AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
R&B has changed a lot over the years. Timbaland says social media is a driving force.
TIMBALAND: I feel like personality is bigger than music now. We're so used to the glitz and the glamour and all these things, and I feel like real good R&B never really had all of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Timbaland and the singer Chloe Bailey have a new mixtape that recalls a bygone era of R&B.
TIMBALAND: I felt like I was bringing that nostalgia back, and the way Chloe - I feel like, you know, because she can sing, she's so talented.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BELONG TO YOU")
CHLOE BAILEY: (Singing) I always belonged to you. And don't you know that you...
RASCOE: Their new mix tape is called "Resurrection."
BAILEY: What's being resurrected is my confidence. I think with a lot of creatives, there's, like, an impostor syndrome. Sometimes it can overpower your love for something. I was letting my mind get distracted and taking myself away from the music that I forgot how much I actually loved it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BELONG TO YOU")
BAILEY: (Singing) Energy don't lie, baby. Love is blind, got me hazy. Horace and Pete so crazy. Oh, crazy. Oh, crazy. You're my twin flame, we shining. Never an awkward silence. Always know what I feel. No hiding, no hiding, we shining. Nobody...
RASCOE: Timbaland, what made you want to work with Chloe? What made you want to get in the studio with her?
TIMBALAND: I believe God ordained this project and this connection and this chemistry. Something in my spirit, like, just say, hey, we should do this project together. I just believe in her talent and what she has, and she's a great student of music, and she listens.
BAILEY: I always want to grow and evolve. So to have a teacher like Tim and his ear, it was pretty cool. There's this song called "World On Fire." And it was during a time when I was really affected by what was happening in life's events. And Tim sent this beautiful beat, and he called me. He was like, you got to be on some, like, Donna Summer, Kate Bush-type stuff with this.
So I had recently gotten into my love of Bob Marley. He finds different ways to talk about the world. And yes, he even has songs where he talks about prostitutes, but it's in such a poetic way that you don't even really realize it. So I was really getting deeper into prayer and Jesus, and I was kind of feeling helpless with where the world was standing today. So I was like, maybe this is the beat I speak and share and spill my heart on.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORLD ON FIRE")
BAILEY: (Singing) Save the pain for the morning. Come on, let's hide. Get lost inside me where all your burdens can die. It feels safe...
RASCOE: Well, Timbaland, I mean, you have made so many hits - right? - and worked with so many big artists - Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, you know, Aaliyah, Missy Elliott. The list goes on and on. How does the idea for a song come to you, and how do you shape it into a hit?
TIMBALAND: I think it's no - really no formula. It's all about what you feel. I have to sleep on it. If it keep coming back to me for, like, a week or two weeks, I'm like, OK, there's something we should pay attention to. And it's a feeling. You know what I'm saying? So for me, when something feels good, you feel like you're on top of the world. It's not about making the best-selling album. It's about the inspiration.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORLD ON FIRE")
BAILEY: (Singing) I savor the moment before I go right back to my real life. I bask in...
TIMBALAND: The inspiration is hard to come by. And for me, you know, when you do something for so long, it's just like, OK, what's next? And when you lose the inspiration, I think you lose a part of yourself.
RASCOE: Well, I want to dive into the mixtape. I want to talk about the song "Better Than She Can."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BETTER THAN SHE CAN")
BAILEY: (Singing) Hold up. Wait a minute. Why you wasting your time with them other women? Line them up, cut them off 'cause you playing with them. If you got me on your arm, you going to be a winner. Oh, Lord. One...
RASCOE: It seems like this is, like, a trio of songs - from "Caught," which was about catching a man cheating, and then "Sensitive," when you, like, kind of turn it on the man and be like, I left you (ph). Why are you so sensitive? And then "Better Than She Can," which is, like, I'm better than all them other girls.
BAILEY: That is correct. I'm a young adult, and I'm very mushy. I'm a Cancer, and I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I'm very trusting. And I - when I was like, 9, 10 - I think this was around when, like, Adele was really popping, and I was listening to a lot of Alicia Keys. And I was like, God, please let me get my heart broken so I could write great music like them.
RASCOE: Oh, my goodness.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BETTER THAN SHE CAN")
BAILEY: (Singing) Just so you know, my friend be telling me not to rock the boat.
For "Better Than She Can," I wrote the song so fast because an ex of mine at the time, he was moving on with - they just were different from me. I'm not going to say beneath me or anything like that
RASCOE: (Laughter) They weren't at your level. You're saying they weren't at your level.
BAILEY: They were on their own level.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
BAILEY: So I just - the song wrote itself.
RASCOE: Yeah, OK, OK. Well, you know, sometimes men - they will leave the one that's upgrading them and stick with the ones that's keeping them in the gutter.
BAILEY: Men and women - it's a thing of control and who can feed your ego the best.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BETTER THAN SHE CAN")
BAILEY: (Singing) I, I'll love you better than she can. I'll love you better than she can. I'll love you better than she can. I'll love you better than she can. I'll love you better, better.
RASCOE: Timbaland, I wanted to ask you because you have faced some criticism for launching an AI-focused entertainment company, and you're the creative director for another AI platform. What role do you think AI should play in the music industry?
TIMBALAND: I love it as a tool. It definitely has to have some regulations. I don't think it should be blended in with Spotify. You know, it should be its own thing. But artists have to think about outside of their music. They need to think about fandom. And what I'm seeing is fans want to use the tool to create songs with their favorite artists. People will subscribe to say, I want to make a song of my favorite artist.
Let's take Chloe, for instance. So, if Chloe - she said, I'm going to allow my fans to use my likeness that she controls, that's another set of revenue. That can be more than just her putting out music because fans might say, ooh, I can write this song with Chloe voice, ooh, and send it to Chloe. Chloe - oh, I like that. I might put that on my mixtape. And the fans get to share that experience along with the artist.
RASCOE: Do you worry about that it could water down even your work if AI gets into it?
TIMBALAND: No, see, the thing about it is, I feel like AI can't really beat me. It's an assistant. It still needs the human element. It's a copilot.
BAILEY: People will say what they want to say online, but for you to have the level of expertise and the ear and the fine tuning that Timbaland has, you can't replicate that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SENSITIVE")
BAILEY: (Singing) Time to let it go. Obsessing, got it in. I've been trying to see it clear, but I'd rather waste the years than to stay here going crazy. I'm becoming someone else trying to save this. Forget it. So boy...
RASCOE: I want to ask both of you - and Chloe, I'll start with you - how do you define success for yourself?
BAILEY: I want to make little Chloe proud. Success used to mean to me, like, Grammys, stadium, all of that. And of course, it still does. I'm not even going to hold you or lie about that. But true success is inner peace because...
TIMBALAND: Facts.
BAILEY: ...When you have inner peace, everything else falls into place. Everything else feels so good.
TIMBALAND: If it's pleasing to God, that's success. I think a couple years back, I probably would have said this and that and this and that. But as I've gotten older, I feel like I don't need the pleasing of people. Long as God is pleased with me, I feel like I'm very successful - and my kids.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIMBALAND AND CHLOE BAILEY SONG, "SENSITIVE")
RASCOE: That's Timbaland and Chloe Bailey. The new mixtape "Resurrection" is out now. Thank you to you both.
BAILEY: Thank you for your time.
TIMBALAND: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAMA'S BOY")
BAILEY: (Singing) Cry to your mama. I know you wanna. Please save the trauma. I've been done with you. Say you're sorry... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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