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The 20 Best Timbaland Beats - Justin Timberlake is back in the spotlight with his acclaimed new album, The 20/20 Experience. The disc, his first in six years, dropped last Tuesday and is expected to sell nearly a million records, easily landing him yet another No. 1. But he didn't do it alone: The album is produced by long-time collaborator Timbaland, who laced JT with lush, futuristic-soul beats. Not that we should expect anything less — Timbaland is one of the most important hip hop, R&B and pop producers of the past quarter-century. Here, in honor of his big win with Justin, we sift through Timbaland's seemingly endless catalog of hits and list his 20 best beats. —Alex Gale (Photo: Jerritt Clark/FilmMagic)

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"Big Pimpin'," Jay-Z feat. UGK - On this 2000 classic, Timbo chopped up an Egyptian flute sample and somehow gave it a bouncy swagger perfect for the pimp stroll. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for BWR Public Relations)

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"Try Again," Aaliyah - Thirteen years after this song appeared on the soundtrack for Aaliyah’s film Romeo Must Die, its dizzying synth bass line is as mind-bogglingly dope as ever. (Photo:  Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)

Photo By Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images

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"My Love," Justin Timberlake feat. T.I. - Timbaland and Timberlake’s best collabo, this song still sounds like the future six years later, with its stuttering, shimmering synth bursts and undeniable bounce. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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"Get Ur Freak On," Missy Elliott - Timbaland, who’d hinted at Eastern influences before, went full-throttle Subcontinent with the bhangra bounce of this 2001 smash, the apex of his musical partnership with Missy. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

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"Raise Up," Petey Pablo - Always searching for new sounds, Timbaland flipped an ice-grill-worthy fiddle sample to give Petey Pablo his career moment by far. (Photo: BET)

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"N---a What, N---a Who (Originator 99)," Jay-Z - Sometimes Timbaland’s beats are brimming with left-field sounds, but this banger wins because of its ice-cold sparseness, propelled by some of the hardest drums of his career — and one of Jay-Z's best beats. (Photo: RocNation)

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"Ugly," Bubba Sparxxx - Timbo laced then-newcomer Bubba with one of his most frenetic beats ever on this 2001 standout, which even made the rapper’s signature short-sleeved, striped polo shirts look cool. (Photo: Scott Gries/PictureGroup)

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"Potion," Ludacris - People forget: Luda and Mr. Mosley had some serious heat. “Roll Out” was dope, but this beat is simply delirious, with rolling percussion and woozy sine waves that are unmistakably Timbo. (Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images For BET)

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"Are You That Somebody?" Aaliyah - With his trademark beat-box effects, a funky guitar line, baby coos and those unmistakable choppy drums, Timbo helped Aaliyah create one of the ’90s R&B's most innovative, unforgettable songs. (Photos from left:  Evan Agostini/Getty Images For YouthAIDS, Rose Prouser REUTERS /Landov)

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Memphis Bleek, "Is That Your Chick?" feat. Jay-Z and Missy Elliott - Being Jay-Z's protege has its advantages. On this 2000 single, Timbaland laced Memphis Bleek with a furious orchestral beat, punctuated by string flourishes, guitar skanks and some of his most frenetic drums yet. (Photo: Def Jam Recordings)

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Aaliyah, "One in a Million" - The title track from Aaliyah's double-platinum sophomore album was more than just a successful step forward from her R. Kelly days. With its ethereal wah-wah guitars, quirky cricket samples and stuttering, drum and bass influenced drums that jumped from half-time to double-time, this was a quantum leap forward for R&B (and Timbaland's career). (Photos from left: Atlantic Records,Amy Graves/WireImage)

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Ginuwine, "Pony" - The 1996 debut single from Ginuwine featured a vocoder bass line and a sexy Southern-inflected bounce that didn't sound like anything else out. Coupled with Timbo's work with Aaliyah around the same time, this record shook up the sound of R&B for years to come. (Photos from left: Amy Graves/WireImage, Amy Graves/WireImage)

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Justin Timberlake, "Cry Me a River" - Timbaland and Justin's first hit together, "Cry Me a River," sparked a dispute with Scott Storch, who was credited with co-writing the song but claims he co-produced it as well. While we don't know what really happened in the studio when this 2002 classic came together, it's pretty easy to hear who's vision came out on top — the beat-boxing, jerky percussion and winking vocal sound effects are classic Timbo. (Photo: Candice Lawler)

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Aaliyah, "More Than a Woman" - Timbaland and Aaliyah did it again with this single from her self-titled 2001 album, with an electric guitar melody bridging the gap between his science-fiction synth bass lines and her classic soul sultriness. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Tribal Brands)

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Aaliyah, "We Need a Resolution" - Aaliyah and Timbaland kept it in their wheelhouse on this sexy 2001 single — why mess with a good thing? The snake-charming synth melody that drives the song is the perfect foil for Baby Girl's slinky, understated melodies. (Photo: PA Photos /Landov)

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Jay-Z, "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)" - A masterpiece of negative space, Tim blessed this slept-on Hov heater with analog hand-claps, a simple bass line and drunken tremolo guitars. (Photos from left: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, John Parra/FilmMagic)

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The Lox, "Ryde or Die, Chick" - Timbaland stretched his sonics for this 1999 single, one of the Lox's most successful, by making a strumming guitar the centerpiece instead of his usual futuristic synths. The result is one of his warmest, most melodic, organic-sounding beats.(Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ)

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Jay-Z, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" - If you saw Jay-Z's Fade to Black documentary, which showed the studio session where this classic came together, you'll never forget the goofy grimaces that Timbaland made while playing this beat for Hov. Hilarious, yes, but you can't blame him — this beat, even though it's one of his simplest, has a smirking, triumphant swagger that can't be denied. (Photos from left: Darla Khazei/ Pacificcoastnews.com, Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images)

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Missy Elliott, "Work It" - Even more than six years after they began their sonic revolution by producing and writing for Ginuwine and Aaliyah, Timbaland and Missy still found ways to blow our minds. This 2002 smash expertly blended classic old-school rap samples with Tim's next-millennium synths and hilarious sound effects, and somehow had everyone singing along to Missy talking backwards. (Photos from left: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images, Candice Lawler)

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"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," Missy Elliott - The song that started it all. Not really — Timbaland’s first production credits came with Jodeci in 1993 — but this song truly brought his other-worldly beats front and center, thanks to a healthy assist from Missy’s kooky non sequiturs, the perfect foil. (Photo:  Landis/PictureGroup)