WEBVTT - Justin Timberlake 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.796 Pushkin. I'm excited to bring you our episode today with 0:00:23.316 --> 0:00:28.276 Justin Timberlake. JT is a massive talent. Anytime Michael Jackson 0:00:28.316 --> 0:00:30.716 was asked about his successors in pop stardom over the 0:00:30.756 --> 0:00:33.876 last decade of his life, he'd mentioned two people he 0:00:33.916 --> 0:00:36.756 was proud of that he felt carried the mantle the 0:00:36.796 --> 0:00:39.596 way he wanted to see it carried. Those two people 0:00:39.796 --> 0:00:43.956 were Usher and our guest Justin Timberlake. Justin has had 0:00:43.996 --> 0:00:46.316 a career as a singer on some levels since nineteen 0:00:46.396 --> 0:00:48.636 ninety two, whereas he puts it on his new album 0:00:48.716 --> 0:00:51.556 Everything I Thought It Was, he's been making first impressions 0:00:51.596 --> 0:00:54.596 since he was barely eleven, and for nearly all of 0:00:54.596 --> 0:00:57.516 those thirty two years. He's had a really charmed career. 0:00:57.996 --> 0:01:00.196 Cast member of the relaunched Mickey Mouse Club back in 0:01:00.276 --> 0:01:02.956 ninety three, where he was co stars with Ryan Gosling 0:01:03.036 --> 0:01:06.716 and other now luminaries, then as a member of n SYNC, which, 0:01:06.756 --> 0:01:09.036 along with The Backs Boys, were one of the defining 0:01:09.196 --> 0:01:13.116 elements of late nineties and early odds pop culture. And 0:01:13.156 --> 0:01:16.476 if that one enough, he launched an incredibly successful solo 0:01:16.516 --> 0:01:19.876 career where he found a musical soulmate in Timbaland, who 0:01:19.956 --> 0:01:22.876 he's worked with in some capacity on all six of 0:01:22.916 --> 0:01:26.276 his solo releases. So with all of that harder and 0:01:26.356 --> 0:01:29.156 success behind him, it's been interesting to see the online 0:01:29.236 --> 0:01:31.596 drubbing he's been taken in the last couple of years, 0:01:31.716 --> 0:01:34.676 and I was really curious how he might respond musically. 0:01:35.436 --> 0:01:37.436 Turns out, what he did was make an album that 0:01:37.476 --> 0:01:40.516 feels like a return to form. Everything I thought it 0:01:40.636 --> 0:01:44.156 was is everything you'd hope to hear from JT, including 0:01:44.356 --> 0:01:48.316 a surprise in sync reunion. On today's episode, I talked 0:01:48.316 --> 0:01:51.036 through Justin Timberlake's new album with him as he dissects 0:01:51.116 --> 0:01:54.076 key tracks from it. He also recalls how Michael Jackson 0:01:54.116 --> 0:01:57.596 helped inspire his solo career, breaks down the motivation behind 0:01:57.596 --> 0:01:59.956 each one of his solo albums, and talks about why 0:01:59.996 --> 0:02:02.196 he felt now was the right time to reunite with 0:02:02.236 --> 0:02:07.876 his boy band brothers and then Sync. This is broken 0:02:07.916 --> 0:02:11.276 record notes, it's got the digital age. I'm Justin Mitchman. 0:02:12.276 --> 0:02:16.156 Here's my conversation with Justin Timberlake, recorded at Amazon Studios 0:02:16.276 --> 0:02:19.236 one twenty six. We kicked things off by talking about 0:02:19.276 --> 0:02:22.716 the last song on his new album, Conditions. 0:02:23.156 --> 0:02:25.436 I love that that's the first song you picked. 0:02:26.116 --> 0:02:31.956 It's gorgeous, thanks man, and you know what, it was 0:02:32.556 --> 0:02:34.276 a pleasant surprise. One of the things I always loved 0:02:34.436 --> 0:02:37.396 to about the first two albums is you ended with 0:02:37.516 --> 0:02:40.276 like these really just really in your R and B bag, 0:02:40.516 --> 0:02:43.036 you know, never again another song. 0:02:43.396 --> 0:02:45.996 Yeah, shout out to Rick Rubin. 0:02:46.036 --> 0:02:50.436 Shout out to Rick who under bigger, better things and 0:02:50.476 --> 0:02:53.796 now conditions. When did you realize you wanted to start 0:02:54.116 --> 0:02:55.716 making an album or put out an album. 