Timbaland likes to take musical risks

The producer and singer, who has worked with Katy Perry, Missy Elliott and Nelly Furtado, admits he takes inspiration from all over the world.

He said: "I'm definitely a risk taker with my music. I like to challenge the new sounds.

"If I can challenge whatever's out there, then I'm good.

"My style is to take something unexpected and make it into a hit. That's what I do. I have ideas whirring around my head all the time.

"I listen to a lot of weird music. I go to India, yeah. I know Indian people. I know somebody in every culture. I go overseas and gather my sound."

The 38-year-old Grammy Award winner - real name Timothy Zachary Mosley - also claims to have taken inspiration from the Black Eyed Peas song 'I Gotta Feeling' for his track with Katy Perry, 'If We Ever Meet Again'.

Discussing the auto-tuned vocals, he told Culture magazine: "I'm not trying to be the best singer, and I like that it's not perfect.

"I really wanted a song like 'I Gotta Feeling' that would give people that same great feeling when they heard it."

He also suggests that retirement may not be far off.

He said: "I'm not trying to work too much longer. I'm trying to relax and enjoy my old age."