Lots of new music is dropping this week, chiefly the long-awaited new single from Justin Timberlake, a collaboration with Jay-Z titled “Suit & Tie.”
Harking back to a 1990s, R&B sound, the midtempo jam is a departure from the electronica-tinged pop that currently dominates airways. The Jay-Z rap provides some needed energy. In turning down the production and infusing more classic beats, Timberlake takes a risk that could turn the tide of music, (like his groundbreaking FutureSex/LoveSounds) but he also chances alientating younger listners who aren’t as familiar and devoted to his work. Timberlake’s core fanbase is now twenty-somethings, not teenagers, and the song might not appeal to the Bieber set as easily.
Timberlake admits the throwback sound, “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 newfound muses that I’ve discovered along the way,” he wrote.
The single follows a viral video Timberlake posted on his website last Thursday, which revealed he was finally ready to release new music.The video, which showed Timberlake walking to the recording studio also featured a voiceover. “Someone asked me the other day ‘so are you just done with music?’ ” Timberlake says. “It means more to me than to anybody else in the world.” The video ended with a countdown to the release of “Suit & Tie.”
Timberlake revealed this morning that “Suit & Tie” will be the first single from his new album, The 20/20 Experience, which will be released later in 2013.
Read more: Popular Critic
