Timbaland reveals unlikely inspiration behind Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody"

Alongside Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Take a Daytrip, Timbaland broke down the samples and inspirations that were a part of creating Aaliyah's “Are You That Somebody".

Timbaland listened to a play-through of “Are You That Somebody” and laughed at Take a Daytrip’s mention that a hook from Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” was inspired by a scene from Shrek 2.

"I actually was trying to make the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory beat from the "Oompa Loompa" song,” he said. “I took that rhythm and I listened back to it 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.”

He also discussed the “the missing piece of the whole beat”, which was the baby noise pulled from a ’60s sound effects record.

"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!'".