The-Dream

Biographical accounts of The-Dream's upbringing name Timbaland among the artists he gravitated to in junior high and high school — part of the futurist production lineage that reshaped turn-of-the-2000s R&B into something colder and more rhythmic, a lineage The-Dream himself would later extend.

listen: upstream & heresource: AllMusic — The-Dream biography (junior high/high school influences ↗share

1997

Up Jumps da BoogieTimbaland

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2009

Rockin' That ThangThe-Dream

listen forPercussive, staccato synth stabs and deliberate negative space in the beat — a track built around rhythm and silence as much as melody.

Aaliyah is another of The-Dream's stated formative influences, and the affinity runs deep enough that he recorded his own version of her "One in a Million" in 2010 — a cover that drew backlash from her fans, but underscores how central her hushed, midtempo R&B style was to his musical upbringing.

listen: upstream & heresource: AllMusic — The-Dream biography (junior high/high school influences ↗share

2000

Try AgainAaliyah

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2008

I Luv Your GirlThe-Dream

listen forA cool, understated vocal delivery that never oversings, floating just behind the beat instead of chasing it.

Missy Elliott is cited alongside Timbaland and Aaliyah as one of the artists The-Dream grew up on, part of the same late-'90s futurist R&B/hip-hop axis that shaped his ear for odd, catchy vocal hooks laid over minimal beats.

listen: upstream & heresource: AllMusic — The-Dream biography (junior high/high school influences ↗share

1997

The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)Missy Elliott

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2007

Shawty Is A 10The-Dream

listen forPlayful, almost nursery-rhyme vocal hooks, chopped and repeated over sparse, synthetic drums.