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Tim & Bob

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Tim & Bob
Tim Kelley (left), Bob Robinson (right)
Tim Kelley (left), Bob Robinson (right)
Background information
Also known asTim Kelley & Bob Robinson, Funktwons
OriginPeoria, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Record producers, songwriters
Instrument(s)Piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar, drums (Tim Kelley)
Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, Hammond B3 (Bob Robinson)
Years active1993–2014 (as a duo)
2014–present (as solo artists)
Labels
MembersTim Kelley
Bob Robinson

Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as Funktwons, were an American songwriting and production duo from Peoria, Illinois. The duo has been credited on the Billboard Hot 100 top ten-singles "Thong Song" by Sisqó, "Slow Down" by Bobby V and "They Don't Know" by Jon B., as well as the top 40-singles "So Into You" by Tamia and "Come See Me" by 112. They discovered the latter act in Atlanta during the late 1990s, and have since worked extensively with acts such as Bobby V, Boyz II Men, Donell Jones and Monica to produce one or more of their albums, respectively. They disbanded in 2014 to separately pursue solo work.

Tim & Bob have won three Grammy Awards from 12 nominations.[1][2]

Biography

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Growing up in Peoria, Illinois, Tim was raised on R&B through his father's band. His father was a trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist so Tim learned trumpet, piano, guitar, drums and bass at the age of 10. From elementary school through college, Tim played the trumpet and piano in school band.

Bob played in his church as an organist and piano player from the age of 9, so he brought an understanding of gospel music to the duo. Tim met Bob through a mutual friend at the local mall. The two worked together at Tim's house in the basement, recording music on equipment purchased by Tim's mother. They moved to New Orleans for a year then went to Chicago and Detroit where they established a small production company with a studio.[3]

D.A.R.P. Inc. and other label ventures

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1993–1996

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In Atlanta, Tim & Bob met Dallas Austin who signed them to his company D.A.R.P. and stamped them as "Tim & Bob". The duo began working with artists TLC, Boyz II Men, Madonna, 112 (whom they discovered) and Monica (who they developed).[4] Tim & Bob brought from Detroit their friends Tony Rich and Mario Winans. Tim & Bob won two Grammy Awards, including one in 1995 for Best R&B Album for Boyz II Men's II and one in 1996 for Best R&B Album for TLC's Diamond certified CrazySexyCool. Tim & Bob produced and wrote five songs on the Boyz II Men LP II which eventually became the biggest selling album in history by an R&B group. Upon winning consecutive Best R&B Album Grammy awards, the duo worked on songs for the films Def Jam's How to Be a Player, The Players Club, Poetic Justice, Wild Wild West, and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.[4]

Tim & Bob were frequently brought in by producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work on some of their projects.[4]

Def Jam DreamWorks and Capitol Records

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1997–1999

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Tim & Bob relocated to Los Angeles and signed a publishing deal and a label deal through executive and rock guitarist Robbie Robertson with the now defunct DreamWorks Records, soon scoring a No. 1 hit with Jon B. ("They Don't Know"), and a top 5 hit for Tamia ("So into You"). Tim & Bob were also instrumental in getting the rock group Papa Roach signed to DreamWorks[4] while inking a production deal with Capitol Records. The duo signed Athena Cage from the group Kut Klose and produced a full album of songs, but the project only produced a single for the movie Save The Last Dance.

Thong Song

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In 1999 Tim & Bob produced Sisqó's hit "Thong Song". The single was awarded Song of the Year Hip Hop/Rhythmic at the 2000 Radio Music Awards. It peaked at No. 1 on the New Zealand charts, No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, No. 1 Billboard on Rhythmic top 40 and Rhythmic top 40 Airplay and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.

Tim, Babyface, Bob

2000–2003

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In 2001, Tim & Bob produced Case's "Missing You", which was his only number one song, and Dave Hollister's "Take Care of Home".[4]

In 2003 Tim & Bob worked with the Isley Brothers album project Body Kiss, and with Earth, Wind And Fire on the song "Hold Me" which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Vocal by an r&b group. Both projects were nominated for Grammy Awards.

