One might not expect activist/author/scholar Dr. Cornel West to put out house music bangers, but thanks to singer/producer Brandon Lucas, this is one gift the craziness of 2020 has brought us. For the debut release on Lucas' Purple Label Sound imprint, "Got That Hope" features a much-needed inspirational sermon from West set to a pulsing, energetic house bass line and echoed by Lucas' enchanting vocals.

It's the debut dance track from the Inglewood-born artist, who got his start singing in his local gospel choir and later in an R&B group. He first worked with West around 2008, helping him bring his powerful words online and into the digital space. They will be releasing more music together next year, as part of their shared vision to honor dance music's Black roots. This is also the mission of Purple Label Sound, to uplift fellow up-and-coming house music producers of color and bring in more a diverse audience with it.

"You can't talk about the great funk tradition without talking about house, techno music, all different kind of bodies—straight, queer, trans, all connected through the depths of their humanity and allowing what is inside of their souls to overflow. That is what the rave is all about. That is what the groove is all about," West said in a press release for the song.

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GRAMMY.com chatted with Lucas right before he delivered a killer debut [virtual] festival set for Rave The Vote, a star-studded voter engagement concert series aimed at mobilizing the dance music community. He shared nuggets of wisdom from West, his vision for the label, the music that moves him and more.

So, you recently released your debut single, "Got That Hope," with none other than Dr. Cornel West. Amazing! What is the message and feeling that you hope listeners get when they hear it?

Music, I think, is a medium that crosses cultures and languages and color lines and political stances, and it brings people together. This song is a message of hope. And during this unprecedented time of literal craziness, it's something to get people moving and grooving and all that beautiful stuff, because you have to find the joy in your struggle to even get through it. So that's what this song is about, but also giving people that stimulus like "Hey, there can be some hope," and getting them to move into that mode.

Whatever you went through during this pandemic, whether it's been good or bad, whether you're affected by the political climate and the racial strife, I think that everyone is exhausted right now. Dr. West always says, "I'm not an optimist, but I'm a prisoner of hope." It's basically saying "Hey, I don't see anything that's going great right now, but I'm going to stay hopeful because that's the only thing that's going to sustain us."

I love that. It's real.

Right? I'm telling you, it's real. And by the way, not to talk too much and not get to your questions, but I created this music at the top of the pandemic, around March. And I was talking to Dr. West yesterday, he reminded me, he was like, "Brother, you remember when you told me you were with your friends in the desert?" And this is when it was hot on the streets, on Fairfax and Beverly where I live, it was going down. And my friends who were semi-public figures, they were like, "Brandon, there's protests." And I couldn't even go home because there was a curfew, but I just felt convicted being in the middle of the desert with my White friends just chilling, while they were not thinking about it.

Fast forward to a couple days after, I wrote him a letter about it, I told him what was going on, everyone was so amazing, this awakening I think has been so powerful for many people across political lines and racial lines. I think that this song of hope brings everyone together in that mindset, because we are so divisive, we need something that pushes us together.

Can you tell me more about Dr. Cornel West's lines in it?

He says, "Still got that hope in you, but you don't talk about the hope, you enact the hope. And it's in your music, that is the blues, a narrative of a catastrophe lyrically expressed but doesn't allow the catastrophe to have the last word."

Okay, so I started working with Dr. West back in 2008, 2007, something like that. And this is when he first came out with his book Hope on a Tightrope. Hope has been a part of his messaging for a long time. Right now, in the news he talks about how he feels that Biden is a neo-liberal disaster, and Trump is a neo-fascist catastrophe. This is Dr. West. He does not hold back how he feels, and he's going to tell it like it is no matter who it is, you know?

But to that point, we can't let catastrophe have the last word. You're going to go through things. Bringing it back to house music, house comes from that black music tradition where these people from cast-out communities would come to warehouses to party all night and to let that funk out, right? These are your Black, brown, and a lot of queer communities coming together, and the roots of the Black tradition is letting that suffering speak through your music. And we've seen that throughout history. With my music and with this label that we're launching, Purple Label Sound, we hope to bring that back in a meaningful way for house music, in a way that makes sense and that's been in the Black tradition for years.

I would say the Black tradition is the American tradition. It's very American. So it's not really a racial thing, it's really about bringing us back to the roots of who we are with this music, and adding that extra culture to it.

I want to talk more about dance music's roots. As you said, it was created by Black, brown, and queer people—and that's not necessarily reflected in the overall space currently. How do you believe that the dance community as a whole can better celebrate, honor and return to its roots?

