Timbaland Reflects on His Chris Cornell Collaboration 'Scream', 10 Years Later - Artist Waves

One of most unique records of the past decade

March 10, 2009: Chris Cornell officially releases his third solo record, Scream, where he teamed with renowned hip hop producer, Timbaland.

Those that truly understood Scream were rewarded by listening to the record from font to back – as an entire body of work where one song’s end was the start of the next. The record contained five singles in “Long Gone”, “Watch Out”, “Ground Zero”, “Scream” and “Part of Me”.

Scream offered a new challenge for both Cornell and Timbaland – progressing their respective styles to create a unique blend of hip hop and pop, with a rhythmic rock voice over the top.

Timbaland credits Soundgarden and hearing Cornell’s “You Know My Name” from the James Bond film, Casino Royale, as key moments that sparked his amazement with Cornell’s voice, while Cornell expressed admiration for Timbaland’s work with Missy Elliott and how free it was in terms of making music out of anything.

Album facts include:

Timbaland and Cornell wrote and recorded 20 songs over the course of five weeks
Scream was recorded at The Hit Factory studio in Miami, FL
The record debuted in the U.S at number 10 on the Billboard 200
There’s a secret song called “Two Drink Minimum” after the closing track 13 “Watch Out”. This was performed by Miley Cyrus at the recent I Am The Highway Tribute, and also featured on Cornell’s Songbook acoustic record, appearing as “As Hope and Promise Fade”
Cornell embarked on an extensive Scream world tour from February to July of 2009

To honor the 10^th anniversary, we had the privilege of catching up with Timbaland to reflect upon what Scream means to him today.

Timbaland:

“I loved working on Scream with Chris. He is on the list as one of my favorite collaborators. When Chris walked into the studio and I heard his lyrics, I knew we were going to make something special.

I loved his voice. It was an honor to create Scream and blend his sound with my sound.”

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