More Lobster and Scrimps?

vh1.com is reporting that Timbaland has agreed to produce Jay-Z's next album in its entirety, something Tim hasn't done for a Hiphop artist since maybe Bubba Sparxxx or Petey Pablo.

Tim couldn't hold back his excitement about the project:

"I'mma make it a classic too. You better believe it. It'll be a monster! I always say this: You get a first single from me, I'mma get you up to gold."

"We wanna go to the world," he added. "The world is 'Big Pimpin'.' 'Big Pimpin' ' is an international hit, so we wanna do 10 of those. Meaning, some of the songs gonna sound like M.I.A. would rap on some of the beats. You gonna be like, 'Whoa!' But it's Jay on 'em. That means it reaches everywhere. I'mma have songs with bagpipes. The music is gonna be so worldwide, he'll be able to tour the rest of his life, maybe, off just this one album. The Jay-Z album is gonna be phenomenal. You know why? We don't care. We're doing great music just to do it. We doing it for our fans who love us to say we ain't quit. I'm doing it 'cause that's my homeboy."

Given the track record of their collaborations, especially on Jay's masterful Vol. 3 album, this could be a great album.

But I have some reservations about the finished product considering the international pop feel of Tim's recent music. Jay already lost some of his fans with his "mature" approach to his Kingdom Come album. And since we already know Tim deliberately targets a pop audience when creating music, it will be interesting to see what the results are.

Long gone are the days of beats like "Big Pimpin," the "Snoopy Track," and probably even "Dirt Off My Shoulders". They have been replaced by down-tempo collabos with R&B and rock stars, which attract millions in sales, but if Jay is targeting his core fans (i.e. the streets) Tim is gonna have to come with something a bit harder. Pause.

I'm sure I'll like the album and appreciate it musically but we'll have to wait and see how the streets accept it. I thought Jay would have learned from his Beach Chair days from Kingdom Come, so we'll see what happens.

The Neptunes should have done this for Jay years ago but after hearing the American Gangster album I think the once-incredible chemistry they shared is long gone. Hopefully Jay and Tim still have theirs.

I won't front too hard, though, because Tim's song "Laff At Em" was real tough and Jay's verse was crazy.