Rewind: When Timbaland Once Called Scott Storch ‘A Piano Man’
Timbaland and Scott Storch are arguably two of the most influential producers in hip-hop. They were also good friends until the two collaborated on Justin Timberlake’s 2002 pop ballad, "Cry Me River." That's when things fell apart.
According to the production credits, the hit-making pair co-wrote the song, but Timbaland is listed as the sole producer. This didn't sit well with Storch who felt that he should have been given a co-producer credit since he created the bridge and the melody on the song.
In a 2003 interview with The Source magazine, the Philadelphia-born producer was angry at Timberlake for not acknowledging him as a producer on the song during his acceptance speech at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards after "Cry Me a River" won Best Pop Video.
"Justin went up there and acted like me and Timbaland didn’t both equally create that song just so that he could seem cooler and more down," said Storch (via Pop Dirt). "But that’s okay, he’ll never get another Scott Storch track. When you tell people that you did something on a record, and then you don’t get the public credit, folks start to question your credibility. What else do I have to do? I’ve been making music for ten years.”
Timbaland must have heard Storch’s gripes, so he decided to throw a jab at him on his 2007 single “Give It To Me” featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake.
"I'm respected from Californ-I-A, way down to Japan / I'm a real producer and you just a piano man / Your songs don't top the charts, I heard 'em, I'm not a fa-a-an," he rhymed.
Watch Timbaland's "Give It To Me" Feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake
Scott clapped back with an awful diss song called "Built Like That" where he accused Timbaland of taking steroids and name checks his longtime collaborator Danja.
"I'm the piano man (yes), the piano man / Few hundred million and I'm headed for a billion / You's a steroid man, so pathetic man / I coulda played you but I tried to be the better man," he rapped on the song, adding, "Ya boy Danja gotta hate you with a passion, man / He makes the hits while you takin' all the credit, damn."
In a 2007 MTV interview, Storch explained why he had to retaliate against Timbo. "I just felt like enough was enough," he said. "I heard ['Give It to Me'], and I knew it was about me. People were calling me saying, 'This dude is taking shots at you,' then interviews popped up. So enough was enough."
"I needed to defend myself like a man is supposed to do," he continued. "But I just had to speak up. I'm not a rapper, but I wasn't about to have somebody else fight my battle for me."
Watch Scott Storch's "Built Like That" Feat. Nox (Timbaland Diss)
Thankfully, their feud didn't go further after that. In an interview with DJ Whoo Kid, Timbaland said he didn't have time to argue with someone who he actually helped get into the music business.
"I can’t beef with a guy, we had a serious friendship," he said (via SOHH.com). "He worked with me for years, after he stopped working with [Dr. Dre], he started working with me. And the dude is hot, the boy is hot."
"You know what it is, his crew and everybody getting to him got to him," he continued. "I’ma bigger person and I told Scott sometimes he’s weak. And everybody’s getting in his ear blah, blah blah...and it’s not even like that. Scott has gone through a lot of pain."
"You gotta be patient [with the industry hate] because you can’t feed into it," he added. "I’m 30-something years old, freak I look like feeding into somebody whose 20-something years old?"
Beefs aside, Storch said that he doesn't harbor any ill will towards the veteran hitmaker. "I'm not taking away the fact that Timbaland has had a lot of hits and done some fly s--- in his career," he said. "Just keep my name out your mouth, and I'll do the same."
Since their feud, the two hitmakers have enjoyed plenty of success producing hit songs for multiple rap and R&B acts. However, Storch fell on hard times due to his habitual coke habit and burned through his $100 million fortune. Recently, Storch dropped a documentary about his ups and downs in the music industry called Still Storch.
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