It breaks my heart to even write something like this, as Justin Timberlake is someone who I grew up on and have enjoyed for the past 20 years. However, reality has to set in at some point for him where he realizes that the jig is up and that no one is really buying what he's putting out as of late.
Timberlake's latest album Man of the Woods is his first in five years and received higher than normal publicity due to his halftime performance at Super Bowl 52 last weekend. The album debuted at number one with 293,000 copies sold. His last album, The 20/20 Experience, did the same but sold 968,000 copies in its first week. That's a 700,000 copy difference, and Justin… there's a reason why.
I've listened to Man of the Woods, and it's good. It's not solid, but it's good. It confuses me how he wanted to go back to his Nashville roots with this album, yet the first song he releases, "Filthy" should have been titled "Failure" as it went nowhere and didn't really back up what he was trying to sell in the first place.
Sure, the song with Chris Stapleton "Say Something" is decent, and he has a duet with Alicia Keys on there, but Justin… there is something that is clearly missing and why social media has endlessly mocked you ever since word got out that you were releasing Man of the Woods last month.
Justin you had a golden opportunity to right a major wrong that you did at Super Bowl 52. This of course is about… Janet Jackson. It's incredibly problematic that you went on to have a stellar career after the whole "wardrobe malfunction" incident and her's went up in flames. You never publicly apologized for it, and kept quiet as you went to win tons of awards, praise and recognition and she was called every name in the book (both racist and sexist ones) because she is black and a female.
Your 15 minute set included you running all over the place, barely singing, no special guests even though most of the songs that you did had featured artists that helped make YOUR song a hit (primarily urban artists, mind you) and yet nothing from Janet. Regardless if what happened 14 years ago was pre-meditated or not, you had the option to bring her out and smooth something over that you helped cause.
Not only that, but the Prince tribute was ridiculous given how it's been reported for years that he never liked you and didn't want something like this to happen ever. Instead, you perform one of his song's, something he would have never approved of, and then kept running around the football field and taking a selfie with a kid who probably has no idea who you are.
It's also been reported that you are shocked at the public's response over your SB52 halftime performance, but you should really look back to understand why. The reason why you became a solo success is because you had the backing of several urban artists to help produce, write and co-star on your tracks, most notably Timbaland, The Clipse, Beyonce, T.I., Jay-Z, and so on and so forth. Instead, you perform all of those tracks and bring none of them out, and once again make the focus entirely on you. Heck, even Beyonce brought out Destiny's Child, you could've at least brought your *NSYNC boys out, but nope.
Your performance, which is still being mocked to this day, had the opportunity to thank all of those who have helped you along the way, including Janet which in some weird and twisted way made your star power blossom, but you didn't do that. Instead, the focus was completely on you, and that's why millions of people clapped back because at the end of the day, it's good to acknowledge the people around you that helped you secure your 3rd halftime performance and get you where you are to this day.
But you didn't. So if MOTW is your last album, then I'll be fine with that.
This article was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect all of Instinct Magazine's views overall.
Man in the Woods is a SOLID
Man in the Woods is a SOLID album. Highly recommend it! As for the review – The Super Bowl has nothing to do with the music Justin Timberlake recordings. As for sales – NO ONE is buying CD anymore. You obviously do not have a clue about the industry trends. Again Man in the Woods is a SOLID album! Time for you to get a clue Ryan Shea……..
How are people getting away
How are people getting away with accusing others of abuse of some sort years after it happened? I guess then I can accuse many for some sort of abuse in my 45 yrs. What is i going to get me??? If you cant open your mouth when it happens, then it didnt / .doesnt matter!!!!!!!!!!!!! Move on like you did when you were supposively abues?????????????/
Why should he apologize for
Why should he apologize for Janet if he had nothing to do with it, like he says? It's always seemed to me like something Janet did for publicity (her career was failing at that point). I don't see why Timberlake would ever have agreed to that dumb idea.
His Super Bowl performance
His Super Bowl performance may have been underwhelming but he is still a terrifically talented individual. As for the Janet Jackson incident, that was sooo long ago. He got over it and so should everyone else.
What a bitchy article. I
What a bitchy article. I think Justin has done enough for his "urban" helpers by PAYING THEM. While I agree that his new music is blah at best, I blame Justin for picking Timbaland and Danja AGAIN. Those 2 peaked around 2008. To bring them back 10 years later for more recycled beats that sound dated instead of hiring fresh producers makes this album flop. As for the whole Janet situation, to say her career has "gone up in flames" is a joke. She has a soldout tour going on right now, she has all those record royalties and all that money, I think she's good. Her latest "Unbreakable" is ridiculously awesome. You didn't mention that. You just wanted to write about how a white guy has taken advantage of black people and their skills without using these words. Justin is an amazing songwriter and the new album is not that terrible. It could have used some fresh beats and been 8 songs long. The Superbowl show was ok, definitely a lot better than Bruno Mars and Coldplay last year. Enough about Nipplegate, because she benefitted from that too. Let's keep it cute.
Wow. I think Ryan Shea is a
Wow. I think Ryan Shea is a little butt hurt about things. This could have been a good article if he had done some research before writing it. First of all, The NFL WOULDN'T let him have Janet Jackson back. Secondly, Prince always said he hated holograms and never wanted himself to be presented as one on stage. Justin actually spoke with the family and got the go ahead from them to project the image just the same way that Prince projected his image during his own half-time performance. Justin brought out N'SYNC during his last big national performance so it would seem hollow and repetitive to do it again. The selfie kid was just on Ellen and was a huge JT fan, not someone "that didn't even know who he was". I'm glad Instinct put a disclaimer at the bottom saying they didn't share the all views of this contributing writer. BTW it wasn't a very good halftime show and I'm in no way a big Justin T. fan, I just hate it when people write whatever they want, truth de damned. It's just sloppy journalism at it's worst.
Such a great rebuttal.Â
Such a great rebuttal.
its true….one of the uggly
its true….one of the uggly show on the superbowl. i didnt feel that emotions, high energy. etc.. just was …. mew. he´s a great performer and have amazing tours. but this… nah.. was null.