Justin Timberlake brings sexy back with new song

Cast member Justin Timberlake poses at the premiere of ''Trouble with the Curve'' at the Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California September 19, 2012. The movie opens in the U.S. on September 21.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:04pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Justin Timberlake has brought his trademark sexy crooner voice back with his first new song in five years, receiving a warm welcome from fans and critics on Monday on his long-awaited return to music.

The singer released "Suit & Tie" featuring Jay-Z on Sunday night, and within hours, the song had topped the U.S. iTunes chart. The new single also came with the announcement of a new album, "The 20/20 Experience," to be released later this year.

The new song, produced by Timberlake's long-time collaborator Timbaland, features the singer's falsetto voice over a laid-back, hip-hop beat, fusing R&B and pop sounds.

Critics drew on Timberlake's newly married status - the singer wed actress Jessica Biel last October - as a possible inspiration for the track.

Rolling Stone Magazine reviewer Jody Rosen called the single "a gift to the world's wedding DJs ... an ode to dressing to the nines and going dancing."

Pitchfork music website reviewer Stephen Deusner said the track was "one hell of a wedding reception jam, as bubbly as champagne," while Billboard's Jason Lipschultz called the song a "sleek, wholly assured dance number."

Timberlake, 31, who teased fans with cryptic Twitter messages last week, quickly became a trending topic on social media, along with the song.

MTV Buzzworthy's editor, Tamar Anitai, said the avid online response was no surprise, given Timberlake's vast fan base and the long wait for new music.

"None of his fans have gone anywhere. He's the type of artist who can take 7 years between albums and his fans are still waiting outside his studio door," Anitai told Reuters.

The singer's last album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds" in 2006, produced six hit singles including "SexyBack," which brought the singer four Grammy awards.

ROOM FOR TWO JUSTINS IN POP MUSIC?

Timberlake rose to fame as one-fifth of 1990's boy band N'Sync, becoming a pin-up for his good looks. He dated fellow singer Britney Spears.

After N'Sync parted ways in 2002, Timberlake launched his solo career with a new look and edgier sound in his debut solo album "Justified," with songs like "Cry Me A River" and "Rock Your Body," becoming chart hits. The album won a Grammy award.

His "FutureSex/LoveSounds" album arrived at the forefront of a new sound in the pop charts, fusing pop, R&B, hip hop and dance.

"'FutureSex' is what people are holding onto because it had that really futuristic sound from Timbaland," Anitai said.

Timberlake took a musical hiatus the last five years to focus on his acting career. He appeared in 2010 Facebook film "The Social Network," 2011's "Friends with Benefits" and last year's "The Trouble With The Curve," alongside Clint Eastwood.

During Timberlake's time away from music, a new Justin blazed a trail onto the pop charts, Canadian teenage pop phenomenon Justin Bieber, who has drawn comparisons to Timberlake for his inclusion of hip hop and R&B in his music.

Bieber, who has more than 32 million Twitter followers, tweeted a tip of the hat to Timberlake after the "SexyBack" singer posted his teaser on Thursday, saying "i have heard some stuff. u got a good reason to be ready. #greatmusic."

"There is room for two Justins, but Justin Timberlake is the original Justin and I think there's always going to be room for him," Anitai said.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

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Rep: No New Justin Timberlake Album

by Billboard Staff  |   August 07, 2012 1:30 EDT

For a hot minute, it looked like Justin Timberlake was finally in the studio working on his much-much-much-anticipated third album. Producer Jim Beanz, who notably co-wrote Britney Spears' "Gimme More," updated UK site Digital Spy about progress being made on Timbaland's "Shock Value 3," a project that Timberlake is helping with.

"It's still in the early stages, but they have a lot of tracks," Beanz stated. "While I've been over here in the UK they've been working, so by the time I get back they'll have a whole load of ideas and I'm going to have to catch up!"

However, the headline "Justin Timberlake working on 'crazy' new album" caused mass head-scratching. New album by the man behind "FutureSex/LoveSounds"? Nope.

Timberlake's publicist tells Billboard that while it's true the superstar is collaborating with Timbaland, there are no plans for a third solo album. Further, Timberlake is currently shooting a movie, "Runner, Runner," in Puerto Rico.

Upon its release in 2006, "FutureSex/LoveSounds" peaked at No.1 on both the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Timberlake's solo debut, "Justified," peaked at No. 2 on both charts.

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Timberlake to be honored for environmental efforts (AP)

NEW YORK – Justin Timberlake has been lauded for his work in music, TV and film. Now he's about to get an accolade for trying to better the environment.

The Environmental Media Association says Timberlake will receive its Futures Award, which represents future environmental leaders in entertainment.

The group cited Timberlake's attempts to reduce his carbon footprint during his tours, his advocacy for environmental issues and his eco-friendly golf course outside of Memphis, Tenn.

EMA President Debbie Levin called Timberlake "a great example of how you can lend your voice for positive change."