0:02:56.636 --> 0:03:00.916 I had another kid and UH needed to pay the bills. No, 0:03:00.956 --> 0:03:06.876 I'm kidding, I'm joking. I'm joking. So making this album 0:03:07.436 --> 0:03:10.276 was different for me than any their album, you know, 0:03:10.436 --> 0:03:13.636 to kind of go back to give you references, you know, 0:03:13.996 --> 0:03:20.796 Justified was you know, me stepping outside of a massive 0:03:20.916 --> 0:03:25.396 machine of pop music because I really felt inspired to 0:03:25.476 --> 0:03:29.476 make music that I felt was more true to me right. 0:03:29.596 --> 0:03:33.196 And I was also I think it's important and we 0:03:33.276 --> 0:03:36.076 can get to it, because that's been part of making 0:03:36.076 --> 0:03:40.276 this album is realizing that I really grew up in 0:03:40.316 --> 0:03:43.316 the industry. You know, I spent my high school years 0:03:43.356 --> 0:03:46.996 in the industry, my college years in the industry, and 0:03:48.036 --> 0:03:53.236 with Justified, it was this overwhelming feeling, you know, I'll 0:03:53.276 --> 0:03:57.116 never forget being inside a stadium at soundcheck and it 0:03:57.316 --> 0:04:02.836 just it was this overwhelming feeling, right and the last 0:04:02.836 --> 0:04:04.556 album that I did with the group within sync, like 0:04:04.596 --> 0:04:07.956 I was really getting into really really I think, gaining 0:04:07.956 --> 0:04:12.116 more self confiden into my songwriting and feeling like I 0:04:12.156 --> 0:04:13.516 had a voice in that way. 0:04:13.596 --> 0:04:17.476 Y'all wrote like, yeah, we did the bulk of the 0:04:17.516 --> 0:04:24.796 album right, and you know, Gone in particular was a 0:04:24.836 --> 0:04:30.236 song that I had written for Michael and Jackson. 0:04:30.316 --> 0:04:34.116 Sorry, I don't know if you're gonna flex the flex 0:04:34.156 --> 0:04:38.156 all the way, No, I'm kidding, And he had never 0:04:38.236 --> 0:04:40.916 heard it, and so I ended up taking it to 0:04:40.956 --> 0:04:44.396 the A and R meeting for that album and everybody 0:04:44.916 --> 0:04:47.236 just freaked out over the song in a great way, 0:04:47.276 --> 0:04:51.636 which is, you know, very gratifying. And later on, after 0:04:51.676 --> 0:04:54.436 the song had come out, I guess Michael had heard 0:04:54.436 --> 0:04:55.996 the song. He called me and he said, I want 0:04:56.036 --> 0:04:57.916 to do the song and I want to do it 0:04:57.956 --> 0:05:01.156 with you, and I said, well, it's it's out. It's 0:05:01.156 --> 0:05:04.716 already out, you know, so maybe we can do like 0:05:04.756 --> 0:05:07.516 acause I think you know, he was working on it 0:05:07.556 --> 0:05:10.756 was I think it was the Invincible album at that point, 0:05:10.836 --> 0:05:14.556 and he had he had, you know, brought in all 0:05:14.636 --> 0:05:19.316 these songwriters pitch songs, and I remember the conversation was, well, 0:05:19.556 --> 0:05:22.756 you know the records out, the song's out, maybe we 0:05:22.756 --> 0:05:27.796 can make it like a in Sync featuring Michael for 0:05:27.916 --> 0:05:30.516 maybe like a reissue of our album, and then it 0:05:30.556 --> 0:05:32.876 can be Michael featuring n Sync for your album. I 0:05:32.876 --> 0:05:34.036 was trying to figure out how. 0:05:34.476 --> 0:05:36.476 You had Stevie on that record too, so I could. 