In an interview with MTV News, Timbaland has stated that both he and Missy Elliott have new albums on the way, and that both will be released in June.
"Right now, we’re preparing to get both our videos, our first singles, shot kinda at the same time," he said. "We want to do it as a movement and spontaneously."
Neither of the two artists, both of whom were boundary-pushing forces in hip-hp and R’n’B during the nineties and the early part of last decade, have released any new solo material for several years. The last Timbaland full-length was 2009’s Shock Value II, which received a mixed critical response upon its release. It’s been even longer for Elliott – her last solo album, The Cookbook was released in 2005. Both have nonetheless remained active behind the scenes, as well as making the odd guest appearance on others’ records.
Maintaining the connection between the two records, Timbaland continued, is paramount to them both – the main reason for planning to release them simultaneously. "I just don’t want to move too ahead of her and she don’t want to move too ahead of me. So we’re both doing it at the same time."