Pop, Obv.: Justin Timberlake

Pop, Obv. is a new column (on pop music, obviously) that will consist of me posting mainstream singles and either 1) complaining about how bad they are in a humorous manner, or 2) building a monument to their top 40 glory. This column will probably last the duration of my internship at Billboard because after that I’ll stop keeping up with the charts. We’ll see.

So who’s on first? The last Justin Timberlake record fit snugly into the second Pop, Obv. category – “Cry Me A River” and “Rock Your Body” were killer singles, and Justin’s reinvention as an R&B sex machine was pretty impressive. So uh, JT, what’s with this new shit? For a guy who wants to push pop music forward, you’d think his first single wouldn’t be a weirdo neo-electronica track. It’s probably producer Timbaland‘s fault – the drums are sickly and weak and shoving Timberlake’s ordinarily elastic singing through a voice filter was a terrible idea. The lyrics just make things worse: “I’m bringing sexy back.” Bro, it never left.

Justin Timberlake – “SexyBack”: stream

This track goes to radio today, but his sophomore album FutureSex/LoveSounds is due September 12.

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Hey, while you’re here – don’t forget the Grandaddy contest!

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