0:05:36.316 --> 0:05:41.196 Have been, yeah, oh you did you really do this 0:05:41.356 --> 0:05:43.676 that that was a good pool. That's another story I 0:05:43.676 --> 0:05:45.916 could tell you about, but we'll get to that. Yeah, 0:05:46.036 --> 0:05:47.996 but he said, no, I want to do it with you. 0:05:48.316 --> 0:05:50.716 But for whatever reason, what was in the air for 0:05:50.756 --> 0:05:53.236 me and feeling like I really wanted to express myself 0:05:53.756 --> 0:05:56.556 in a different way, and then along with that conversation 0:05:57.156 --> 0:05:58.756 and a few other things that were just in the 0:05:58.756 --> 0:06:01.676 ether at the time, it led me down this path 0:06:01.716 --> 0:06:03.756 of saying I've got to do it. I've got to 0:06:03.756 --> 0:06:06.836 do it. It's this overwhelming need to do it. So 0:06:06.916 --> 0:06:10.316 fast forward to Future Sex Love Sounds, and again it 0:06:10.396 --> 0:06:13.036 was just like it hit me where I said, I 0:06:13.036 --> 0:06:15.676 had this overwhelming need to do it. And at that time, 0:06:16.436 --> 0:06:20.636 you know, Timberland and I had had conversations about like 0:06:21.796 --> 0:06:27.036 sort of the absence of interesting dance music and how 0:06:27.036 --> 0:06:29.636 could we flip that on its head, How could we 0:06:29.676 --> 0:06:33.636 do what we've done before but really create a sound 0:06:34.596 --> 0:06:38.676 and something that feels futuristic. And that's sort of what 0:06:38.876 --> 0:06:41.716 led me down the path of the album title, right, 0:06:42.236 --> 0:06:46.036 and with twenty twenty experience fast forward to that. That 0:06:46.196 --> 0:06:50.276 was one of the craziest experiences of making an album 0:06:50.356 --> 0:06:54.276 because it ended up being called the twenty twenty experience 0:06:54.316 --> 0:06:57.116 because we spent twenty days. I said, let's just work 0:06:57.156 --> 0:06:58.996 for a month. I'm not even I just want to 0:06:59.036 --> 0:07:01.916 go in and make music. Let's work for a month. 0:07:02.556 --> 0:07:05.316 I said, We're going to take weekends off like regular people. 0:07:05.676 --> 0:07:07.836 We're not going to be in the studio till, you know, 0:07:08.196 --> 0:07:12.636 six am every day. And we wrote twenty songs in 0:07:12.716 --> 0:07:16.236 twenty days. Wow, you know, And you know, we brought 0:07:16.276 --> 0:07:20.036 in other players and producers and people that I was 0:07:20.076 --> 0:07:23.476 excited about, you know, and then Man of the Woods too. 0:07:23.476 --> 0:07:25.356 It was it was the same thing. It was just 0:07:25.396 --> 0:07:30.436 like this overwhelming feeling to make this album. And my 0:07:30.476 --> 0:07:32.996 wife and I had our first son and we named 0:07:33.076 --> 0:07:36.436 him Silas, which means Men of the Forest, you know, 0:07:36.516 --> 0:07:38.436 which I said, Oh, Man of the Woods, that's an 0:07:38.476 --> 0:07:43.236 amazing thing. So, like, you know, it was really more like, uh, 0:07:43.316 --> 0:07:47.716 that's what gave me the idea for that album as well. 0:07:47.756 --> 0:07:50.716 But okay, fast forward to this album. This album was 0:07:50.756 --> 0:07:54.596 different because I was ready to get back in the studio, 0:07:54.756 --> 0:07:58.956 but I didn't really have a specific direction on where 0:07:58.956 --> 0:08:02.556 I wanted to go. I just wanted to explore again, right, 0:08:02.596 --> 0:08:05.996 which I think is a healthy place to start. And 0:08:06.596 --> 0:08:09.236 at the same time, I was enjoying my wife and 0:08:09.276 --> 0:08:12.476 I had our second son, and I was enjoying the 0:08:12.516 --> 0:08:14.676 time that I was getting with them so much. And 0:08:15.436 --> 0:08:17.556 I remember someone saying to me, like it that it 0:08:17.596 --> 0:08:20.156 goes so fast, you know, don't just keep working so 0:08:20.236 --> 0:08:23.116 that you miss out on those like golden years with 0:08:23.156 --> 0:08:26.516 your children. So I thought to myself, well, I'll just 0:08:26.556 --> 0:08:28.396 go in the studio for kind of two weeks at 0:08:28.436 --> 0:08:32.996 a time, no real sort of end in sight. And 0:08:33.076 --> 0:08:35.876 I was also excited at this point to work with 0:08:36.956 --> 0:08:41.196 new songwriters and collaborate with them, work with some new producers, 0:08:41.236 --> 0:08:45.876 collaborate with them, along with working with you know, Tim again. 