‘Look and listen’ the key to sales, says rapper

NEW YORK: Timbaland, the executive music producer of the hit series, Empire, says he has completed his upcoming album and will use television as a platform for the new music.

“Yes, it’s done. I’m doing a TV show with that,” he said in a recent interview. “I’m not going to talk about it. I’m going to leave it at that.”

The producer behind hits for Justin Timberlake, Jay Z and Missy Elliott wouldn’t elaborate on the details behind his new album, which doesn’t have a release date.

On Empire, Timbaland’s music helped drive the show’s powerhouse ratings. Empire: Original Soundtrack From Season 1 debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and forced Madonna to debut at No 2 earlier this year.

Timbaland, 42, has also produced hits for Aaliyah, Beyonce and Nelly Furtado. He says TV and social media are the best ways to get music heard.

“I told people, ‘This is how you get your records played and broken’ – ’cause we love to watch. You watch your phone all day. You look at Instagram, you look at Snapchat, so what is your psyche telling you? Watch’,” he said. “So if I give you something to hear, somebody can grab your attention span. So if I give you something to watch with some great music, what you going to do? You gonna be like, ‘That song dope’.”

Empire premieres its second season in the US on September 23 on Fox. Timbaland said viewers could expect “more drama, more scratching of your head, more banging your head”. – AP

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