yeah i agree with ash on this one. i think its very easy to take tim's production for granted nowadays for a big reason- he's so defined the sound of hip hop and r&b (not to mention maybe been the most important person in the blending of those two genres from an instrumental point of view) that it may not sound original anymore, because its been imitated and duplicated by so many people. when tim first came out, for people who were into r&b, how many producers did you hear straight up jacking his syncopation? how many producers completely changed their sound to his heavily gated snare right after he dropped ginuwine's first album? as part of my production work this year i'm basically trying to learn from the biggest people in the game, going back and getting their entire catalogs, really studying their stuff, you know? tim is the dude i'm listening to a lot right now and i mean straight up, this guy, at least on the mainstream level, changed the way a lot of producers and listeners thought about rhythm. i'm not saying nobody did syncopation before he dropped, but tim really did change the game when he came out in 95. not to mention, if you're a producer who can effortlessly do the two-three biggest pop singles of the year and still do the most in-demand rap beats around, you're doing something right. i'm not trying to tell anyone who to like, thats personal, im just saying, if you argue tim isnt original, i'd be interested to know who is..