0:08:46.876 --> 0:08:51.716 And yeah, it just became this process of like two three, 0:08:51.876 --> 0:08:52.956 four years even. 0:08:53.076 --> 0:08:54.716 Of just going in like two weeks at a time, 0:08:54.956 --> 0:08:56.316 yeh or three. 0:08:56.116 --> 0:08:57.876 Weeks at a time, or even if you had a 0:08:57.876 --> 0:09:00.276 week blocked out, I will say two weeks, just to 0:09:00.436 --> 0:09:04.396 sort of give you an approximation, right, And so I 0:09:04.436 --> 0:09:06.636 sort of had this moment where I stopped and I 0:09:06.676 --> 0:09:08.756 was like, how many songs do we have? It was 0:09:08.756 --> 0:09:11.916 summer between ninety and one hundred, you know, looking at 0:09:11.916 --> 0:09:13.156 one hundred songs, and so. 0:09:13.396 --> 0:09:14.516 At what point is this? 0:09:14.516 --> 0:09:20.996 This is this was probably a year ago, and so 0:09:21.156 --> 0:09:26.116 then I said, Okay, which songs feel the most special? 0:09:26.916 --> 0:09:28.956 And not with any rhyme or reason, but just give 0:09:29.036 --> 0:09:30.596 me the best feeling. Right. 0:09:30.716 --> 0:09:35.036 That's a big task, though, man, you know eighty ninety songs. 0:09:35.076 --> 0:09:37.316 Yeah, it was. It was. It was right around one hundred, 0:09:37.476 --> 0:09:41.156 right around one hundred songs, and it kind of got 0:09:41.156 --> 0:09:43.316 to that point to where some of them started feeling 0:09:43.356 --> 0:09:48.316 like connective tissue, They started feeling like symbiotic in a way. 0:09:49.276 --> 0:09:51.556 And so then I just started narrowing them down and 0:09:52.036 --> 0:09:54.236 perfecting those ones that I was really zoning in on. 0:09:54.396 --> 0:09:58.956 And that's the eighteen that you that you have on everything. 0:09:58.996 --> 0:10:01.556 I thought it was, is that the feeling you had 0:10:01.556 --> 0:10:04.316 when you finally got to the eighteen, like these eighteen 0:10:04.556 --> 0:10:07.396 out of the dozens, this is what I was looking for. 0:10:08.036 --> 0:10:10.556 Yeah, I think I took a lot of stock into 0:10:10.596 --> 0:10:14.156 about twelve to fifteen of them, and then kind of 0:10:14.196 --> 0:10:18.156 regrouped and said, Okay, what do I feel like for me? 0:10:18.516 --> 0:10:22.556 What am I missing? You know? What color the in 0:10:22.596 --> 0:10:24.636 the crayon box? Do I feel like I can add 0:10:24.676 --> 0:10:29.076 to this? And always have this rule too when you 0:10:29.116 --> 0:10:31.036 think you're done with the album, like write one more 0:10:31.076 --> 0:10:36.636 song because something happens. I think when you feel like 0:10:36.676 --> 0:10:39.156 you're done with an album that you kind of release 0:10:39.516 --> 0:10:44.156 any sort of subconscious pressure to live up to your 0:10:44.196 --> 0:10:47.036 own standards, that you take a breath, really like a 0:10:47.076 --> 0:10:51.356 figurative breath, and then you write something crazy wow, right 0:10:51.876 --> 0:10:54.356 and so funny enough that you started with conditions. That 0:10:54.516 --> 0:10:57.316 was one later on in the process. Really, yeah, that 0:10:57.356 --> 0:11:00.396 was one later on in the process. And yeah, I'm 0:11:00.636 --> 0:11:02.756 I don't know, I guess maybe every artist says this, 0:11:02.836 --> 0:11:07.076 but I'm just so incredibly proud of this album as 0:11:07.116 --> 0:11:12.636 a whole, because I really think collectively it's my most 0:11:12.676 --> 0:11:14.836 complete work from start to finish. 0:11:15.196 --> 0:11:17.076 That's amazing that you can end up with it being 0:11:17.596 --> 0:11:20.636 feeling like your most complete work when you're the starting 0:11:20.676 --> 0:11:24.476 point was no mission statement, not sure, you know, and 0:11:24.516 --> 0:11:27.076 the other ones you've seemed like you had that right. 