2004–present

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Tim & Bob discovered Bobby Valentino and produced his self-titled album which spawned the hit songs "Tell Me" and "Slow Down" in early 2005. The latter song was No. 1 for four consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In 2006, Tim & Bob signed a publishing deal with Dimensional Music Publishing and began working on Bobby Valentino's second album Special Occasion, on which they produced six tracks.[5] Subsequent projects include Jennifer Lopez' Platinum certified album Rebirth ("Cherry Pie" and "I, Love"); Brian McKnight's Ten ("Used to Be My Girl", "Unhappy Without You", "Again", "Can't Leave You Alone"); Donell Jones' Journey of a Gemini ("I'm Gonna Be", "Feelin' You", "Can't Wait", "I'm Gonna Be"); Hilary Duff's Dignity ("I Wish"); Nas, Joe, Musiq Soulchild, Ron Isley, Brandy, Tyrese, Amerie, Mýa, Usher, LeToya, Slim of 112, Busta Rhymes, Jamie Foxx ("Life Is Good");[6] The Black Eyed Peas, Bobby Valentino's The Rebirth ("Make You the Only One," "3 Is the New 2," "On The Edge," "You're Not Alone," "Give Me Your Heart," and "Your Smile"); Day 26's Forever in a Day ("Think of Me" and "Reminds Me of You"); and their artists Mahagani and Chico.[4] In 2011, Tim & Bob produced half of Bobby V's project Fly on the Wall and reunited with Boyz II Men to produce four tracks including a remake of "Motown Philly" on their album Twenty.

Key to the city of Peoria, Illinois

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The city of Peoria, Illinois declared November 18, 2011 "Tim & Bob Day" and gave the producers a ceremonial key to the city.

Lottery ticket

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Tim & Bob scored the 2010 film Lottery Ticket.

Breakup

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Tim & Bob quietly split in 2014. According to Tim Kelley, the decision was mutual, as it was over creative differences in the duo's sound. Kelley said "Bob is like my brother, I love him man. I think creatively, everything changed. Times have changed now that everybody has access to all of the technology. He started doing stuff that just wasn't sounding like the Tim & Bob sound. I was doing all of the drum patters and sampling. I'll give you an example, 'Slow Down' by Bobby V is constructed of chopped up samples I put a beat over with Bob playing guitar which created a style I came up with called 'Asian R&B'. Skip up years later Bob started doing production on his own without me present which I urged him too, but the sound was more smooth Jazz where as together we were known to be aggressive with the sound, creative drum samples and minimal chord progressions on uptempos. Me and Bob had a conversation and we decided creatively, he wanted to try it on his own".[7]

After their split, Kelley became President of Urban Music and Head of A&R for record label, SoNo Recording Group, where he signed and produced albums for acts like Brian McKnight, Take 6, Shawn Stockman, Raheem DeVaughn and his longtime collaborator Bobby V.

In 2017, Bob Robinson produced "My Man" for Tamar Braxton.[8] "My Man" debuted at number 29 on the Adult R&B Songs Billboard chart for the week of May 13, 2017, and peaked at number three in August. It remained on the chart for 22 weeks.[2] The track also reached number 21 on the Hot R&B Songs Billboard chart for the week of August 26, 2017.[9] Meanwhile, Kelley has eight songs currently in the top 50 Adult R&B Billboard chart, two in the top 20 with Brian McKnight "When I'm Gone" sitting at number 13 and Raheem DeVaughn's "Just Right" which is currently number 20.

Discography

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Main article: Tim & Bob production discography

Awards and nominations

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Tim and Bob awards and nominations
Totals[a]
Wins36
Nominations33
Note
  1. ^ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

American Music Awards

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The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1996 Boyz ll Men Favorite Soul/R&B Album Won
Favorite Pop/Rock Album Nominated
TLC Favorite Soul/R&B Album Nominated
2001 Sisqo Favorite Soul/R&B Album Nominated
2015 Chris Brown Favorite Soul/R&B Album Nominated
Pitch Perfect 2 Favorite Soundtrack Won


Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards

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The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards are sponsored by Billboard magazine and is held annually in December.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1998 Jon B. Hot R&B Single of the Year Won
1998 Jon B. Hot R&B Single Sales Won
2000 Sisqo R&B/Hip Hop Single of the Year Won
2001 Case R&B/Hip Hop Single of the Year Won
2005 Bobby V R&B/Hip Hop Single of the Year Won

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
1995 Boyz ll Men "II" Favorite CD Won
Favorite R&B CD Won
2001 Joe "My Name Is Joe" Favorite Male Artist R&B CD Won

