DJ Khaled Presents Timbaland With Variety’s Music Pioneer Award

DJ Khaled presented Timbaland with the Music Pioneer Award at Variety‘s Miami Entertainment Town event, last week. In doing so, the GOD DID producer spoke about Timbaland “breaking the doors” down him and other artists.

“He broke down doors for brothers like me to do what I’m doing today,” Khaled said at the podium. “Because I look at Timbaland, not just as a producer, but he’s an artist. He’s a CEO, he’s an amazing father. Timbaland is what you call the definition of being timeless. His music will play forever.”

DJ Khaled With Timbaland In Miami

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 13: DJ Khaled and Timbaland are seen onstage during Variety’s Miami Entertainment Town Brunch Presented By CN Bank on April 13, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/Variety via Getty Images)

From there, Khaled thanked Timbaland for being a friend: “Thank you for breaking the doors down. Thank you for being my friend and always blessing me. Every time I call Timbo, he always says yes. It’s never no. I ask him to come to my house — every album I’ve made, probably like my last four albums, I would call Timbaland. He be one of the first people that I wanna play for, just to see his reaction.”

After thanking Khaled and taking the podium for himself, Timbaland quickly gave a shoutout to Missy Elliott. “I really wish my sister was here, Missy [Elliott] because this is why I’m in this beautiful city. It was because of her. And I made a lot of hit records here,” he said. Timbaland then spoke about the city of Miami in particular. “So Miami has always been my home. And to get this award at my home, man, it’s such a blessing,” he said. “[I’m in Miami] because of Missy Elliott, people like DJ Khaled, E-Class, who welcomed me. Trina. All these people welcomed me here and I never left here. And I don’t plan of leaving here.”

The award comes for Timbaland as he prepares to release a new album with his longtime collaborator, Justin Timberlake. While he didn’t provide an official release date, Timbaland did describe the project as a return to “fun Justin” and compared it to their classic effort, FutureSex/LoveSounds.

DJ Khaled Praising Timbaland

[Via]