Speaking of the songs on the album, she explained "I write from a female perspective, but I'm also telling men what women are really thinking and feeling about them".^[41] In the US, No Boys Allowed debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, and number seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first-week sales of 102,000 copies.^[42][43] Although it sold 8,000 copies more than her debut album, In a Perfect World..., it failed to match that album's debut chart position of number four.^[42] As of February 2011, No Boys Allowed has sold 205,500 copies in the United States.^[44]

Hilson achieved success with the album's second single, "Pretty Girl Rock", which reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart, eventually being certified platinum.^[20][19] The single reached the top twenty in Germany and New Zealand, and top thirty in Austria and Slovakia.^{[45][21][46][47]} "One Night Stand" featuring Chris Brown, and "Lose Control (Let Me Down)" featuring Nelly, were released as the album's third and fourth singles, respectively. In 2011, she was featured on British rapper Chipmunk's single "In the Air", for his album Transition (2011).^[48] In April 2011, Hilson, along with many other R&B and hip hop acts, traveled to Australia to be part of its biggest urban music festival, Supafest.^[49] At the 2011 BET Awards, Hilson was nominated for Best Female R&B Artist and Video of the Year for "Pretty Girl Rock".^[50] In July 2011, she was a supporting act on the second leg of Lil Wayne's I Am Still Music Tour in North America, before embarking on her first headlining European tour in October.^[51][52]

2012–present: Acting debut and third studio album[link]

During an interview with 106 & Park on October 25, 2011, Hilson revealed that she has already begun recording her third studio album.^[53] She explained, "There's some people in the world that aren't gon' like this album coming from me. As I was experiencing the world, there were things that I was also experiencing on a personal front, and in my music it's coming out. There's a specific few people who ain't gon' like to listen to this album. Very emotional, I'll say that."^[53] She further explained in an interview with The Boombox that she's working on a new sound for the album, and described it as a mixture of her first two albums with some surprising elements thrown in.^[54] Hilson also said a release date has not been confirmed yet, saying "I just write about my experiences and keep the release dates far, far from me. When I feel that I have [good material] is when I will give it to the label. But I'm not quite there yet. I'm still working."^[54] Hilson made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film, Think Like a Man, released on April 20, 2012.^[55][56] She will also star alongside Vin Diesel in the sci-fi action film, Riddick (2013), but it is unknown what role Hilson will play.^[57]

Artistry[link]

Musical style and influences[link]

Hilson's music is generally R&B and pop. Her debut album, In a Perfect World..., consists of a pop/R&B style, with elements of electro music.^[15][58] Many of the album's themes deal with relationships, physical attraction and lovemaking.^[59] Hilson said, "lyrically it's a very vulnerable album. You know, I definitely didn't want to paint myself as perfect on this project. Instead, I wanted it to be something that was very relatable, especially to women".^[60] Her second album, No Boys Allowed, displays a wide variety of styles, including pop, R&B, hip hop, soul, acoustic, electronic and reggae.^{[40][61][62][63]} Hilson describes the album as "more self assured. It's a lot more aggressive".^[64] Kristin Macfarlane of The Daily Post noted that the album is "pure girl power and about being sexually confident, and confident as a woman; not putting up with crap relationships and getting your way".^[65] Hilson sings with "smooth vocals".^[66] Following the release of her debut album, Sophie Bruce of BBC Music expressed that, "there's no denying Hilson has a great voice, but it lacks the feisty edge of [Nicole] Scherzinger, [Mary J.] Blige or [Beyoncé] Knowles".^[67] Mark Nero of About.com commented, "Keri's voice, while strong, isn't particularly distinctive or memorable".^[68] Hilson has stated that her musical influences come from her father's side of the family.^[60] In addition, she cites Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill as inspirations.^[69][70]

Philanthropy[link]

Besides her career in music, Hilson has also been involved with several charities. In January 2010, she teamed up with Akon on the charity single, "Oh Africa".^[71] All proceeds of the single benefited underprivileged African youth.^[71] The following month, Hilson joined the extended list of artists during the recording session of the single, "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[72] On May 25, 2010, she performed at the Virginia Stand Up! A Call to Action benefit concert, organized by Chris Brown to help with continued relief efforts in Haiti.^[73] On October 21, 2010, Hilson attended Collins Academy High School in Chicago as part of the Get Schooled National Challenge and Tour, a "program aimed at increasing high school and college graduation rates and promoting the importance of education".^[74][75] A year later, she received a Get Schooled Award for her involvement with the program.^[76] In 2011, Hilson contributed in the fight against AIDS, by posing in retail-clothing company H&M's celebrity-driven collection for Fashion Against AIDS.^[77] 25% of all sales from the collection were donated to the Designers Against Aids charity.^[77] Hilson contributed to the It Gets Better Project, a project which aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.^[78][79]

In June 2011, Hilson became an ambassador for MTV Staying Alive, a foundation which raises awareness and prevention of HIV and AIDS.^[80] In September 2011, she lent her support to US First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, which aims to combat childhood obesity.^[81] She made t-shirts for the campaign that read "Pretty Girls Sweat", and exercised with the young women at The Educational Alliance's Sirovich Senior Center in New York on September 24.^[81] During Hilson's visit in Africa in November 2011, she stopped by an orphanage to visit her young fans who had lost their families during the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis.^[82] She gave each orphan a "care" package, which consisted of bookbags, t-shirts, sunglasses, notebooks and an electric keyboard.^[82] In April 2012, Hilson teamed up with DoSomething.org to encourage young people to join in the nationwide Epic Book Drive by bringing books to local people in need.^[83] In a press release, she stated: "Joining DoSomething.org's newest effort to provide for people in need with Epic Book Drive was the easiest decision ever!. I truly believe providing access to those who want to learn is the key to bettering lives around the country. And helping kids find healthy outlets, such as books, has always been a passion of mine. So my involvement here is a natural fit."^[83]

Discography[link]

• In a Perfect World... (2009)
• No Boys Allowed (2010)

Filmography[link]

Tours[link]

Headlining

• European Tour (2011)

Supporting

• I Am Music Tour (2009) (with Lil Wayne)
• I Am Still Music Tour (2011) (with Lil Wayne)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Keri Hilson
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