Nas has chosen Hero as the lead single from his new album, Untitled. And for the ride, he’s bringing along Timbaland’s chum, Keri Hilson.

Initially hollering like Busta Rhymes with a sore throat, Nas immediately slips into a smooth but bland verse. Sounds a lot like old-fashioned homie posturing rather than any real conviction that he’s the ‘hero’ of the title.

Keri Hilson is criminally underused in this song. For a lady of her talents, both vocal and otherwise ;), to be reduced to backing vocals on the chorus is a bit of an insult really.

OK, so rappers aren’t known for their ability to avoid cliches, but Hero is so out of touch, it seems Nas needs a little reality check.

Just when you think Timbaland’s run out of tunes, along he comes with a new single, Scream. And he’s brought protege Keri Hilson and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger along for the ride.

While it’s not the most immediately accessible single from the Shock Value album, Scream will grow on you like every Timbaland single before it. The intro has a funky vibe to it, with Timbo getting out the guitars and some authentic sounding drums for a change.

The whole song’s a seductive number, with Hilson and Scherzinger apparently in a battle to be the most breathy and sultry singer on the track. This is where Hilson really shows her abilities – she not only holds her own against the more established Pussycat Doll with a great voice, and a fantastically slinky figure. I get the impression 2008 is going to be the year Keri’s career will skyrocket.

Miss Scherzinger does an admirable job too, although at times watching the video, it’s easy to get confused between the two girls.

Let’s talk about the Scream video for a moment, shall we? Who decided that putting balaclavas on hot women was a good idea? I can’t imagine too many guys out there have that particular fetish. Well, they might after they watch the video.

Here’s a quick tip on telling Keri and Nicole apart: Nicole has an open top balaclava and her hair comes out the top. Keri wears a closed balaclava.

Anyway, final verdict is – though it’s not the strongest single from Timbaland, it’ll grow on you, and it’s got a grinding rhythm that’ll probably come in handy for…well…grinding…;)

The Way I Are just screams out Timbaland: you can hear that strong synth running through the track alongside throbbing beats and bass. The addition of Hilson on vocals is a departure from Ms Furtado, and you come away with the feeling that either singer could have delivered the goods on this track.

The pumping (or is that pumpin’) sounds suit the strobe-type effects in the video, and you’ve got Timbaland decked out in a fat cat suit and Hilson looking sexy in a little black dress. I didn’t quite understand the footballers in the video, until I discovered that the video was shot in Manchester in the UK.

Timbaland’s definitely playing to a formula here – you’ve heard that synth on Justin Timberlake’s recent material – but it’s successful for the most part. I’d even wager that this style is starting to gain mainstream traction. Check out the video: