Stars Are Blind

Thanks to his work on recent projects by Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, as well as the upcoming 50 Cent LP, Timbaland is enjoying what he’s been accustomed to for the past 10 years of his career — success.

Well somebody call Blade, because Count Drac is wide awake and ready to wreak even more havoc next year when his upcoming LP, tentatively titled Timbaland Presents Shock Value, comes out. “I’m not just hip-hop,” Tim insisted. “My mission is to take over top-40 radio — what they call popular music, different genres of music — and reach all types of people.”

Though the album is packed with headline-making names, Tim’s first single is already newsworthy. “Give it to Me” has Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and Tim throwing subliminal jabs in their verses, and it’s up to the audience to figure it out what — or who — they’re talking about. “I seen you try to switch it up, but girl you ain’t that dope,” Furtado sings. Tim’s verse includes the lines, “I’m a real producer and you just a piano man/ Your song moved up the charts I heard, but I’m not a fan/ N—as talking greasy, I’m the one that gave them they chance/ Somebody need to tell them they can’t do it like I can.”

The Internet has been most abuzz about Timberlake’s verse, though, with gossip sites speculating that his harsh words are aimed at Janet Jackson: “I saw you tryin’ to act cute on TV, ‘Just let me clear the air’/ We missed you on the charts last week/ Damn, that’s right, you wasn’t there/ Now if sexy never left, then why is everybody on my sh–?/ Don’t hate on me just because you didn’t come up with it.”

A source close to the record said that Timberlake’s lyrics have nothing to do with his infamous Super Bowl co-star — but he is responding to another pop artist who has seen career heights few other singers can boast.

Tim’s album will come out via his Mosley Music imprint, like Nelly Furtado’s Loose. He’s hoping to have the LP ready for a March release date.