Timbaland says he’s thinking of the bigger picture with his latest venture.
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The legendary producer has joined forces with film producer Rocky Mudaliar and entrepreneur Zayd Portillo to launch Stage Zero, an AI-powered entertainment company that’s pushing boundaries and genres. Their first bold move? Introducing the world to TaTa — a fully autonomous, AI-built music artist who’s being positioned as the face of a new genre: Artificial Pop, or A-pop.
Announced on June 5, Timbaland unveiled TaTa across his social platforms, proudly sharing features from Billboard and Rolling Stone, and captioning one post with, “Thinking BIGGER but still inclusive.” For Timbaland, this isn’t just about innovation — it’s about reshaping the cultural landscape.
“I’m not just producing tracks anymore,” he said. “I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. TaTa is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger.”
Bigger, indeed. Timbaland envisions A-pop as the next evolution in music — a genre born from code, creativity, and the promise of a limitless digital future. With TaTa leading the charge, he’s hoping to ignite a movement.
In an interview with The Inner Court, Timbaland offered a sharp critique of the current state of music. He pointed to societal tensions and political division as factors that have dulled creativity, calling much of today’s output “uninspired.”
“This whole election divided us,” he said. “What I mean by that is it divided the music. The music sounds bland, it sounds boring.”
In contrast, he sees AI not as a threat to artistry, but as its savior. “AI is the only thing that has a pure soul right now,” he continued. “You could create something and express your true feelings and it comes out beautiful.”
Timbaland is no stranger to pushing musical boundaries, but with Stage Zero and TaTa, he’s playing a different game entirely.