In the same way I think a lot of industries should. But, to that point, I feel that the dance community is one of the most inclusive communities that I know. I've been doing music and been in the entertainment world for years. I'm from L.A., from Inglewood, so I've been in it. I grew up in the gospel church, and in the R&B world. I was signed to an R&B group back in the day, I did that whole boy band thing.

But when I found house music, around 2010 or so, I found these communities to be so inclusive and so welcoming, the people all the time that you meet in it. It's a beautiful thing. So, to that point, I think that the dance community is in a unique position to do it, but it takes stepping outside of your comfort zone. It takes doing that work to go outside of just who your friends are. A lot of times, your friends don't look like you just because of where you live and who you're about, you know?

And there are a lot of amazing Black Americans or Europeans from the African diaspora who have been killing it for years in the dance industry, like Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, and the other giants. They get the recognition. Because they've been in it, those of us who are also in it now are a little bit more digestible to people. I think, just like a lot of communities, that unconscious bias runs through, that people don't think about. People who are good people, who are not racist, just go for who makes you feel comfortable, who are your friends. And that's it.

So, with this label, we're going to be a little bit more intentional about—and it's not exclusively Black and brown artists, by the way, but it's what we're focusing on—marketing our artists in a way that I know that these artists of color should be marketed. It can't be cookie cutter. We're going to do it in the traditions of the Bad Boys, the No Limits and the Cash Moneys—the way dance music is marketed today is not the only way.

I honestly feel that most Black people today, when they think of EDM or deep house or house music, they just think "oh, that's techno." A lot of them don't have any clue that it came from us. That's because what gets put on a pedestal, what gets pushed out there to the mainstream, is not what sparks their ears. And by the way, urban music, Black music, the biggest market [today] for that music is White people. So it's not like if we push more of an urban voice in the dance community that it's not for everybody—it's going to be for everybody. It's just making it more accessible to ears who are more used to a more urban thing. That's it.

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This has me thinking of a really great conversation I had with Aluna recently—I love her and I'm super inspired by what she's doing now as a solo artist.

She's awesome.

She talked about how she, as a Black woman, felt like an outsider in the dance world even though she was part of a duo putting out big dance hits. Once she learned who first created dance music, she realized it's the way things are being marketed and who's being pushed to the top, and she wanted to change it. And she talked about seeing one or two Black girls dancing in the front at their shows, so she was asked "Where are the other Black girls and what can I do to make this feel more inclusive?"

Well, to that point, I know a lot of girls who love techno, and a big handful of them are Black. But it's not a lot of our faces in those scenes, and I've been in the dance community, going to a lot of shows in the underground and music festivals, so I've been around the scene for a long time.

She's right. I've been in worlds where, when you're Black, you're the only face there. But I think it's really a mindset thing. And, from the start, I understood that there was some connection that I felt. When I first heard house and techno songs, like from Kaskade and Above & Beyond, and Avicii, all of those back in early 2010, Eric Prydz—I felt a connection to it. I was like "Whoa, that chord is kind of like a church chord. Oh wait, I know this song, we used to sing that at church." Or "Oh, this is like an R&B track."

At first, I was excited because I loved the music and the musicality. And even with artists like Skrillex, [where some] people were like, "Oh, this noise," I understood what he was doing musically. I understood the chords. It was crazy sounds but I understood it as an artist and as someone who's been in gospel and R&B forever. For a lot of my friends in that space it was new to their ears, but knew when it was a remake of an old classic song that my mom used to play. I knew Black people would love this music if they were exposed to it the right way.

And I think you're right, what gets elevated a lot of times, is non-urban music. When people think dance music, techno music, house music, you don't think urban music. But it's not either/or. There can be urban music that is deep house, that's tech house. But to be honest, I think that a lot of the Black artists that get pushed to the forefront are people who've been doing it forever. The legends, who should be respected, and who we should be pushed forward and lauded. But what about the new cats? Everyone that people talk about, they're in their fifties. We love them, and they're amazing, but who's got next?

And I am talking to Black and brown artists in the space, who are excited about what we're doing [at Purple Label Sound]. The A&Rs, they just don't get it, they just don't get me. They think it's too urban. What's "too urban?" House music is urban, technically, it started off that way. Since then, there's been amazing contributions worldwide, including from the European scene, in Italy, in Sweden. At the root of it, I think if you elevate the right music in the right way, I think it can cross everybody. You know what happened was, and I always say this, I think Beychella made a big impact on house music.

I had a lot of my Black friends who went to Coachella for the first time [in 2018]. They'd been hearing about Coachella, for a while, but when Beyoncé was headlining, it was like, "We're going to Coachella." When they finally went, I had so many friends like, "I'm going back. Oh my gosh, EDM. Wow, this is amazing. Now I get it." Now they feel the music and the culture, and they're starting to understand it, because of Beyoncé.