0:11:27.196 --> 0:11:30.596 It's just wild to me that you can have created 0:11:30.636 --> 0:11:32.916 something that feels the most complete to you from this 0:11:33.396 --> 0:11:36.396 unknown place, starting at this unknown place, right. 0:11:36.876 --> 0:11:39.716 Well, I think the other thing that happens as you 0:11:39.756 --> 0:11:41.876 get a little bit older and you gain a little 0:11:41.916 --> 0:11:46.116 more experience even in life, is you have this ability 0:11:46.196 --> 0:11:48.676 to be able to step back and you're able to 0:11:48.716 --> 0:11:52.116 look at it as a whole. And I think taking 0:11:52.236 --> 0:11:55.636 time with it because I was also doing writer camps 0:11:56.116 --> 0:11:58.836 where I was you know, we go in and write 0:11:58.876 --> 0:12:00.756 a song, and I would say, look, this is not 0:12:01.556 --> 0:12:04.276 for me specifically. Let's just write a song that we 0:12:04.316 --> 0:12:07.516 think is great wow, you know, and if I feel 0:12:07.516 --> 0:12:13.116 like I can put my thing on it, then I 0:12:13.196 --> 0:12:16.596 will go in and make my own. So I think 0:12:16.836 --> 0:12:19.756 having that time to digest a lot of the music 0:12:20.036 --> 0:12:26.316 it helped me with each song, where in comparison, making 0:12:26.316 --> 0:12:31.036 something like twenty twenty experience that felt so quick. We 0:12:31.076 --> 0:12:33.236 definitely sat with it for a while because we went 0:12:33.316 --> 0:12:36.596 back in Tim and I and tinkered with all the interludes, 0:12:36.676 --> 0:12:41.476 and all the kind of transitions. But I think I 0:12:41.596 --> 0:12:46.076 also in having the experience of being able to work 0:12:46.156 --> 0:12:49.716 in the studio at the level that I felt was 0:12:50.716 --> 0:12:56.996 my best and having time to live my life. As 0:12:56.996 --> 0:13:01.196 you go through life, you realize how important patience is. 0:13:02.156 --> 0:13:05.836 And if I did have any keyword that was part 0:13:05.836 --> 0:13:09.316 of a mission statement, like you said, then patience was 0:13:09.356 --> 0:13:12.276 that because I would go back in and tinker with 0:13:12.316 --> 0:13:16.956 each song so much until I felt like, okay, we 0:13:16.956 --> 0:13:19.636 can take that part out, because tinkering sometimes is not 0:13:19.796 --> 0:13:24.156 adding right, you know, Arranging your song sometimes is almost 0:13:24.196 --> 0:13:30.156 like omitting a piece that you feel like maybe doesn't 0:13:30.196 --> 0:13:33.396 make sense to you within that composition. 0:13:33.556 --> 0:13:37.276 Yeah, right, when you're listening with that ear towards arrangement. 0:13:37.476 --> 0:13:39.876 Do you think you've listened differently now than you did 0:13:39.956 --> 0:13:43.036 when you were younger, maybe ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. 0:13:43.916 --> 0:13:49.316 I think you become more adept at being able to understand. 0:13:50.676 --> 0:13:55.756 But I think just through experience understand Oh, let's try 0:13:55.796 --> 0:13:59.076 horns on this. Yeah, for instance, Oh, this this section 0:13:59.116 --> 0:14:02.116 would be nice if we add an acoustic guitzar. And 0:14:02.156 --> 0:14:04.516 then even like I said before, no, no, no, take 0:14:04.796 --> 0:14:07.356 take the synth out right there, Like let the track 0:14:07.476 --> 0:14:11.396 breathe while I'm saying this part over the song, and 0:14:11.476 --> 0:14:15.516 so yeah, it's been an amazing process, really the most 0:14:15.836 --> 0:14:19.116 gratifying process that I've had making an album, because I 0:14:19.156 --> 0:14:22.156 really took this bull by the horns and was out 0:14:22.196 --> 0:14:26.516 front producing everything. And I think also too, just gaining 0:14:26.516 --> 0:14:30.476 more confidence and gaining more confidence because working with such 0:14:30.516 --> 0:14:34.876 great producers throughout my career you pick up so much, 0:14:35.076 --> 