Dr. Dre has celebrated fellow producer Timbaland as one of his biggest inspirations.
Appearing on stage at the Iovine and Young Center for High School Education Benefit Auction hosted by Sotheby’s on Tuesday (February 27), Dre paid tribute to the producer behind classic hits such as JAY-Z‘s “Big Pimpin,’” Ginuwine‘s “Pony” and Missy Elliott‘s “Work It.”
Standing side by side with Timbaland on a stage, the Aftermath founder said: “This guy is so fantastic, man. One of my inspirations. He doesn’t know it but he’s been one of my main inspirations throughout my career.
“Can you believe the amount of songs this muthafucka has recorded? I was just back here talking to James Corden and he was like, ‘Listen, I didn’t know he produced that.’”
He added: “I really appreciate you coming out and handling this business for us. Thank you, Timbaland. One of the best ever. Point blank. Period.”
Timbaland posted the clip on his own Instagram page along with the caption: “Man this moment rite here is everything to me !!!! If anybody know me @drdre is my hero !!!!!! What a night!!!”
The two were then joined on stage by Jimmy Iovine as the trio posed for photographs.
Timbaland has previously made it known that the feeling is mutual.
Last year, the Virginia-bred hitmaker shared a photograph of himself on Instagram with Dr.Dre, crowning him not only his favorite producer but the greatest of all time.
“My favorite producer,” Timbo wrote in the caption. “some one I always look up too!!!!! @drdre the greatest to ever do it!!!!!!”
Fellow beat veteran Erick Sermon recently detailed working with Dre in the studio and credited him with changing his approach to making music.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Sermon recalled pulling out his pad and pen and beginning to write rhymes, until one of Dre’s songwriters told him: “We don’t do that here.”
“Dre would say the cadence and then we would all say a rhyme, and then if the rhyme sounds good, then we put that down. So there’s no writing; it’s just 16 bars of whatever your freestyle may be,” he explained.
“The process was something I had never seen before in my life and had never experienced in my life getting produced by somebody. It makes you not want to [write rhymes] no more.”
