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rosebeeI live in a small town in the boonies, so when I opened up my local paper (that is so small, it only produces a paper Monday-Friday), I just about died of shock! For on the cover of the weekly tv-guide-thing, was a picture of JUSTIN!
It gets better! Inside was another picture. (The cover pic was the one of him in the all-black outfit kinda looking down, and the inside one was a picture of him performing @ the VMA's).
But, the best part... a new article! About Launch, plus an interview with Justin. He talks about the album and comparisons and... just
TIMBERLAKE’S NEW CD LAUNCHES NEW SERIES OF MTV SPECIALS
By John Crook, © Zap2it
MTV takes music fans behind the scenes of one of the falls’ most hotly anticipated pop recordings with the Saturday, Nov. 9, premiere of “album-LAUNCH,” the first in a new series of specials planned by the cable music channel.
Airing as part of MTV’s “Spankin’ New Music Week,” the one-hour special is tied to the Tuesday, Nov. 5, release of “Justified”, the first solo CD from former *NSYNC vocalist Justin Timberlake, and tracks the long creative project behind the album.
“As our ‘Making the Video’ series revealed about the video genre, ‘album-LAUNCH’ should show viewers that making an album is a long, complicated process that is far more involved than a bunch of musicians walking into a studio, recording some songs and walking out again,” says Michele Dix, MTV’s vice president for music and talent programming.
“We started with Justin back at the very beginning back in May, starting with an overview about *NSYNC and their unprecedented success with their album sales,” she explains. “Then it includes the call he got confirming the solo album deal, and there’s a section with his mom, who continues to act as a checks-and-balances figure in his career.
“What quickly becomes apparent is that Justin is 100 percent involved in all the decision making. He explains who he wants to be paired with; he knew exactly what kind of sound he wanted and who could help him get it. His instincts are just very solid, and the people around him take those instincts very seriously.”
Dix says Timberlake has seemed confident, excited and completely cooperative during filming sessions. Reached by phone during a rare break in a whirlwind European promotional tour, however, the 21-year-old singer himself admits to waffling between full “bring it on!” mode and a wish that his first solo effort could be launched without the merciless glare or public press and scrutiny.
“Every day I go through both those emotions,” Timberlake concedes, laughing. “I’m pretty motivated to do what I do. As my mom always taught me, if you’re gonna do something, do it all the way, not just halfway.
“Then at the same time, you feel very exposed because everybody’s kind of speculating about who you are, because this CD basically is me on a platter. I think that at the end of the day, I made the best body of work I could, and I think it’s self-explanatory as to who I am as an artist.”
Hence the CD’s title, which is both a neat pun on Timberlake’s first name as well as a signal that he is justifying himself as a solo artist after his long stint with *NSYNC.
“We had been touring for seven years straight. That’s a long time,” Timberlake said of the joint decision he and his four bandmates made to take a hiatus from working as a group. “What we did with the ‘Celebrity’ album was make a transition, and I think we all knew it wasn’t the right thing for us to just come out with another album right after that. It’s better for us to think about making another transition, maybe, but we need some space before we can do that.
“And I don’t mean to be pretentious about it at all, but this album has nothing to do with *NSYNC. It’s about me, about living out a lifelong dream. I feel comfortable in my shoes right now. When the timing feels right, you just don’t fight it.”
The singer has been upfront and gracious in his acknowledgement of Michael Jackson as a strong artistic influence, but he says he doesn’t feel unduly concerned about some critics who misinterpreted his strutting performance of his single “Like I Love You” at MTV’s Video Music Awards as an actual tribute to Jackson. He isn’t copying anyone, he says.
“Hey, if you’re going to be compared to someone, you couldn’t ask for a better one, although that’s a lot to live up to because Michael’s a legend to me,” Timberlake says. “It’s very flattering to be compared to your idol, but I think as time goes by, people will see my artistry for itself. But yeah, the first single is very reminiscento f Michael and Prince.”
Others hear echos of Stevie Wonder, another Timberlake idol, in some of the cuts of “Justified.” That’s fine with the younger singer, who feels confident that listeners to the new CD will find a coherent and cohesive performance style that is distinctly his own.
“There is a definite continuity to this album,” he says. “It’s very much a body of work. A lot of people don’t make ‘albums’ anymore; they make CDs with a couple of singles on them, and then the rest are just album tracks.
“I really respect Pink, because on her second CD, she really just said ‘Screw it, I’m gonna do the music that I want to do,’ and she made a great body of work as a result. This is my body of work, and you can hear the influences of others here and there, but I think that’s what an artist does: takes from other artists but makes it his own.
“There’s this obsession with categorizing and comparing music and singers. When *NSYNC came out, we were compared to the Backstreet Boys. Toni Braxton came out and she was ‘the next Mariah Carey,’ and when Carey came out, she had been ‘the next Whitney Houston’. So it’s just that my generation has so much music to feed off of. At the time Michael came out, he was his own thing, and there wasn’t much like him.
“If you listen to this CD, I feel sure you’re going to walk away with a clear sense of what my music is, and I just feel very good about it.”
I soooo cannot wait for this Launch thing. My only complaint is that it's only gonna be an hour. If they've been following him around for so long, they've got to have enough stuff to make the show twice as long.
