“Man, that’s a dope addition”: The unusual song that inspired Timbaland to make a classic Aaliyah beat
Timbaland, Aaliyah and Missy Elliott almost came as a trio in the late 1990s. The three musicians were unique and interesting and produced truly original music in an ever-changing musical landscape. Their chemistry was unparalleled in the industry, and Timbaland took the two talented females to new heights at the turn of the millennium.
From Supa Dupa Fly to One in a Million, their albums were phenomenal, but Timbaland’s originality wasn’t without inspiration. At the Clive Davis Institute 2023 Pop Conference, the producer and emcee unveiled the rather strange song that led him to create Aaliyah’s 1998 hit track, ‘Are You That Somebody.’
During his seminar, Timbaland revealed that the 1971 musical film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory inspired Aaliyah’s ‘Are You That Somebody.’ He then went into detail, telling the crowd, “I actually was trying to make the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory beat from the ‘Oompa Loompa’ song.”
Concerning the repetitive ‘Oompa Loompa’ melody that the iconic characters sing throughout the film, Timbaland recalled, “I took that rhythm, and I listened back to i,t and I was like, ‘Man. that’s a dope addition.’ That’s what I was trying to attempt, but in a hip-hop way… I gotta thank Willy Wonka for that.”
The song was co-written by the late hip-hop legend Static Major and was one of the singles for the Dr Dolittle soundtrack. Although Aaliyah initially wasn’t enthusiastic about the song, ‘Are You That Somebody’ peaked at number one on the Billboard Rhythmic Chart.
At another point in the discussion, Timbaland opened up about the rather strange but now-famous ‘wailing baby’ sound effect that can be heard during the track’s chorus. Speaking about the sound he recalled, “So I was going through my effects sounds, and I heard this baby,”
He continued, “Was it a baby, was it a chicken, there was a cow, there was Godzilla, this whole row. And this baby came across, and it was laughing, and that [one sound] wasn’t the whole thing. I got to that one part, and as soon as the beat came on, I just hit the button. I didn’t think it was gonna work. I was talking to Aaliyah from where she was sitting on the couch, and I just hit the button, and it was in key. Everything was perfect. I put it in the song, and she said, ‘Oh, that’s so cute!'”
The 2023 Pop Conference revealed many previously unknown facts, including that the production duo Take A Daytrip revealed that a particular scene from Shrek 2 partially inspired the instrumental of Lil Nas X’s ‘Industry Baby.’ Still, irrespective of its strange beginning, the beat for ‘Are You That Somebody?’ is legendary and will be remembered as one of Timbo’s best creations.