0:14:37.196 you know, you become a sponge in the studio, and 0:14:37.716 --> 0:14:40.356 I've been lucky to work with producers that are humble 0:14:40.396 --> 0:14:43.876 as well. They want to hear the artist's ideas, they 0:14:43.956 --> 0:14:48.116 want to collaborate, and I've always been that way. I 0:14:48.236 --> 0:14:52.236 enjoy collaborations so much, so I think, yeah, it led 0:14:52.316 --> 0:14:56.036 us down this path and it's dense like all of 0:14:56.036 --> 0:15:00.956 my albums. But I also feel like, I mean, I've 0:15:01.196 --> 0:15:03.356 been in this industry since I was ten years old, 0:15:04.236 --> 0:15:07.956 which seems crazy to say, but I don't think I've 0:15:07.996 --> 0:15:11.356 ever taken a moment to really just stop and look 0:15:11.436 --> 0:15:17.876 around and appreciate all of it collectively. You know, I 0:15:17.916 --> 0:15:20.956 would reference certain moments and say, oh, that was amazing, 0:15:21.116 --> 0:15:24.556 that was amazing, But I don't think I've ever set 0:15:24.596 --> 0:15:27.796 back and looked at the whole of it to say, 0:15:28.316 --> 0:15:31.036 look at how blessed I've been and lucky I've been 0:15:31.116 --> 0:15:34.196 to have all these opportunities and to continue to work 0:15:34.636 --> 0:15:36.836 not just in music but in film and in television, 0:15:36.916 --> 0:15:40.636 and so it's been such an amazing ride. I think 0:15:40.676 --> 0:15:43.476 this is the first time I really just stopped and said, 0:15:43.516 --> 0:15:48.116 this is really something just to be gratified by. 0:15:48.556 --> 0:15:51.116 Was it having kids that allowed you to maybe have 0:15:51.196 --> 0:15:52.116 that perspective. 0:15:52.716 --> 0:15:56.516 I don't think it hurt, you know. I think having 0:15:56.636 --> 0:16:00.636 children will teach you a lot about yourself. You know, 0:16:00.796 --> 0:16:03.956 before I had children, I heard people say things like, oh, yeah, 0:16:03.996 --> 0:16:07.076 they pick us. Like when I heard people say that, 0:16:07.116 --> 0:16:12.196 I was like someone burning incense. Yeah, it felt a 0:16:12.196 --> 0:16:15.076 little guru e yeah. But what I do believe is 0:16:15.116 --> 0:16:18.036 that they really show you who you are. And I 0:16:18.156 --> 0:16:20.996 just like I said, I think I just I stopped 0:16:21.396 --> 0:16:24.396 for the first time and looked at all the places 0:16:24.396 --> 0:16:27.036 that I've been and all the things that I feel 0:16:27.076 --> 0:16:32.156 like I've accomplished, and that energy got put into this album. 0:16:32.156 --> 0:16:36.476 And that's really the title. Everything I thought it was, 0:16:37.356 --> 0:16:40.796 you know, with every color of the rainbow of this 0:16:40.956 --> 0:16:46.836 life so far and my passion being music, first to 0:16:46.916 --> 0:16:49.676 be able to have lived a life as a creator. 0:16:51.036 --> 0:16:53.156 I mean, it's just a really special thing. It's something 0:16:53.196 --> 0:16:56.956 that when you gain some sort of success and it 0:16:57.036 --> 0:16:59.916 starts to feel like, oh, let's keep this rolling, let's 0:16:59.996 --> 0:17:04.196 keep this rolling. I think that can be sort of 0:17:04.236 --> 0:17:07.956 a creative death trap that urged too, Like I got 0:17:08.076 --> 0:17:11.636 a well two pret do something to create something on 0:17:11.676 --> 0:17:15.036 a timer, you know, to have this pressure on yourself 0:17:15.036 --> 0:17:17.516 to do that. And I don't think it's any mystery 0:17:17.556 --> 0:17:19.916 that I take so much time in between albums because 0:17:19.916 --> 0:17:22.876 I really enjoy living my life and it feeds me. 0:17:23.076 --> 0:17:26.036 It feeds me as a creator, as a songwriter and 0:17:26.076 --> 0:17:30.236 a producer, and as an artist. It's fed how I 0:17:30.316 --> 0:17:35.516 even characterize my vocals on this record. How I sing 0:17:35.596 --> 0:17:36.476 on this record? 