A four-hour deadline, a Willy Wonka rhythm and the baby sample on “Are You That Somebody?”
Timbaland and Static Major wrote Aaliyah's Dr. Dolittle single against an 8am deadline. Its baby coo came from an Elektra sound-effects LP released in 1964.
Aaliyah recorded "Are You That Somebody?" for the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack with a master due at 8am. Red Bull Music Academy's account places the session at The Village Studio in West Los Angeles, beginning around 4am, with Timbaland and Stephen "Static Major" Garrett working alongside her.
Timbaland and Static Major wrote the song, and Timbaland produced it. Timbaland said Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah's manager and uncle, called him after a show with the assignment and a $400,000 fee already agreed. According to his account, the finished master reached radio later that morning.
The rhythm came from Willy Wonka
At the 2023 Pop Conference, Timbaland demonstrated the rhythm he had taken from the "Oompa Loompa" song in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He said he had tried to turn that rhythm into a hip-hop beat. He also identified a single guitar chord from the Meters as a source for one of the track's central melodic figures.
The percussion, clipped guitar and abrupt gaps leave room for Aaliyah's phrasing and Static Major's backing vocal. Timbaland also delivers the guest rap.
“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.”
— Timbaland, 2023 Pop Conference, as reported by Pitchfork
The baby was on a sound-effects record
Timbaland found the coo while searching through his sound effects. He said it happened to be in key when he tried it against the beat, prompting Aaliyah to respond, "Oh that's so cute!"
Journalist Jeremy D. Larson traced the sound to "Happy Baby" on Elektra's Authentic Sound Effects Volume 8, released in 1964. Perrey and Kingsley had used it on "Countdown at 6" in 1966, and Prince later used it on "Delirious". Elektra founder Jac Holzman and engineer Michael Scott Goldbaum could not identify the child when Larson investigated in 2016. The voice was not Aaliyah as a baby.
- Song
- Are You That Somebody?
- Writers
- Timbaland · Static Major
- Producer
- Timbaland
- Soundtrack
- Dr. Dolittle · 1998
- Sample source
- "Happy Baby" · Authentic Sound Effects Volume 8 (1964)
- Hot 100 peak
- No. 21 · chart dated December 5, 1998
The chart rules changed during its run
The single was sent to US urban radio on May 26, 1998. Because it was not available as a commercial retail single in the US, it initially could not enter the Hot 100. It nevertheless topped R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for eight weeks and reached No. 1 on Rhythmic.
Billboard admitted airplay-only songs to the Hot 100 with the chart dated December 5, 1998. "Are You That Somebody?" entered and peaked at No. 21 that week. It also reached No. 11 in the UK and No. 1 in New Zealand.
The song earned Aaliyah a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1999 ceremony. The RIAA certified it Gold on August 14, 2023.