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I want to talk a bit more about Purple Label Sound, because "Got That Hope" is also the debut release from it. What's your hope and vision for the label?

Purple Label Sound came about before even my foray as an electronic artist. I created a few songs, I started creating them during the pandemic. I had time for myself with the self-isolation. And really, it was like, "Wow, what am I about? What do I want to do?" And then the racial strife started to happen, and I created a song with Dr. West. But even then, I didn't understand what I wanted to do as an artist. Of course I was going to release some music, but my focus has always been to elevate other people's point of views, and to take other people to the next level.

I've been working with talent on the music end, on the influencer end and on the actor end for years. My day-to-day, what I do best, is to take people's voices and take them to the next level, and then to great careers. That's what I want to do with this label, is to elevate careers and use my resources and my expertise as an artist, and as an entertainment executive, to help these voices be elevated and marketed the right way to support their ventures. And then I realized I should be putting myself out there too. And the music just kind of ballooned into something where, I was like "I guess I should be doing this as well."

It got to the heart of it. I kept having a lot of people come to me and talk about loneliness. I'm one of those strong friends, where friends talk to me a lot. And it was a reoccurring theme of loneliness and "what am I about?" The music that we're initially putting out is what we call deep gospel. We want to inspire people. That's how came about.

My next release, "Is My Living in Vain," is coming up soon and we're dedicating it to a comrade, a brother of mine, a friend who took his life during this pandemic. He came up with us in the industry, he was an A&R executive. I think you guys have a charity in his memorandum actually, the Quinn Coleman Fund.

I really want to make sure that during this time of pandemic, house music still has a place. It's about joy, about dancing, and about partying, but you have to do that to get through the darkness, right? And so, that's why we're talking about hope, we're going to be talking about loneliness, talking about being introspective, and having music that can move us and get through this.

Yes, Purple Label Sound is about elevating these underrepresented voices, but really it was a call to action for myself—and to the world at large—to take everything that I've done in my life and bring that together to create this label to make an impact on the music industry.

What's one of the biggest things you've learned from working with Dr. Cornel West over the years? I'm sure that's hard.

Yeah, there's so many nuggets. At one point I was inundated with his message so much, it's like I have his talking points in me. He stays on message. He's been saying "last year is the same thing as this year, same thing as two years ago." But I think the biggest thing [I learned] is leadership through service, and using your success and everything you have to generously elevate other people around you. That's the only way you become great. Greatness comes from using, as he says, "the magnanimity of your success." I think that's the biggest one, but there's another big one that's helped me throughout my career, my life, my friendships, and just getting through everything. It's, again, leading through love and service. Being a leader, and leading with your heart, with love and with service.

And one more, I really love how he has a good balance of telling it like it is and being a freedom fighter. He's also amazing at having really thoughtful and curious intellectual discussions with people who he may not agree with. To be honest, the only times you ever see him being in a heated debate is when the other person is disrespecting him. He always says something like, "I'm a gangster, but I'm coming by the blood of Jesus." I really respect how he's always been able to balance having engaging conversations with people across the political spectrum that don't agree with him. There's a mutual respect, and you can intellectualize and hold to your convictions and disagree with someone and hold them accountable and still love and respect them.

That's the hard work.

Yeah. Usually when you hold people accountable, you do it out of love. If you don't care, you won't say nothing.

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That's real. What kind of music did you grow up listening to?

So early on, it was a lot of, obviously, gospel. I grew up with Kirk Franklin and the Clark Sisters. The song I have coming out, "Is My Living in Vain," is a deep house cover of the Clark Sisters, who just had a Lifetime biopic come out about then, amazing. J. Moss, Fred Hammond and all those guys, and Yolanda Adams. But also, of course, Michael Jackson and Prince. My three titans going into high school were Missy [Elliott], Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. And I would say also the neo-soul vibe of Erykah, D'Angelo, Musiq Soulchild. Those are the people who I've studied.

Donny Hathaway, Kim Burrell. You know, R&B, soul and gospel. And of course, I'm a West Coast dude, I'm from Inglewood, so, I love, love Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and DJ Quik and Suga Free. I'm a West Coast hip-hop guy, for sure. I love Biggie, love all of the people on the East Coast, Wu-Tang and all them. All those are great, but I am West Coast, I love it.

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And what was sort of the point when you first got into house music, or first were curious about it and sort of dove into that scene?

Well, I've always been into four to the floor songs. Anytime when Justin Timberlake came out with his stuff with Timbaland, like "SexyBack." When Britney [Spears] came out with "I'm A Slave 4 U," and Madonna came out with her songs. I was always into drive-y songs, the disco songs.