0:17:36.636 --> 0:17:36.836 Wow? 0:17:36.876 --> 0:17:37.396 How do you mean? 0:17:38.236 --> 0:17:40.996 I just think that there's songs on this album that 0:17:42.156 --> 0:17:45.476 because of the way that I wrote them and because 0:17:45.476 --> 0:17:48.796 they were coming these ideas and feelings were coming out 0:17:48.836 --> 0:17:52.836 of me. I mean, we can continue to use conditions 0:17:52.836 --> 0:17:57.236 as an example. When I go in to record the vocal, 0:17:57.916 --> 0:18:01.556 it's almost like it's so ingrained in you that all 0:18:01.596 --> 0:18:04.316 you have to do is speak the lyrics in the 0:18:04.356 --> 0:18:07.476 melody that you've written because you know that the tone 0:18:07.676 --> 0:18:10.116 will come across in such an honest. 0:18:09.756 --> 0:18:12.556 Way that emotion was really Yeah. 0:18:14.236 --> 0:18:15.876 To simplify it, I didn't have to find it. 0:18:16.116 --> 0:18:16.316 Yeah. 0:18:16.716 --> 0:18:20.556 You know some singers who are not songwriters, and even 0:18:20.596 --> 0:18:25.196 songwriters that are singers as well. I've found two they 0:18:25.196 --> 0:18:27.996 didn't get. In conversations with them sometimes they say, oh, yeah, 0:18:27.996 --> 0:18:31.636 I didn't. I didn't feel it vocally that day, yeah, 0:18:31.716 --> 0:18:34.116 you know, and I never I never had a moment 0:18:34.196 --> 0:18:37.396 like that on this album. Everything felt like I call 0:18:37.436 --> 0:18:43.116 it the carbonation where if if it's bubbling up for you, 0:18:43.476 --> 0:18:46.916 then it's the thing to follow. It's like if anxiety 0:18:46.996 --> 0:18:52.836 could be like a good thing. It's like, you know, 0:18:53.076 --> 0:18:55.556 and all of these songs just when I went back 0:18:55.596 --> 0:18:59.116 to sort of review them, because I've had I had 0:18:59.156 --> 0:19:01.956 different iterations of this album, you know, with some of 0:19:01.956 --> 0:19:05.956 the songs, and then I would write another song because 0:19:05.996 --> 0:19:07.596 I was just like, well, let's write another one. Let's 0:19:07.596 --> 0:19:10.916 see what happens. And I don't know if you ever 0:19:11.156 --> 0:19:13.116 get to a point to where you're like, this is it. 0:19:13.116 --> 0:19:16.676 It's done. But I think you get to a point 0:19:16.716 --> 0:19:20.076 to where you can say, okay, I can put that 0:19:20.196 --> 0:19:22.876 out in the world and let it live. 0:19:22.996 --> 0:19:24.796 And feel good and feel good about it and it 0:19:24.836 --> 0:19:28.916 feels honest. Yeah, after this quick break, we're coming back 0:19:28.996 --> 0:19:37.316 with more from justin Timberlake. We're back with JT. You know, 0:19:37.356 --> 0:19:41.476 I had it really considered it until you were expressing 0:19:41.516 --> 0:19:44.076 that so much of this album the vocal was just there, 0:19:44.116 --> 0:19:46.116 like the performance, the take was just there. Well, you 0:19:46.196 --> 0:19:49.396 have to find your voice on it. To degree, do 0:19:49.436 --> 0:19:53.316 you think acting and honing that craft has helped the 0:19:54.196 --> 0:19:54.756 way you sing? 0:19:56.236 --> 0:19:59.236 Absolutely? I mean I've sort of talked about that my 0:19:59.276 --> 0:20:02.516 whole career because I get the question a lot, like well, 0:20:02.516 --> 0:20:04.316 which one do you like better? And I was like, well, 0:20:04.956 --> 0:20:08.236 you know, we're talking apples and oranges. I like them both. Yeah, 0:20:09.156 --> 0:20:13.156 And I think what happens is I think we have 0:20:13.356 --> 0:20:17.676 this nature as humans to be divisive, and I want 0:20:17.716 --> 0:20:20.556 to be clear about not even in a negative way. 0:20:20.596 --> 0:20:23.476 I mean, we can be divisive in a negative We've 0:20:23.476 --> 0:20:26.156 all done it right, But I think we have to 0:20:26.236 --> 0:20:31.156 find the sliver or category for