JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
a lot more respectful. I find that in the music business they’re just a lot more . . . 1 don‘t know. maybe it’s because I’ve been in the music business so long. I find the music business a little more crass and pompous. But for me the film industry has just been a different experience. They’ve been a lot nicer so to speak.‘
Timberlake knows of what he speaks. He's been performing since adolescence. when he joined the cast of TV show The Mickey Mouse Club alongside. famously. Spears and Christina Aguilera. Then he and his former bandmates in teen pop sensations NSync fought a legal battle with Lou Pearlman. the Florida-based mogul who managed them. Timberlake and co won. Pearlman was recently in the news again. accused of aviation fraud. Was Timberlake surprised by that that? ‘Not at all.’ he says slowly. ‘Not at all. I’m sorry for him. but I think we attract the kind of attention that we put [out]. obviously. and that's too bad.’
Timberlake‘s career these days is partly in the care of people he knows he can trust. his mum and his stepdad. Was that whole issue with Pearlman, negative though it was. a positive learning experience. insofar as he got to see early on how venal the music business could be?
‘Totally. It was definitely positive more than negative ‘cause we came out on top — it was a good lesson to get at 17 years old. It‘s made the last ten years much better for me. I try to be a realist - and it was definitely a real experience for me. It was discouraging at the time ‘cause you're 17 and everything’s the end of the world when you‘re 17. But when you look at America and [it’s like] people sue people for everything!‘ he laughs. ‘lt’s kinda like the nature of the world today. It seemed much more grim at the time. I look back at it now and it‘s laughable — but I guess it wouldn‘t be laughable if I didn't come out on top.‘
Boy did he come out on top. With his debut solo album. 2002’s Justified. Timberlake emphatically threw off his kiddie-pop roots. Aided by master producers The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo). equipped with some songs originally written by The Neptunes with Michael Jackson in mind. and co- authoring with them the global hits ‘Sefiorita‘. ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Rock Your Body". Timberlake crafted a propulsive pop/R&B album
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He followed it last year with l’utureSar/ [nmS‘muu/s. an equally ambitious album made in conjunction with none-more-hot producer Timbaland.
‘He‘s a virtuoso.‘ says Timberlake of the man who last year rebooted Nelly Funado‘s career and who supplies some much-needed groove to Bjork‘s upcoming album Volta. ‘Timbaland will hang on a glass (‘oke bottle and then he‘ll figure out the key of it and put a bass note to it.‘ Timberlake's pretty nifty on a range of instruments. but even he can't top that. 'He does weird interesting things like that. The last year of recording with him has been the biggest learning experience for me. There's one thing I took from him: if it doesn‘t feel right to you in the studio. it's not gonna be right. You're not gonna transform it into something that feels right.‘
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Teen People and Cosmopolitan magazines
Collaborations with Snoop Dogg (‘Signs’) and Nelly (‘Work It’)
Starts his own record label JayTee Records
Diagnosed with career threatening throat condition. Has his nodules removed
just stop and sit down at a piano . .
Timberlake the opportunity to be all the things he wants to be. He shows off his dancing skills. emulating the bodypopping sinuousness of Michael Jackson. and gets to engage in playful bump and grind with his female dancers. He roams around the multi—levelled stage with his swaggering male dancers like he‘s a member of the Sharks or Jets. He sings falsetto and trades licks with his band. He turns cavernous sports arenas into throbbing nightclubs when the techno-funk of SexyBack booms out. He gets his man Timbaland on in the middle of the set to showcase his own new album. and to give Timberlake a 20-minute breather.
And when it‘s nearly over. Timberlake slows it all right down. turns off the fireworks. grabs the spotlight and sings his beautiful ballad ‘Another Song‘. unaccompanied.
‘That‘s what I love.’ he says eagerly. ‘lf you can walk that tightrope between juggling all these things for people. then all of a sudden you can He gives a satisfied sigh. liven multi-tasking entertainers travelling at the speed-of-light occasionally enjoy a moment of hush.
Justin Timberlake, SECC, Thu Mat 5 May. Alpha Dog is on general release new. Black Snake Moan is out on Fri 18 May.