Timbaland, born Timothy Zachery Mosley, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. Timbaland is well-known for his innovative production work and distinct “stuttering” rhythmic style. According to Entertainment Weekly, “he can be traced back to almost every current pop trend, from sultry, urban-edged R&B songstresses… to the art of incorporating avant-garde sounds into No. 1 hits.”
Pharrell Williams is a record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and fashion designer from the United States. Pharrell co-founded the hip hop and R&B songwriting team the Neptunes in the early 1990s with close friend and coworker Chad Hugo, and they have worked on songs for a variety of recording artists. Pharrell co-founded N.E.R.D. alongside Hugo and drummer Shay Haley in 1999, and he took on the role of lead vocalist there. Williams, who significantly influenced the sound of contemporary popular music, has been hailed as one of the most important and successful music producers of the twenty-first century.
Are Timbaland and Pharrell related?
Music is a family affair for these two producers. Timbaland stunned the industry when he revealed that he and cousin Pharrell are related through their grandmothers. “I call him my brother,” he said on The Cruz Show in 2016. Timbaland also wrote about their high school days in his memoir, The Emperor of Sound: A Memoir.