Timbaland reveals ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ inspiration for Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody”
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on May 1, 2023
Timbaland pulled from different sounds when he produced Aaliyah‘s 1998 song “Are You That Somebody.” Speaking on a panel for the 2023 Pop Conference at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, he revealed that one of those sounds was “Oompa Loompa” from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
“I actually was trying to make the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory beat from the ‘Oompa Loompa’ song,” he said. He then sung the hook, noting, “I took that rhythm and I listened back to it and I was like, ‘Man. That’s a dope addition.’ That’s what I was trying to attempt, but in a hip-hop way.”
“I gotta thank Willy Wonka for that,” the producer went on.
The song, he added, also includes a sample of a single guitar chart from The Meters and the baby noise he found on a 1960s sound effects records.
“So I was going through my effects sounds, and I heard this baby. Was it a baby, was it a chicken, there was a cow, there was Godzilla, this whole row. And this baby came across, and it was laughing, and that wasn’t the whole thing,” he said, per Pitchfork. “It was like [imitates four consecutive baby giggles]. I got to that one part, and as soon as the beat came on, I just hit the button. I didn’t think it was gonna work. I was talking to Aaliyah from where she was sitting on the couch, and I just hit the button and it was in key. Everything was perfect. I put it in the song and she said, ‘Oh that’s so cute!'”
Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” appeared on the soundtrack for Dr. Dolittle.
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