Timbaland Talks New Solo Album 'Opera Noir': 'This Is My Purple Rain' — rollingstone.com

At the turn of the decade, it seemed as though Timbaland — the producer behind many of the biggest beats of the previous 15 years — had finally quieted down. Now, at age 42, he's back on top: In the past year and a half, he has co-produced nearly all of Justin Timberlake's two volume The 20/20 Experience, most of Jay Z's Magna Carta... Holy Grail and Beyoncé highlights like "Drunk in Love" and "Partition." On the phone to promote "Whoever We Are," his contribution to the Pepsi Beats of the Beautiful Game World Cup LP, he spoke with Rolling Stone about the song, the young rappers he's been mentoring and why he thinks his next (and possibly final) solo album is his most innovative project ever.

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