I swear the more Timbaland progresses as a producer the more retro his sound is. It makes sense that his earlier material would be more experiemental- so of course 'Shock Value' is not going to be the same sound displayed in his and Magoo's collaboration 'Welcome to Our World' which debuted in 1997. All of his work does have a trailing sense of hip-hop rhythm underneath the complex interweaving melodies and selective DJ-scratching sounds and other comporable beat-boxing sound effects. The vocoded vocals at the beginning of '4 Minutes serve as an excellent introduction to Madonna and Justin Timberlake's exchange by showcasing his style and setting the tone for the main part of the track. As I've worked to see which types of music I adore and abhore I've pretty well found that it requires an assload of patience....If you're not prepared to give tracks multiple listens and take a longer look at lyrical use then you're probably only going to end up being interested in one type of music.