*sigh*
I'm just so demanding! ;)
It gets better! Inside was another picture. (The cover pic was the one of him in the all-black outfit kinda looking down, and the inside one was a picture of him performing @ the VMA's).
But, the best part... a new article! About Launch, plus an interview with Justin. He talks about the album and comparisons and... just
TIMBERLAKE’S NEW CD LAUNCHES NEW SERIES OF MTV SPECIALS
By John Crook, © Zap2it
MTV takes music fans behind the scenes of one of the falls’ most hotly anticipated pop recordings with the Saturday, Nov. 9, premiere of “album-LAUNCH,” the first in a new series of specials planned by the cable music channel.
Airing as part of MTV’s “Spankin’ New Music Week,” the one-hour special is tied to the Tuesday, Nov. 5, release of “Justified”, the first solo CD from former *NSYNC vocalist Justin Timberlake, and tracks the long creative project behind the album.
“As our ‘Making the Video’ series revealed about the video genre, ‘album-LAUNCH’ should show viewers that making an album is a long, complicated process that is far more involved than a bunch of musicians walking into a studio, recording some songs and walking out again,” says Michele Dix, MTV’s vice president for music and talent programming.
“We started with Justin back at the very beginning back in May, starting with an overview about *NSYNC and their unprecedented success with their album sales,” she explains. “Then it includes the call he got confirming the solo album deal, and there’s a section with his mom, who continues to act as a checks-and-balances figure in his career.
“What quickly becomes apparent is that Justin is 100 percent involved in all the decision making. He explains who he wants to be paired with; he knew exactly what kind of sound he wanted and who could help him get it. His instincts are just very solid, and the people around him take those instincts very seriously.”
Dix says Timberlake has seemed confident, excited and completely cooperative during filming sessions. Reached by phone during a rare break in a whirlwind European promotional tour, however, the 21-year-old singer himself admits to waffling between full “bring it on!” mode and a wish that his first solo effort could be launched without the merciless glare or public press and scrutiny.
“Every day I go through both those emotions,” Timberlake concedes, laughing. “I’m pretty motivated to do what I do. As my mom always taught me, if you’re gonna do something, do it all the way, not just halfway.
“Then at the same time, you feel very exposed because everybody’s kind of speculating about who you are, because this CD basically is me on a platter. I think that at the end of the day, I made the best body of work I could, and I think it’s self-explanatory as to who I am as an artist.”
Hence the CD’s title, which is both a neat pun on Timberlake’s first name as well as a signal that he is justifying himself as a solo artist after his long stint with *NSYNC.
“We had been touring for seven years straight. That’s a long time,” Timberlake said of the joint decision he and his four bandmates made to take a hiatus from working as a group. “What we did with the ‘Celebrity’ album was make a transition, and I think we all knew it wasn’t the right thing for us to just come out with another album right after that. It’s better for us to think about making another transition, maybe, but we need some space before we can do that.
“And I don’t mean to be pretentious about it at all, but this album has nothing to do with *NSYNC. It’s about me, about living out a lifelong dream. I feel comfortable in my shoes right now. When the timing feels right, you just don’t fight it.”
The singer has been upfront and gracious in his acknowledgement of Michael Jackson as a strong artistic influence, but he says he doesn’t feel unduly concerned about some critics who misinterpreted his strutting performance of his single “Like I Love You” at MTV’s Video Music Awards as an actual tribute to Jackson. He isn’t copying anyone, he says.
“Hey, if you’re going to be compared to someone, you couldn’t ask for a better one, although that’s a lot to live up to because Michael’s a legend to me,” Timberlake says. “It’s very flattering to be compared to your idol, but I think as time goes by, people will see my artistry for itself. But yeah, the first single is very reminiscento f Michael and Prince.”
Others hear echos of Stevie Wonder, another Timberlake idol, in some of the cuts of “Justified.” That’s fine with the younger singer, who feels confident that listeners to the new CD will find a coherent and cohesive performance style that is distinctly his own.
“There is a definite continuity to this album,” he says. “It’s very much a body of work. A lot of people don’t make ‘albums’ anymore; they make CDs with a couple of singles on them, and then the rest are just album tracks.
“I really respect Pink, because on her second CD, she really just said ‘Screw it, I’m gonna do the music that I want to do,’ and she made a great body of work as a result. This is my body of work, and you can hear the influences of others here and there, but I think that’s what an artist does: takes from other artists but makes it his own.
“There’s this obsession with categorizing and comparing music and singers. When *NSYNC came out, we were compared to the Backstreet Boys. Toni Braxton came out and she was ‘the next Mariah Carey,’ and when Carey came out, she had been ‘the next Whitney Houston’. So it’s just that my generation has so much music to feed off of. At the time Michael came out, he was his own thing, and there wasn’t much like him.
“If you listen to this CD, I feel sure you’re going to walk away with a clear sense of what my music is, and I just feel very good about it.”
I soooo cannot wait for this Launch thing. My only complaint is that it's only gonna be an hour. If they've been following him around for so long, they've got to have enough stuff to make the show twice as long.
*sigh*
I'm just so demanding! ;)
