After a long 7 year wait music fans were eager to hear the new single, Suit & Tie, off Justin Timberlake’s soon-to-be-released third solo album, “The 20/20 Experience,” which drops on March 19th. This is his first album release since “FutureSex/LoveSounds” in 2006 and the anticipation continues to build as his first single climbs the charts!
Timbaland (who has recently signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Management) is back to work with JT as a producer for the album. The two previously worked together on hits such as SexyBack, Cry Me a River, and My Love. JT will collaborate with T.I., Jay-Z, and Beyoncé on a few songs. In an interview with MTV News, T.I. said that JT’s sound has definitely been missing from the music world.
In an open letter to his fans, JT talks about creating the album: “What I came up with is something I couldn’t be more excited about! It is full of inspiration that I grew up listening to and some new-found muses that I’ve discovered along the way.” No doubt his time as a newlywed has offered him lots of material and a myriad of experiences to draw from—the R&B singer and actor married Jessica Biel in October 2012. And as we all know… celebrity marriages almost always mean a celebrity comeback to follow- no genius needed to predict that one.
2013 also marks JT’s return to live performances. During Super Bowl Saturday, he will perform at a benefit for Shriners Hospital for Children hosted on DIRECTV by Mark Cuban. This closed door, invite-only event will feature QuestLove of the Legendary Roots Crew as part of the performance on February 2. We doubt there will be any wardrobe malfunctions like his last Super Bowl performance, but it will still be a performance worth seeing!
As soon as Suit & Tie hit the airwaves, it broke Billboard charts. During its first full week of airplay and sales, it flew from No. 84 to No. 4, and sold 315,000 first week downloads, ranking it No. 2 on Digital Songs. Jay-Z is featured on Suit & Tie with a few hot bars over a slowed beat. Behind the scenes photos of JT and Jay-Z show the two clowing on the video set while still keeping it classy like new millennium b-boys do.
Timberlake has never disappointed with any of his anticipated albums or collaborations, and he certainly isn’t prepared to do so this time around- especially with such talent and expertise surrounding him.
What do you expect from JT’s new album this time around? Are you excited as we are to hear new music? What’s your favorite Justin Timberlake jam?
