Shame on Artist that particpate in any way with Myspace

As far as the Myspace love fest. It needs to end. Artist, fans, and consumers of content must know and understand that any revenue generated for Myspace (A Newscorp company) is going to continue to fund the operations of fox news ( http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/) as well as the continued dismantling of independent media around the world. If as an artist or a fan or a user of the Internet you support any social issues or an independent and free media then myspace is not the place to become a member. By doing this you give them continued revenue and power.

A while back, word came out that M.I.A. couldn't get into the U.S. to perform or record because of Homeland Security. (Her pops was a Tamil Tiger, I think, so it's not quite as ridiculous as it first seems, though it still seems silly.) Maybe Timbaland's label thinks her name could hurt sales among all those no-fly-list-savvy conservative hip-hop fans.

My directing you to Timbo's MySpace is in no way an endorsement of MySpace, since I hate that space, if only for its horribly ugly, confusing interface and tendency to auto-play songs at deafening volumes when you click over to somebody's page. Yeah, Fox politics are troubling but I'm not going to stop watching "Family Guy."

As far as Homeland Security anti-M.I.A. conspiracy theories go, perhaps, although I think it's more likely some record exec took a look at the other guests on Shock Value and said "Okay, Justin, Nelly, Pussycat Dolls, Fall Out Boy, they'll sell us some records, but who's this Indian chick?! Get her off of here and get me another Pussycat Doll!" Then he slammed his fist on the table and all the cocaine flew up in the air.

American music gave birth to so much great music,
Gospel, jazz, blues, soul, rock, rap but today popular music is in freefall
and Timbaland is the ultimate symbol of this trend.

Timbaland:Music for marketing.

Timbaland is well liked by the "critics" (pay by the big corporations) because they can say "Now I understand black music! That's good black music."
What they like in Timbaland "music" it's the Techno/Pop/synth/Gay sound played by a black man.
His "music" is souless, cold, mechanical and said nothing.It’s the perfect beat for the fascist Bush years.
Perfect for the white pop artists who got nothing to say but pretend to play “black music”.
Perfect for black artist who want to reach the white teens/gay buyers.
For 10 years it's the same beat with a new sound stolen somewhere (Arabic, Indus or Finnish music).
Boring after 8 measures, and feed by force via all the clear channel/MTV.
The Financial power decided that "Timbo" was the perfect good big black (and propably gay) boy to represent their computerized/aseptized "music".

What's so "fantastic" about him? His goofy face??
He's changed the sound of music, sure, but for the worst.

Marcus, I couldn't disagree more. First of all, hip-hop, while not quite at the blinding creative peak of a few years back, is still the most vibrant, surprising, and yes, avant-garde musical genre in America, if not the world. As a geek, I'm often most attracted to the production values and bizarre neo-minimalism of much current hip-hop, but lyrical tone and content also continue to surprise and even shock, which is saying something in this day and age.

As far as Timbaland specifically; first of all, to address your concerns about race, and whether his music has achieved critical acclaim due to its referencing of traditionally white sounds and styles... It's a fair question, but I think it's misplaced -- first of all, nobody is saying he represents "blackness" in and of itself, or some theoretical apex of R&B lineage. On the contrary, I'd say he makes immensely accessible music, mostly in an electronic/hip-hop hybrid kind of style, but using a whole variety of surprising influences. Look at Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On," a earth-shattering masterpiece that sounds like nothing before or since: Bhangra being played in a drum 'n' bass club? Or one of my first Timbaland faves, his production for Ginuwine on the 1999 single, "What's So Different," a strange, jittery piece that laid the groundwork for hip-hop's current minimalism. Talking about his multicultural reference points as just a sound "stolen somewhere" isn't fair -- where, according to you, is an approved location to take your influences from? And when, pray tell, is it okay for white critics to enjoy black musicians?

I also find your references to "gay" sounds and "gay" music buyers to be a bit troubling. And if Timbaland is himself gay (something I don't know anything about) what of it? What are you even talking about? The only question is, is this good music? While "Promiscuous" and "My Love" weren't, in my opinion, as shockingly left-field as "Get Ur Freak On," they were probably the two best pieces of popular music put out last year. If you're against hearing good, fun, surprising pop songs on the radio, which I get the impression you are, then perhaps I can't convince you otherwise. But that's too bad for you, because Timbaland's productions will, years from now, still be looked at as some of the strangest and most wonderful music of our generation.

i like timbaland i don't care if he's gay i don't think he is. though im a big fan he's having a baby with a girl so he isn't gay at all. so haha.
im kidding but he is not gay!