Fresh off his stint week-long guest appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake has sold over 960,000 units of his newest album, breaking record sales. Averaging 7 minutes per track, The 20/20 Experience is truly a masterpiece. Justin Timberlake’s voice carries us from one track to another. We get remnants of the pop style that made JT famous, but the album epitomizes R&B with a Latin flair. The crooner has made fans wait over 5 years for a new album and has recently announced he will be releasing another album in November. The 20/20 Experience shows how much Justin Timberlake has musically matured. What I love about this Album is Justin Timberlake’s ability to stretch one song into seven minutes and make it feel like it is one.
My Top 5 Picks:
“Don’t Hold the Wall”: Starting off with sweet harmony of what’s to come, the song then breaks into a classical Middle Eastern tune. Throughout the song Justin Timberlake urges you to “Dance, don’t hold the wall” over tribal chants and primitive beats. “Don’t Hold the Wall” is one of my favorite songs because it feels taboo, animalistic, and wicked.
“Strawberry Bubblegum”: One of Justin Timberlake’s more explicit tracks, explaining how they are “Making love like professionals for the first time,” JT croons, “If you’d be strawberry bubblegum, then I’d be your blueberry lollipop” over a mellow beat. At the 5:01 mark the song transforms into a simpler Bossa Nova beat. I love this song for its airy tune with Latin undertones.
“Tunnel Vision”: Justin Timberlake and Timbaland were mad scientists when creating this beat, with an odd pairing of classical violins and beat boxing (Beat boxing is one of Timbaland’s signatures). With a rising falsetto, Justin Timberlake sings, “I look around and everything I see is beautiful because, all I see is you!” over a cascading beat.
“Let the Groove Get In”: An exciting Latin beat that makes you “Shake, like you know you got something to prove … move like the groove’s taking over you” At the 5:15 mark, it strips down to the harmonizing of “All night long” This is one of my favorite tracks off of JT’s album because you can’t help but dance to its rambunctious and contagious beat.
The performance below really proves how fun this track is!
“Mirrors”: This song really shouldn’t be heard without the music video since it’s the video that elevates the entire tone of the song. As Justin Timberlake repeats, “You are, you are the love of my life”, he sings ethereal tones on the track were the second half of the song blends seamlessly. What I love must about this track are the lyrics. JT explains how he has evolved and how he and his wife (Jessica Biel, for those of you keeping up with your pop culture!) reflect each other.
Album Rating: A+
If you haven’t heard it yet, JT’s newest album is definitely one to listen to and one that comes highly recommended by HC WPUNJ! And if you are interested in seeing Justin Timberlake in concert, click here!