Virginia rapper Magoo dies at age 50

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Sometimes talented people have a way of finding each other. Take the rap duo Timbaland and Magoo.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UP JUMPS DA BOOGIE")

MAGOO: (Rapping) I fiend for all beats like girls jump for tricks.

SUMMERS: Their biggest single was "Up Jumps Da Boogie" in 1997, though their collaboration started long before that.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Melvin Barcliff, or Magoo, and Timothy Mosley, then known as DJ Timmy Tim, met in high school in the area near Virginia Beach, Va.

SUMMERS: Speaking of talent finding each other, as teenagers, their associates in the region included a young Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, soon to be known as the Neptunes, and the multitalented Missy Elliott.

CHANG: Eventually, Timbaland and Magoo found themselves trying to crack into music in New York City. Magoo says he helped convince his longtime friend to form a rap duo together.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MAGOO: Tim wanted to be a producer. I talked him into being an artist not just as a friend, but I always thought Tim was different and special.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LUV 2 LUV U")

TIMBALAND: (Rapping) Dance with me. Yeah. Tango with me.

SUMMERS: That's Magoo speaking to an oral historian for the William & Mary Digital Archive in 2013. Now, Timbaland, of course, went on to become a star producer in hip-hop, R&B and pop music. Magoo made a few more records with his friend but tired of the spotlight and stepped back from the music business.

CHANG: But in 2013, he said that starting from the moment he heard his first rap song at the age of 6 or 7, it would have his attention for the rest of his life.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MAGOO: Rap is actually a communication just like the news in the newspaper, but it's more vivid and more raw and more direct and more true.

SUMMERS: Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff died last weekend, his family confirmed to The New York Times. On Instagram, Timbaland shared a tribute video and wrote, Tim and Magoo forever. Rest easy, my king. Like hip-hop itself, Magoo was 50 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LUV 2 LUV U")

MAGOO: (Singing) Love to love to love you, love you, love you. Ooh. Love to love to love you, love you, love you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.