By Mesfin Fekadu, Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Timbaland, the executive music producer of the hit series "Empire," says he has completed his upcoming album and will use television as a platform for the new music.
"Yes, it's done. I'm doing a TV show with that," he said in a recent interview. "I'm not going to talk about it. I'm going to leave it at that."
The megaproducer behind hits for Justin Timberlake, Jay Z and Missy Elliott wouldn't elaborate on details behind his new album, which doesn't have a release date.
On "Empire," Timbaland has had success with the addictive, beat-laden songs, which has helped drive the show's powerhouse ratings. "Empire: Original Soundtrack From Season 1" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and forced Madonna to debut at No. 2 earlier this year.
Timbaland, 42, has also produced hits for Aaliyah, Beyonce and Nelly Furtado. He says TV and social media are the best ways to get music heard.
"I told people this, 'This is how you get your records played and broken' — 'cause we love to watch. You watch your phone all day. You look at Instagram, you look at Snapchat, so what is your psyche telling you? Watch,'" he said. "So if I give you something to hear, somebody can grab your attention span. So if I give you something to watch with some great music, what you going to do? You gonna be like, 'That song dope' because of that picture you are watching."
"Empire" premieres its second season on Sept. 23 on Fox. Timbaland said viewers can expect "more drama, more scratching your head, more banging your head."
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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