Hip-hop star Timbaland has revealed that he is producing a comeback album for Jay Z.

The rapper previously announced his retirement from recording music, but a comment from the producer indicates that the New Yorker is working on his next album.

Timbaland told BB 1xtra: "Hip-hop is too easy for me. I've got to do something that's challenging. The only thing I got coming out is Jay-Z."

Last month the rapper himself dropped hints of a new record to the Associated Press, saying: "I believe the industry as a whole needs certain events to happen to sustain it and keep it alive," Jay-Z said. "You need [Dr.] Dre albums, you need Eminem albums, you need 50 [Cent] albums, you need big artists, you need major events that happen. So when I look at it in those terms, I believe that an album is needed."