Timbaland sat down with the New York Times to break down what he’s working on next. After introducing TaTa Taktumi, his neon-haired, futuristic pop creation, he confirmed the big update: a full TaTa Album is already underway. With “Glitch x Pulse” and the Fivio Foreign–assisted “Rack It Up” leading the rollout, TaTa is quickly shaping into one of Timbo’s most daring new eras.
TaTa wasn’t discovered in a studio session or on TikTok. She was built piece by piece using tools like Suno, guided by Timbaland’s own demos, melodies, and wild imagination. For him, this isn’t about replacing the creative process. It’s about boosting it, catching ideas in the moment, and letting the technology help build on the spark he already brings.
As debates around A.I. in music get louder, Timbaland is doing what he’s always done: moving forward while everyone else argues. To him, these tools are simply the next evolution, just like samplers, drum machines, or Auto-Tune were in their time. With TaTa Taktumi, he isn’t waiting for the future to arrive. He’s already shaping it.
On reinventing artist development
“I call it artist development, re-engineered.”
On what A.I. music creation feels like
“It’s verbalizing music, taking whatever is in your head and just saying it. Like, ‘This snare, I want it to have a fat bottom with 30 dBs of low end.’”
On feeding ideas into Suno
“It can take what I’ve done, then translate it and add on to my melody. I’m like: ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t have thought of that. Now I’ve got a whole other song structure.’”
On the human + A.I. collaboration
“It’s a hybrid.”
On how much of TaTa is still human-made
“Eighty to eighty-five percent of the creative work is still done by living, breathing Homo sapiens.”
On criticism and fear of A.I.
“Basic skills have diminished as digital music evolved. You don’t have to know how to play chords. You’ve got a chord machine. People aren’t making drum loops because they’ve already got drum packages you just drag and drop.”
On why A.I. helps creativity instead of hurting it
“If you’ve got to wait to call people to do it, you can lose that spark. Now we have tools that you never lose a spark.”
On being an early adopter despite backlash
“Right now, I’m more charged than ever because I get to do artistry in a different form.” “Everybody’s not going to see the light when you see the light, but you have to stay in the light to make them believe the light.” “I know we got to take a lot of bullets, but people are going to thank us at the end.”
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