If you ever need some creative inspiration, take a look at some videos of Timbaland in the studio in his prime, around the early to mid-2000s. You'll see Timbo smiling knowingly as he plays new material to some of the biggest rap & R&B stars of all time, all of whom appear to display a similar range of emotions – confusion, astonishment, befuddled laughter. This is testament to the Virginia producer's utterly genre shifting approach to the rhythm and texture of beat-making. No one sounded like him before, and the many who have imitated rarely reach his level. This In Focus is selected by Antonine Scali.