When Justin Timberlake played his new material for close friends, they had one resounding reaction: "This sounds like everything we know you for, everything we thought we wanted from you."
Those words inspired the title of Timberlake's first album in six years, Everything I Thought It Was, which arrived March 15. The Memphis-born singer has described the release as "incredibly honest" but also as having "a lot of f—ng fun" — a statement that encapsulates how his music has evolved in the past three decades.
Since his beginnings as a child entertainer on shows like Star Search and Disney's Mickey Mouse Club, and later as a member of best-selling boy band *NSYNC, Timberlake proved that he belonged on the stage. His charisma and passion made him stand out effortlessly, and those experiences foreshadowed his star power and the brilliant solo career he was poised to have.
When *NSYNC announced their hiatus in April 2002, it took Timberlake just six months to release Justified, his debut LP. For the first time in a decade, he was introducing himself as an artist with full agency over his work, and showing exactly the kind of music he wanted to create.
"I felt like I had so much to prove to myself because I was coming from such a humongous group and a humongous movement of pop music," he reflected in a 2023 YouTube interview for Beatclub. "There was a real sound around what people were considering pop music before I went solo ... I knew I wanted to make a different type of album."
Justified promptly shifted Timberlake's good-boy image into a grown-up stunner. Through R&B, hip-hop and funk beats, he wears his heart on his sleeve; there's lust in lead single "Like I Love You," pain in "Cry Me A River," joy in "Rock Your Body." It resonated with the public — the album peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned two top five singles, proving that Timberlake was more than ready to shine on his own. In addition, the album won him his first GRAMMYs in 2004 for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cry Me A River"; he had been nominated nine times with *NSYNC, and once for "Like I Love You" the year prior.
Largely produced by the Neptunes and Timbaland, Justified also marked the beginning of a vital partnership for the singer. Timbaland was essential in shaping Timberlake's musical DNA, and helped produce a majority of his discography — including credits on two tracks of EITIW. "We share the same perspective that we always want to make something that reminds us of music that we love, but at the same time is something we've never heard before," Timberlake told GRAMMY.com in 2014.
Following Justified, Timberlake ventured into acting — another one of his burgeoning skills — landing roles in films like 2006's Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan. However, 2006 was best known as the year Timberlake brought sexy back with his sophomore album, FutureSex/LoveSounds.
Considered by many as peak JT, FS/LS shot his popularity into the stratosphere and solidified him as a superstar in his own right. An avant-garde pop masterpiece, its 12 tracks weave R&B and electronic music, sprinkling in guitar solos and interludes, Timberlake's flawless falsetto and distorted synths. Its experimentalism laid the groundwork for what became known as Timberlake's signature sound, and what he would explore in the future — including on Everything I Thought It Was singles "Selfish" and "Drown." The album also marked Timberlake's first solo No.1 on the Billboard 200, and produced three No.1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in a row.
According to Timberlake, those three singles — "SexyBack," "My Love," and "What Goes Around…Comes Around" — "started a sound that I feel like it went on for, humbly speaking, a whole decade." FutureSex/LoveSounds earned Timberlake four more GRAMMYs: Best Dance Recording for "SexyBack" and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "My Love" in 2007, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "What Goes Around…Comes Around" and Best Dance Recording for "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" in 2008.
Following FS/LS, Timberlake started a six-year release pattern that he has continued through Everything I Thought It Was. During those down periods, he still managed to maintain his star prowess by landing successful acting spots and producing songs for artists such as Rihanna and Madonna. And the first six-year hiatus was clearly fruitful, as his third LP was a two-part beast: 2013'sThe 20/20 Experience.
Produced by Timbaland and J-Roc, the double album displayed the singer at his most sophisticated yet, and reflected his growth in the decade since Justified came out. The first half's 10 tracks are lofty, lengthy meanderings inspired by neo soul and Timberlake's lasting love of '60s music.
"When we were making the record I said, 'If Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin can do 10-minute songs and Queen can do 10-minute songs, then why can't we?' We'll figure out the radio edits later," he told Capital FM at the time, according to NME. The album went straight to No.1 on the Billboard 200, spearheaded by the austere charm of "Suit & Tie," featuring Jay-Z, and the stirring emotions of "Mirrors."
