Artist
Tim Kelley
Tim Kelley one half of the producer duo Tim & Bob,
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. They worked with George Clinton's backing vocalist Paul Hill to perfect demo recordings intended for
producer Dallas Austin in Atlanta.
Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as
Funktwons, are Grammy Award-winning songwriting
musicians and a Hip-hop/R&B production duo. Tim & Bob
have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists
in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta
music scene as it is widely known for today. They have won
three Grammy Awards amongst twelve nominations and have
sold more than 400 million albums worldwide making them
one of the most successful producer duos in music history.
They are among the most consistent urban producers in the
last 18 years, earning a spot on Billboard's top ten list of
producers almost every year since 1998.
D.A.R.P. Inc. and Other Label Ventures:
1993–1996
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 ( which they developed). 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.
Tim & Bob were frequently brought in by producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work on some of their
projects.
DreamWorks and Capitol Records:
1997–1999
Tim & Bob relocated to Los Angeles and signed a publishing deal and a label deal thru 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[3] 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
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.
2000–2003
In 2001, Tim & Bob produced Case's "Missing You", and Dave Hollister's "Take Care of Home".
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
Tim & Bob discovered Bobby Valentino 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.
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"); 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.
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.
Tim Kelley: "What I love about Rob’s presets in every VST is you don’t have to tweak em..they’re already EQ’d to perfection and the pads are smooth and thick to fattened up your track, don’t do a track without em!!
