Timbaland & Magoo

Norfolk partners

Timbaland & Magoo formed in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1989. The pair were Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley, then a local DJ, and Melvin “Magoo” Barcliff, a rapper born in 1973 whose high, playful delivery became the duo's trademark. As teenagers they worked together in the Tidewater area, and Missy Elliott, whose group Sista had signed with DeVante Swing's Swing Mob, brought them to New York, where the label's Da Bassment crew was based. Magoo later appeared as a guest on Elliott's 1997 debut “Supa Dupa Fly.”

Welcome to Our World

The duo signed with Blackground Records, an imprint distributed through Atlantic. “Up Jumps da Boogie,” released in July 1997 with Missy Elliott and Aaliyah, reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, and was certified gold. Its chorus interpolates Heatwave's 1977 hit “Boogie Nights.” The album “Welcome to Our World” followed on November 11, 1997, reached No. 33 on the Billboard 200 and No. 9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and was certified platinum in May 1998. “Clock Strikes” reached No. 37 on the Hot 100 in 1998, and “Luv 2 Luv U” was issued as a promotional single.

Later albums

Timbaland's production career grew quickly after 1997, and the duo's releases came between his outside projects. “Indecent Proposal,” released November 20, 2001, reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200. “Under Construction, Part II” followed on November 18, 2003, and reached No. 50; its single “Cop That Sh*t” reached No. 95 on the Hot 100 and No. 49 on the R&B chart. The duo was last active as a recording act in 2007.

Magoo's death and legacy

Magoo died of a heart attack on August 13, 2023, at the age of 50, and his funeral was held in Portsmouth, Virginia, on September 6, 2023. The duo's records captured the same Tidewater sound Timbaland was building for Elliott, Aaliyah and Ginuwine, with Magoo's voice acting as a light counterweight to the heavy, stop-start drum programming. “Up Jumps da Boogie” remains their best-known song and one of the defining collaborations of the Swing Mob and Blackground circle.