TORONTO - Hip hop and R&B producer Timbaland has joined a small group of music hitmakers who have publicly pledged support for one of the world's most-maligned bands, Nickelback.

Coldplay's Chris Martin raised some eyebrows during an interview in 2008 when he said he had "nothing but respect" for the Canadian band and added, "I think they're great."

Now Timbaland has praised the band that so many music fans have condemned.

Despite Nickelback's stellar track record of CD sales, and a recent "band of the 2000s" honour bestowed by Billboard magazine, the group continues to get little respect from critics and music aficionados.

But when Timbaland -- whose real name is Timothy Mosley -- drew up a short list of artists he wanted to work with on his latest album, "Shock Value II," he thought of Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

The album also includes collaborations with fellow Canadians Drake and Nelly Furtado and other music superstars including Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus.

Timbaland sought out Kroeger for the track "Tomorrow in the Bottle" and got a "very easy" yes, he told The Canadian Press in a recent interview before a show in Toronto.

"I just love Nickelback's music," he said. "That's why I reached out to Chad."

As for working with Drake, Timbaland said he sent the young rapper a track based on "his voice, his tone."

"It just sounded like his type of style," Timbaland said of the music behind "Say Something," which Timbaland also raps on.

Timbaland said it's hard to pinpoint exactly how Drake became one of the biggest stars in hip hop so quickly, based on the strength of just a few mixtapes and no major-label albums.

"Everything is timing, maybe it was the right timing, he popped up at the right time," he said.

So what are hip hop critics saying about Kroeger's work with Timbaland?

"A Timbo-Chad Kroeger combination? That's straight up shameful," wrote The Smoking Section, an online hip hop music magazine.

"Yet the two combine for the best track on the album, a perfect potion of electro-pop backdrops and emotive crooning. ... The song's infectious combination of melody and rhythm have me singing along. Guilty as charged."