Others who have received the award include Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson and Maroon 5.

The Environmental Media Awards will be held Oct. 15 in Burbank, Calif.

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Online:

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/storytext/us_people_timberlake/43079150/SIG=10r203u0v/*http://www.ema-online.org

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Justin Timberlake part of group buying MySpace (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Justin Timberlake apparently wasn't satisfied with just playing a social media impresario in the movies, so now he's becoming one in real life.

The pop star, who played Napster co-founder Sean Parker in "The Social Network," a movie about Facebook, has joined Specific Media in buying its downtrodden rival, MySpace, from News Corp. in a deal that closed Wednesday.

Timberlake will have an office at MySpace's Beverly Hills headquarters and a staff of about a half dozen people working for him "around the clock" developing his ideas for the site, said Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook.

The partners are set to unveil their plans for reviving the flagging site in a couple of months.

"When we met with Justin and we discussed what our strategy was, we hit a chord with him," Vanderhook told The Associated Press. "One of his passions is he really enjoys helping other artists and creating a community for people to really express themselves. I think we were blown away that we were able to get someone like Justin to be so excited about what we were doing."

The deal is for $35 million, mostly in Specific Media stock, according to a person familiar with the matter. That's a small fraction of the $580 million that News Corp. paid for the site six years ago. The sale resulted in the layoff of about half of the site's remaining 500 workers, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

As part of the exchange, News Corp. received a private equity stake in Specific Media and less than a 5 percent stake in MySpace.

With Timberlake's help, the buyers hope to revitalize MySpace and transform it into a destination for original shows, as well as bolster its already available video content and music. Vanderhook said the revamp will include additional investment in technology and maintain the right to stream music through the joint venture it has with major recording companies, MySpace Music.

"There's a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect," Timberlake, an Emmy and Grammy winning artist, said in a statement. "MySpace has the potential to be that place."

The sale closed a day before the end of News Corp.'s fiscal year, meaning it was able rid itself of about $250 million in losses, estimated Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente.

Over the last 11 quarters, News Corp. had cumulatively lost about $1.4 billion on the business segment that houses MySpace. It was a disastrous performance by a company that CEO Rupert Murdoch had predicted would reach $1 billion in annual revenue. It never reached that goal.

Walking away from the site was "the right decision," said Standard & Poor's equity analyst Tuna Amobi. "It's something that they should put behind them and kind of move on."

MySpace CEO Mike Jones, the last member of a three-member executive team appointed to fix the site in April 2009, said in a memo to staff Wednesday that he would help with the transition for two months before departing.

MySpace launched in 2003, founded by entrepreneurs Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, who is every MySpace user's first friend. It became a popular Internet destination and a key way for little-known musicians to market themselves and interact with their fans.

But MySpace lost its footing over the years as the fun of customizing one's profile began to bore its users and heavy use of banner advertisements slowed the speed at which pages load. Meanwhile, Facebook, founded in 2004, limited what users and advertisers could do, but kept pages clean, and freshened them with its "news feed" of updates, a feature that MySpace later copied.

MySpace peaked with 76 million monthly U.S. visitors in October 2008. Advertisers and musicians who once relied on it for promotion fled the site for other hotter social networks like Facebook and, more recently, Twitter.

When Facebook a few years ago began allowing apps, including music functions and addictive games like "FarmVille," MySpace was left in the dust.

Less than half of MySpace's monthly visitors are now in the United States, where its visitor count dropped by half in May to 35 million, according to tracking firm comScore Inc. Facebook now has more than 700 million monthly visitors worldwide, it said.

"Apps were the breaking point and MySpace could never recover from that," said Charlene Li, a social media analyst and founder of Altimeter Group.

Rohit Kulkarni, an 18-year-old member of the San Jose, Calif. pop punk band Four O'Clock Heroes, said his group once exclusively used MySpace to reach fans with their music, but they haven't checked the site in months. They opened their Facebook band page last year.

"Most of our following was already on Facebook anyways," Kulkarni said. "Nowadays, people use Facebook over MySpace because it's integrated into almost everything, like all your mobile phones. I'm guessing that's why it became more popular."

Even "FarmVille" game-maker Zynga has taken a role promoting music, as shown recently when Lady Gaga unveiled her new album there.

Timberlake's involvement is a clear sign that MySpace will try to reconnect with its musical roots. Tim Vanderhook said that the acquisition is about returning MySpace "to what it was supposed to be."

Specific Media, based in Irvine, Calif., brokers the sale of ads to websites and has dabbled in creating original programming and matching it with sponsors. The company was founded in 1999 by brothers Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook.

At $35 million, Specific Media gets an Internet property for a price that Altimeter's Li called "ridiculously low" and values each monthly U.S. visitor at about $1 each. Its new owners should be able to recoup their investment if the company gets each user to click on about 20 ads over their lifetime, she said.

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