Unlike its predecessor, it expands beyond hip hop and R&B to include collaborations with alternative rock acts Chad Kroeger, Jet, the Fray and Daughtry, as well as pop artists Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, JoJo, Melody Thornton, and Esthero.
[5][6] Timbaland spoke to MTV's Shaheem Reid back in July 2008 to confirm that he was working on the follow-up to his platinum-selling Shock Value.
Timbaland also told Invasion Radio in October 2009 that he had used PSP application Beaterator to produce some of the beats for Shock Value II as well as Jay Z's last album.
This is an album that can be listened to from start to finish every single time because each song is so unique and the range of artists so diverse.
The song "Maniac"[10] was set to appear on the album with features vocals from Keri Hilson and Chris Brown; however, in November 2009, during an interview with E!
[12] A new incarnation of the song does appear on the album titled "The One I Love", still featuring Hilson's vocals, but this time alongside D.O.E.
[10] Other similarly themed recordings come in the form of American rockband Daughtry on the song "Long Way Down",[10] The Fray on "Undertow" also featuring Canadian songwriter Esthero, with Australian rockband Jet on "Timothy (Where Have You Been)" and with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger for the song "Tomorrow in the Bottle"[10] with a verse from rapper Sebastian.
Billboard Magazine reported on several other artists who collaborated for the album (Paramore, Gucci Mane, and All-American Rejects) whose songs do not appear on the final track listing.
[19] Several other Timbaland recordings received media attention and were reported on the internet but not included in the final track listing.
Then Rap-Up magazine confirmed that the album would be released as part of Super Monday, November 23, 2009 in both the US and UK with the US also receiving a 2-disc deluxe edition.
Then he appeared with Nelly Furtado and SoShy for the first fully featured live performance of the song at the American Music Awards (2009) on November 22, 2009.
[36] Andy Kellman of AllMusic said "Timbaland does not stock Shock Value II with quite as many guests, and performs a higher percentage of the vocals, and what results is less schizophrenic and more directly pop than its antecedent.
"[34] David Balls of Digital Spy agreed saying that "Timbaland dips into his usual bag of production tricks here and many of the supporting cast dutifully return, but never does this quite reach the same excitement levels as its predecessor.
[...] He now seems to be lagging behind rivals like David Guetta and will.iam when it comes to driving the urban pop genre forward"[44] Jon Pareles from The New York Times added "The productions flaunt Timbaland trademarks: vocal sounds imitating turntable scratching, quick keyboard arabesques, grunts as percussion.
"[38] Slant magazine's Jesse Cataldo who said "Shock Value II is a vanity project, the kind of bonus fluff that you can get away with releasing when you're as famous and respected as Timbaland.
The tendency here, whether intentional or not, is to surround himself with mediocre talent rather than the titans who he helped make superstars [...] The overall laziness of that facet is even more inexcusable coming from one of the most renowned producers of the last decade.".
[42] The most positive review comes from USA Today, Steve Jones says "He misses occasionally on this 17-track opus, but he's mainly on target with his jolts to the eardrums.
"[43] However, August Brown of the Los Angeles Times was slightly less critical, stating that, "many of the same vices that plagued the first installment of Shock Value keep the second edition sodden as well: Tim's precise, micromanaged beats usually outshine his random collection of vocal collaborators."
"[37] The editor from Entertainment Weekly said on the December 11 issue (page 115), "So far, so predictable—at least until "Tomorrow In The Bottle," which features Chad Kroeger of Nickelback.