Six months later, Timberlake dropped the second half of his project, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, and the compilation of both albums, The 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience. Comprising songs with a more accessible structure (though they still averaged 7 minutes), 2 of 2 also debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, and "Pusher Love Girl" won Timberlake his first Best R&B Song GRAMMY in 2014. Furthermore, its sounds pushed Timberlake's versatility to new edges, and deeply impacted his future releases.
As he entered his thirties, Timberlake's priorities shifted; he married actress Jessica Biel in 2012, and welcomed his first son, Silas, in 2015. A break from music was only natural, but this time it was also transformational — and reflected in his artistry. In 2016, in the middle of an album hiatus, Timberlake landed one of the biggest and most unexpected hits in his career: "CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!."
The disco-infused single was part of the soundtrack for DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, where Timberlake voiced the character Branch and worked as executive music producer. Attesting his talent for making simple, feel-good hits, "CAN'T STOP" was Timberlake's first No.1 single in almost a decade, and earned him a GRAMMY for Best Song Written For Visual Media and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. It is also his biggest streaming song to date, with over 1 billion listens on both Spotify and YouTube.
Trolls brought Timberlake back into the limelight after years of focusing mostly on his personal life, and consequently created buzz around his upcoming releases. "I wouldn't say [my new material] is the antithesis of 20/20, but it does sound more singular," he teased in an interview with Variety in 2016. "If 20/20 sounded like it literally surrounds your entire head, this stuff feels more like it just punches you between the eyes."**
In 2018, Timberlake dropped his fifth studio album, Man Of The Woods, whose title derives from the meaning of Silas' name. The album itself was largely inspired by Timberlake's family and his Southern roots, and found him back with Timbaland and the Neptunes. The result is a record where Timberlake mixes his brand of funky pop while diving into the country and Americana sounds of his childhood. It's his most vulnerable work so far; in the album closer, "Young Man," for example, Timberlake takes the position of a doting father passing on his teachings, wrapping it up with vocal snippets from Biel and Silas.
Even though Man Of The Woods largely didn't have the same commercial impact as Timberlake's previous works, it still marked his fourth consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, and the release lined up with a headlining gig at the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show — a testament to his staying power.
In the years prior to Everything I Thought It Was, Timberlake kept busy by collaborating with artists like SZA ("The Other Side" from Trolls World Tour), Calvin Harris ("Stay with Me" with Halsey and Pharrell Williams), and Jack Harlow ("Parent Trap"). He also welcomed second son, Phineas, in 2020, and worked in several movies, including two Trolls sequels.
2023's Trolls Band Together, the latest installment of the franchise, also held a sweet, dreamlike surprise: Timberlake reunited with *NSYNC to release their first song together in 20 years. The heartwarming, funky "Better Place" was a reminder of the quintet's chemistry, and reignited hopes for further collaborations.
Luckily, fans wouldn't need to wait for too long. *NSYNC is among the three featured artists on Everything I Thought It Was, on a breezy track called "Paradise." (And those who were in attendance at Timberlake's "one night only" show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on March 13 got to see the group's first performance together in over a decade, when they premiered "Paradise" and sang four *NSYNC classics.)
This isn't the only callback to the past on the album, though. The chill beats and adoring message of lead single "Selfish" bring to mind a refresh of 20/20's "Not A Bad Thing"; second single "Drown" rides on the same wavelength of "Cry Me A River" and "What Goes Around…Comes Around," but tinged with more sadness than spite. Meanwhile, "Sanctified" is the pure ambition of FS/LS transmuted into a soul-opera-rock trip. Throughout the album's other 15 tracks, Timberlake also dabbles on heavy basslines ("No Angels"), disco melodies ("My Favorite Drug"), sweet R&B croons ("Love & War"), and sour, stingy ballads ("Flame").
As Timberlake declared himself on The Graham Norton Show, bits and pieces of all his previous works come together to form an updated version of himself on this album — one that is finally comfortable in being vulnerable, and thankful for everything he's been through. "I'm everything you thought I was/ I'm everything I thought I was/ It was everything I thought it was," he sings in the opening track, "Memphis."
"I'm having this moment in my life looking back on everything that has been, and accepting all of it. The good, the bad, the fast, the slow," he said on The Kelly Clarkson Show. "It's just about arriving at this place right now in my life, as an artist, as a husband, as a father, as a human. And I'm just really excited about what the future holds."
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