Broadcast Music Inc. Awards

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Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is one of three United States performing rights organizations that holds a series of annual awards shows.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1993 Get It Up TLC Won
1994 Vibin Boyz ll Men Won
1996 Come See Me 112 Won
1996 Just Be Good To Me Deborah Cox Won
1998 They Don't Know Jon B. Won
1998 So into You Tamia Won
2000 Thong Song Sisqo Won
2001 Take Care of Home Dave Hollister Won
2002 Missing You Case Won
2003 Into You Fabolous Won
2005 Slow Down Bobby V Won
2005 Tell Me Bobby V Won
2006 Used To Be My Girl Brian McKnight Won
2007 I'm Gonna Be Donell Jones Won

Dove Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
2007 Revealed Deitrick Haddon Nominated

Grammy Awards

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The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1994 II Best R&B Album Won
1995 "CrazySexyCool" Best R&B Album Won
1998 "Tamia" Best R&B Album Nominated
2000 "My Name is Joe" Best R&B Album Nominated
2001 "Thong Song" Best R&B Song Nominated
"Thong Song" Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Nominated
"Unleash The Dragon" Best R&B Album Nominated
2002 "Missing You" Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Nominated
2003 "Body Kiss" Best R&B Album Nominated
"Hold Me" Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance Nominated
2014 "Three Kings" Best R&B Album Nominated
2015 "X" Best Urban Contemporary Album Nominated
2017 "This Is Acting" Best Pop Vocal Album Nominated

Juno Awards

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The Juno Awards is a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1996 Deborah Cox Best R&B/Soul Recording Won
1999 Tamia Best R&B/Soul Recording Won

MTV Video Music Awards

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The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2000 Thong Song Best Hip Hop Video Won
Best Dance Video Nominated
Best Viewer's Choice Nominated
2000 Thong Song (Remix Feat. Foxy Brown) Best Video From A Film Nominated

Music of Black Origin Awards

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The Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, established in 1995 by Kanya King MBE and Andy Ruffell, are held annually in the UK to recognise artists of any race or nationality performing black music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1998 They Don't Know Jon B. Nominated
R&B Single Sales Nominated
2000 Thong Song Best Video Nominated

NAACP Image Awards

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The NAACP Image Awards is an award presented annually by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2001 Joe/ My Name Is Joe Outstanding Music Album Nominated
2002 Tyrese/ 2000 Watts Outstanding Hip Hop Artist Nominated

Radio Music Awards

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The Radio Music Awards was an annual U.S. award show that honors the year's most successful songs on mainstream radio.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2000 Thong Song Hip Hop/ Rhythmic Song of the Year Won

Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards

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The Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards, first airing in 1995, celebrated top achievements by female performers.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1996 CrazySexyCool Best R&B/Soul Album of The Year Won
1998 Destiny's Child Best R&B/Soul Album of The Year Won

Soul Train Music Awards

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The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual award show which previously aired in national television syndication that honors the best in Black music and entertainment.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1995 ll Best R&B/Soul Album Won
1997 CrazySexyCool Best R&B/Soul Album Won
1998 They Don't Know Best Male Single Nominated
2000 J.E. Heartbreak Best R&B Album Group, Band or Duo Won
2001 Part lll Best R&B/Soul Album Nominated
Unleash The Dragon Favorite Male R&B/Soul Album Nominated
2003 Body Kiss Best R&B Album Nominated
Body Kiss Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo Nominated
2006 Slow Down Best R&B Soul Single Nominated
2015 Black Rose Album Of The Year Nominated
X Album Of The Year Nominated

Equipment Used

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  • NeKo LX (Gen3)[10]
  • Akai Pro MPC Series / MPC X[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Tim & Bob". About TIM AND BOB. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Search Results". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017.
  3. ^ "Tim and Bob". BMI Music World. August 31, 2000. Retrieved October 1, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Tim & Bob". Open Labs. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  5. ^ "Tim & Bob SIGN Publishing Deal". Dimensional Music Publishing. June 21, 2006. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  6. ^ "Tim & Bob". myspace music. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  7. ^ "Tim Kelley Interview: Tim & Bob Production Origins, Finding 112, Work With Bobby V, New Label". youknowigotsoul.com. You Know I Got Soul. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  8. ^ Blanford, Roxanne (March 21, 2000). ""Tamar" – Allmusic review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017.
  9. ^ "Billboard R&B Songs Chart August 26, 2017". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017.
  10. ^ "Tim & Bob". Open Labs. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
  11. ^ "AkaiPro StandaloneChallenge: Tim Kelley". AkaiPro. May 31, 2017. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
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