page_title: Justin Timberlake
section_title: Artistry
hierarchical_section_title: Justin Timberlake / Artistry
caption_attribution_description: Español: El músico estadounidense Justin Timberlake durante su gira The 2020 Experience World Tour en el recinto Time Warner Cable Arena de Charlotte, Carolina del Nortte, el 12 de julio de 2014.
context_page_description: Justin Randall Timberlake, occasionally known by his initials JT, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Born and raised in Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Timberlake won two Grammy Awards for his R&B-focused debut solo album Justified and its single "Cry Me a River". Another single from the album, "Rock Your Body", was also successful.
  His critically acclaimed sophomore album FutureSex/LoveSounds, characterized by its diversity in music genres, debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 and produced the Hot 100 number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". Established as a solo artist worldwide, his first two albums both exceeded sales of 10 million copies, and he continued producing records and collaborating with other artists. From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus.
context_section_description: Timberlake has a lyric tenor vocal range. Primarily an R&B album, his debut Justified also contains influences of dance-pop, funk and soul music. During the production of FutureSex/LoveSounds, Timberlake was interested in rock music. This inspiration was used in his approach in recording the songs, rather than in composing them. Timberlake reveals, "I wanted to sing the song like a rock and roll singer, not an R&B singer." On the influences he drew from, he said that if Justified was "characterized" by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, FutureSex/LoveSounds is more like David Bowie and Prince. Other influences include late INXS-frontman Michael Hutchence, Arcade Fire, David Byrne, The Killers, The Strokes, and Radiohead. He began including beatboxing in his records near the end of his boyband era and into his emergence as a solo act, this includes songs from Justified and FutureSex/LoveSounds.
  Unlike his previous record primarily focused on R&B and pop genres, FutureSex/LoveSounds is less concentrated on one particular sound, thus representing a wider range. Timberlake explains, "It's more broad as far as the styles I wanted to mix in to my own type of thing." A musically "complex" album, FutureSex/LoveSounds is a fusion of rap, rock, funk, soul, gospel, new wave, opera, and world music, characterized by preludes and interludes interspersed on the album's tracks. Entertainment Weekly noted that the album's sound is a "sonic departure" from both NSYNC and Justified. Although "What Goes Around" sounds similar to Justified, Timberlake admitted that it is the only song in the new album to have such similarity.The 20/20 Experience is a neo soul album partly inspired by the expansive song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times found its elaborate structures ambitious in the vein of Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Michael Jackson. Since his marriage, he incorporated themes of romance in his songwriting, as Complex noted, showing that he "writes his tracks on his emotions, leaving him with a career of personal albums." Moments of emotional pain after betrayal influenced the songwriting of some previous records.
  Longtime critic Robert Hilburn for the Los Angeles Times praised Timberlake's act after attending the Justified and Stripped Tour in 2003, considering him "born for the stage (with) the savvy instincts to put together a show that works. Rather than make himself the constant center of attention, he was comfortable enough at times simply to be part of a talented ensemble." In 2013, Timberlake introduced his big-band orchestra called the Tennessee Kids for Legends of the Summer and The 20/20 Experience World Tour which includes guitarists, dancers, background singers, drummers, bassists, keyboardists, trumpeters, a music coordinator, a percussionist, a saxophonist, among others musicians. The 20/20 Experience allowed Timberlake to throw back to the big-band era, its stage production embraced a vintage sheen and everyone in classic suits. For the tour, Timberlake had a horn section onstage with him called The Regiment Horns. The Hollywood Reporter's Emily Zemler described him as a performer who is "genuinely having fun," whereas Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented that the singer "reveals something darker, more fiery and intense" while performing post-breakup revenge songs, such as "Cry Me a River" and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". Billboard editor Phil Gallo praised Timberlake's medley performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, saying he "gave the show its heart and center," also mentioning his place as a modern recording artist and a solid link in the lineage of the most acclaimed performers in the show's history. The New York Times' editor Katie Rogers highlighted Timberlake's crossover appeal after his performance with Chris Stapleton at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards. Described by critics as a "consummate showman," Timberlake usually plays guitar, piano and keyboard in his shows.
caption: Timberlake performing on his 20/20 Experience Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina
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