Justin Timberlake is dropping his first album in 7 years, The 20/20 Experience next week. The pop legend is staying busy in the meantime, hosting his 5th SNL appearance, dissing Kanye, and planning an ambitious tour with Jay-Z. Timberlake sat down for an interview at 106 & Park yesterday to chat about his new album, tour, and collaborations with Timbaland, Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Timberlake shed some light on his long working relationship with Timbaland, revealing "we're like brothers". "We met and the first song we ever did together was 'Cry Me A River'" he said, adding that he told Timbo "Let's try to do a song that you think I probably shouldn't do, and let's see what comes out of that." Ever since that moment the two have made magic together, with an artistic partnership Justin likens to an actor and director, though he says their roles can switch at times. "The lines get blurred, sometimes Tim comes up with melodies, and sometimes I mess around with the arrangement."
The triple threat star spoke of his work with Jay-Z, indicating that it came through working with Beyoncé for her album. “Well “Suit & Tie” really came about, I was with Tim and we were working on stuff for Miss Beyoncé. And she made the mistake of letting Jay and I have another room at the studio." Justin revealed that the two knocked out more than just "Suit & Tie" during the sessions. "I don’t want to give too much away, but we’ve done a lot of songs together. So hopefully those will find a way to see the light of day.”
Justin then spoke of his tour with Jay, and how it started off as a joke until Jay took it to the next level. “Originally it started off as a novelty type of idea and we were laughing about it,", but then Jay came back to him with dates planned, and they made it official.
Stream Timberlake's new album in its entirety here.
