Timbaland vs. Timberland

We sing a song every day in my class. The new song comes out on Monday and we translate it. A couple weeks ago we sang "Pobre Diabla" by Don Omar. At one point he says, "Eliel" and my students wanted to know what that was. I didn't know at the time so I guessed that I thought it might be his producer. They looked at me funny so I gave them the example of how Missy Elliott talks about Timbaland in her songs. They all burst out laughing. I couldn't tell what they were laughing about - is it because I'm 30? I'm their teacher and shouldn't know anything about Missy Elliott? Two students (probably laughing harder than anyone) got pretty indignant and said, "Missy Elliott raps about shoes? I don't think so!"

We spent a little time in class fighting about shoes and producers. We checked on-line and got a few pages but nothing difinitive. One page was an interview in which Missy said she and Timbaland make great beats and the student said, "See! Look - she's talking about dancing in her Timberland shoes!"

I said that I'd bring proof the next day. My husband found three songs in which Missy Elliott refers to Timbaland and I found an article about him on allmusic.com. We had some good fun the next day teasing each other about the shoes and the producer. I mentioned that Timbaland also produced Big Pimpin'. The students laughed even harder than the day before and requested that I sing a little bit of that song.

I don't think the situation translates too well because I'm not the best writer, but this was probably the most fun I have ever had in a classroom. And, for those of you anxious to know - "Eliel" is Don Omar's DJ.