Jay-Z and Timbaland's Best Moments
Timbo's Roc Nation deal is the pair's latest collabo.
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Jay-Z and Timbaland's Best Moments - On Wednesday, Jay-Z and Timbaland were back at it, making headlines once again. That's the day news broke that Timbo was signing to Roc Nation, Jay's record label/management firm, also home to Rihanna and J. Cole. The announcement couldn't help but stir memories of the pair's long, fruitful history of musical collaboration, which goes back a decade and a half. Here, we list Jay-Z and Timbaland's best on-wax moments, from smash singles to slept-on bangers. —Alex Gale (Photos from left: Shareif Ziyadat/FilmMagic, Candice Lawler/BET)
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"N---a What N---a Who (Originator '99)" feat. Jaz-O and Amil - Wanna act loco? Don't do it anywhere in the vicinity of this track, one of Jay and Tim's first — and sharpest — collabos. The final single from Hov's 1999 album Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life, the song features a dizzying, stuttering beat and some of the quickest, most nimble flows Jay's ever committed to wax. (Photo: Roc-A-Fella Records)
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Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z, "Suit & Tie" - Last month, Hov and Timbo linked up with Justin for the svelte single "Suit & Tie," his first new music in six years, leaving the Internet, the radio waves and everyone in between in a frenzy. (Photos from left: Allison Joyce/Getty Images, Thomas Janssen/Pacificcoastnews.com, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images For BET)
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"Big Pimpin'" feat. UGK - Another across-the-board, undeniable classic, 1999's "Big Pimpin'" features the then unlikely cross-regional combo of Hov and UGK strutting over one of Timbaland's most playful beats, a blend of Middle Eastern melodies and herky-jerky drums. (Photos from left: Darla Khazei/ Pacificcoastnews.com, Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images)
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Vol. 3....The Life and Times of S. Carter - But "Big Pimpin'" was just one of the highlights — a very high one — of Jay-Z and Timbaland's most prolific collaborative period, the former's 1999 album Vol. 3...The Life and Times. Timbaland's contributions — "Big Pimpin'," "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot), "Snoopy Track" (feat. Juvenile) and "Come and Get Me" — form the backbone of the triple-platinum blockbuster disc. (Photo: Roc-A-Fella Records)
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"Dirt Off Your Shoulder" - One of the best songs from one of Jay-Z's best discs, 2003's The Black Album, this classic even had Obama referencing it in response to criticism from Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign. The Jay-Z documentary Fade to Black showed the pair in the studio making the song, highlighting their personal chemistry. (Photo: Roc-A-Fella Records)
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"Hola Hovito" - Timbaland only had one song on what is arguably Jay's best album (sorry, Reasonable Doubt partisans), but it's a banger, a much-needed lighthearted, reggae-inflected respite on an album of heavy, introspective moments. (Photos from left: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, John Parra/FilmMagic)
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Memphis Bleek feat. Jay-Z & Missy Elliott, "Is That Yo Chick?" - Jay's protégé Memphis Bleek hit a career highlight with this banging 2000 single, featuring a hilarious, double-time Jay verse, a rumbling, droning Timbaland beat and a hook from Missy. An alternate version of the song showed up, sans Bleek, on the European release of Jay's Vol. 3...Life and Times of S. Carter.(REUTERS/Vincent Wang/Landov)
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Jay-Z, "The Bounce" feat. Kanye West - This song, from Jay-Z's 2002 Blueprint 2, featured a bouncy Timbo beat and a rough-around-the-edges Kanye West's first on-wax verse. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
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Missy Elliott, "One Minute Man" (Remix) feat. Ludacris and Jay-Z - This 2001 song combines Timbaland's two favorite rap collaborators, Jay-Z and, of course, Missy. Two other versions of this 2001 song feature just Ludacris or Luda and Trina, but the radio-only remix with Hov was a must-hear thanks to his nonchalantly cocky verse. (Photos from left: Jason Szenes/Getty Images, Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images, Juan Soliz/ PacificCoastNews.com)
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