why something is the 0:20:31.156 --> 0:20:35.076 way that it is. And when I think about music 0:20:35.116 --> 0:20:37.636 and film, to me, they feed each other so much. 0:20:37.676 --> 0:20:41.516 I've been such a centophile since I was young and 0:20:41.556 --> 0:20:43.756 I've been such a big fan of music since I 0:20:43.836 --> 0:20:47.796 was young, and yeah, I could sort of we could 0:20:47.876 --> 0:20:50.596 go back and talk about songs from my past, and 0:20:50.636 --> 0:20:53.476 I could give you sort of a character because future 0:20:53.476 --> 0:20:56.596 sex love sounds to me. When I was trying to 0:20:56.636 --> 0:20:59.436 describe to people what it was, and I find myself 0:20:59.516 --> 0:21:02.756 using film references. I said, it's like if James Bond 0:21:02.796 --> 0:21:08.316 found himself in a Kubrick movie, or like he was 0:21:08.356 --> 0:21:11.876 in Yeah, Eyes Wide Shut or two thousand and one, 0:21:12.756 --> 0:21:16.636 you know, with how futuristic it sounded. So I don't know. 0:21:16.716 --> 0:21:18.476 I find that each one feeds the other. 0:21:18.956 --> 0:21:21.196 What was the reference on this one, or like if 0:21:21.236 --> 0:21:22.716 you if you had one film. 0:21:22.476 --> 0:21:24.876 Refer Oh, man, I shouldn't have done that, because now 0:21:24.916 --> 0:21:27.716 you put me on the spot. No, no, no, I 0:21:28.116 --> 0:21:34.636 honestly this album is the most me that I've ever been. 0:21:35.436 --> 0:21:39.556 And at this point too, I've heard people say to me, 0:21:39.836 --> 0:21:41.676 you don't you don't need to make an album? 0:21:42.156 --> 0:21:43.156 Really people say that to you. 0:21:43.276 --> 0:21:45.356 Yeah, yeah, they say, like, you know, you don't need 0:21:45.396 --> 0:21:48.196 to do it, look at what you've done and you know, 0:21:48.556 --> 0:21:51.116 and I'm just like, but I need to make music. 0:21:51.596 --> 0:21:54.516 That's something that on a cellular level is a part 0:21:54.556 --> 0:21:58.596 of me, and I think that energy went into this. 0:21:58.836 --> 0:22:01.636 I think being a father and a husband that energy 0:22:01.676 --> 0:22:04.996 went into this. But I think also having that moment 0:22:04.996 --> 0:22:07.436 that I talked about before where you really sit back 0:22:07.476 --> 0:22:10.556 and you're like, let me take stock and like, what 0:22:10.596 --> 0:22:13.716 does this all mean at this point in my life? 0:22:13.956 --> 0:22:15.636 What do I want to do and who do I 0:22:15.716 --> 0:22:20.276 want to be? And I was just having those moments 0:22:20.636 --> 0:22:25.676 about my life and they affected who I wanted to 0:22:25.716 --> 0:22:27.636 be and what I wanted to say as an artist. 0:22:28.316 --> 0:22:31.556 And I found myself weirdly enough when I would play 0:22:31.556 --> 0:22:34.956 the album for close friends or people that I really respect, 0:22:36.196 --> 0:22:38.116 like I would get a comment like, Oh, this sounds 0:22:38.156 --> 0:22:42.116 like all of your albums before this in one album, 0:22:42.156 --> 0:22:47.836 but new and fresh. And then I'd get comments like, oh, 0:22:47.876 --> 0:22:50.236 this sounds like everything I thought I would want you 0:22:50.316 --> 0:22:52.996 to make. And so it also led me to the 0:22:53.036 --> 0:22:54.876 album title everything I thought it was. 0:22:55.276 --> 0:22:57.916 It's sort of true, like there are moments throughout the 0:22:58.876 --> 0:23:03.516 course of the eighteen songs that definitely feel like in emotion, 0:23:03.716 --> 0:23:07.116 just feel like they reference other projects that you've done. 0:23:07.196 --> 0:23:07.956 It's incredible. 0:23:08.156 --> 0:23:12.516 It wasn't like this incredibly forefront conscious thing. 0:23:12.796 --> 0:23:15.396 YEA, like Babe Ruth calling it hit and I'm gonna do. 0:23:16.996 --> 0:23:20.036 Well to be honest with you, that to me is 0:23:20.076 --> 0:23:22.756