Pharrell Reveals Justin Timberlake's "Justified" Was Originally Meant For Michael Jackson

Pharrell says almost all of Justin Timberlake's "Justified" was originally meant for Michael Jackson.

BYCole Blake
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Pharrell Williams says all but one song from Justin Timberlake's iconic 2002 album, Justified, was originally meant for Michael Jackson, but the legendary singer turned down the tracks.

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Williams discussed the album on the Revolt TV podcast, Drink Champs, telling N.O.R.E & DJ EFN that  “Michael turned us down too."

“John McClain was his manager at the time,” Williams continued. “We sent him pretty much all the stuff y’all are hearing on the Justified album. That’s all the Michael stuff.”

“All but one song, they were all written for Michael,” he added.

“John McClain was like, 'Man Michael don’t want that shit,’” Williams remembered. “‘He wants that shit you’re giving Noreaga….he want that ‘Superthug.’” 

Elsewhere in the interview, Williams spoke about the infamous beef between Drake and Pusha T saying that he's disappointed the two will likely never release a collaborative album: "It still breaks my heart to this day, because I would've loved to have heard those guys on a song together or heard a joint project together," Williams said. "By the way, Pusha says Drake's got bars. When Drake makes something that's amazing, we talk about it all the time."

Check out the interview below.

[Via]


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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.