It was something the whole world held their breath for. The day when Justin Timberlake would come back to take his rightful place on the pop throne and show the newbies how it is really done (yes Justin Bieber I mean you). So when news of Timberlake releasing not only a new single but a new album came about well that’s when it was clear that sexy was coming back.
Anyone who was a teenager during the peak of Justin’s career will know the party did not truly start until a little Rock Your Body or Senorita was played on your first generation ipod. Then someone would inevitably try to bust a few moves in the style of Timberlake and end up breaking something, most usually a part of their anatomy.
So after, 7 years away from the studio he is back with his new single “Suit and Tie”. So what should listeners expect from his new release? Well not a lot really. The intro feels very disconnected from the rest of the song and almost lazy like no effort was put in at all. Merely repeating “I be on my suit and tie sh*t” is not a sign of lyrical genius or a hit. The song then begins to build momentum with an element of jazz type beats and is reminiscent of old school RnB where the likes of R Kelly reigned supreme.
However, there is something missing. It does not have the same effect as his previous work has had. Rather than making you want to get up and dance, you could easily fall asleep or find something more entertaining to do like clean your room.
Jay Z also makes an appearance on this track and gives the song a different element which saves it from becoming a cheesy pop song. With his effortlessly cool style and amazing lyrical talent, he completely changes the song when it needs saving. So just when you rejoice at the fact song isn’t completely rubbish it returns to its previous roots which make you feel like you have stepped back in time to 2001.
As a whole the song appears to be the efforts of man who is too reliant of previous success and therefore makes a half arsed attempt to put himself back on the pop map. So rather than taking his place as the Prince of Pop back it seems he has become somewhat of the Jester. One can only hope that his new album “The 20/20 Experience” will be a better representation of who he is as an artist and what he is capable of. Only time will tell if this will be the case but until then we are left with the likes of Justin Bieber and Conor Maynard to fill that Timberlake shaped hole in our hearts.