Timbaland has been teasing his new album Opera Noir for several months now and it looks like the delay has been due to plans of releasing a musical along with it.
It has been revealed today that the super producer has struck a deal with Leftfield Pictures to develop his upcoming album Opera Noir into a musical. It will be a scripted hip-hop musical based on his upcoming autobiographical album of the same name which will also be his final release.
“I couldn’t have found a better partner than Leftfield Pictures and David George for ‘Opera Noir. They understand my vision for this project, which I’ve had for years, and I’m confident they will help bring this to life for everyone to see,” said Timbaland.
According to Variety, Opera Noir will follow the journey of a young musician’s rise to the top and hardships along the way, including struggles with poverty, substance abuse and crime. Timbo will serve as the executive producer on the project.
There has been much confusion whether Timbo’s next album is Opera Noir or Textbook Timbo. It looks like the former is the official, final studio album while Textbook Timbo will be a warm up project or a mixtape he will drop before it. Back in 2014, the producer claimed that Opera Noir will hardly have any features and will be his own Purple Rain but last year, it was revealed that Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and more will make appearances.