But I really understood what it was when I started to hear it in college, when Afrojack had a song playing at the time. I was in the music industry program at USC, and a lot of my friends were into house music. I was exposed to really good stuff, really quick and dove deep into it. So that's how I got into it, by my friends around me in college. I started going to raves, and I really started really listening to the music. My roommate would just give me playlists, and I dove right into it immediately in like 2010, as soon as I got a whiff of it. My first rave was HARD Haunted Mansion or some shit. [Laughs.]

What's your biggest hope for 2021?

I hope that our nation can heal. And I hope that we can party again, man. [Laughs.] I want to travel! I want to go back to Mykonos. I want to go to Tulum, and Croatia, and Ibiza. Shit, I want to go to Miami and New York! I want to travel the world again, and I hope that we can heal as a nation, and as a world. That's my biggest hope, that we can heal, and that people have done the work that this pandemic, and this unique time in history has given us the opportunity to do.

It's really unique, and I'm so blessed to have—I saw that early on in my team. Me and my best friend, Marquees Ezekiel, we were at his house, working from home. He had just built an at-home gym, because we couldn't work out anywhere and had to work out. And the idea of this label just came about. It was like, "Let's go." It's so amazing how God moves, and how that inkling of idea, three, four months ago became this. But it's not overnight. I've been doing this music thing for years. I've been in the industry for years, and it's beautiful, it's crazy how the universe guides us, places everything in the right mode, to set it up the right way to be here and to talk to you.

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After nearly a decade in the commercial wilderness, Prince seemed determined to bring his music back to the masses with his 28th studio effort. While announcing its release, the Paisley Park legend had one thing to declare: "School's in session."

Eschewing the jazz fusion sound of his previous releases in favor of a more mainstream blend of pop, R&B, funk, and soul, Musicology proved to be a valuable lesson. It returned the megastar to the upper reaches of the Billboard 200, earned five GRAMMY nominations (and two wins), and reasserted Prince's place on the touring ladder. Even the previously dismissive critics came back on board, with Rolling Stone declaring it "as appealing, focused, and straight-up satisfying an album as Prince has made since who can remember when."

And while Prince was always a prolific artist, it seems Musicology was highly inspirational for the Purple One himself, too. Just two days after the album's release, Prince dropped both his 29th studio effort, The Chocolate Invasion, and his 30th, The Slaughterhouse, exclusively online.

Of course, it's the major label release that has become the more notable part of his remarkable oeuvre. Musicology paved the way for a string of further late-career classics and revived the legacy that's still going strong nearly ten years after his untimely death.

In honor of Musicology's 20th anniversary, here's a look at how Prince's masterclass reaffirmed his status as an artistic genius.

It Saw Prince Return To His Best Form… 

After three albums of jazz fusion (The Rainbow Children, Xpectation, N-E-W-S) and the piano-heavy One Nite Alone..., it appeared as though Prince was no longer interested in the melting pot of sounds that defined his imperial phase. But Musicology showed his polymathic tendencies were still intact.

Channeling the acts he explicitly namechecks (James Brown, Earth Wind and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone), the opening title track was the slickest, funkiest thing he'd put his mononym to in years. Accompanied by one of his most provocative videos, "Cinnamon Girl" harks back to the classic roots rock of the Rolling Stones, while the epic ballad "A Million Days," Marvin Gaye-esque soul of "Call My Name," and jam session "If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life" all further helped the record to live up to its "no boundaries" pre-release claims.

…And Also Saw Him Return To Lyrical Form 

It wasn't just on a musical level that Prince flourished. Whereas its predecessor was largely focused on his conversion to the Jehovah's Witnesses, Musicology's lyrics embraced more universal themes — from the domestic bliss of "Reflection" ("Did we remember to water the plants today") to infidelity drama "What Do U Want Me 2B."

Prince's sublime storytelling abilities are perhaps best showcased on "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance," a money versus love debate involving a gigolo and a much older socialite. He also proved he could still tackle serious issues with "Cinnamon Girl," the story of a mixed-race youngster impacted by post-9/11 paranoia. Gossip hounds, however, will be most intrigued by "Life O The Party," which appears to take a blatant pot shot at one of his fellow '80s superstars ("My voice is getting higher/ And I ain't never had my nose done/ That's the other guy").

It Brought Him Back To The Charts

Prince had been one of the dominant Billboard 200 artists of the 1980s with Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, and the Batman OST all reaching No. 1. But thanks to the record company dispute that inspired his name change to an unpronounceable squiggle, uncommercial release strategies (several albums were only available via his NPG fan club) and the general law of diminishing returns, his chart appeal started to wane from the mid-1990s onward. In fact, 2001's The Rainbow Children peaked no higher than 109!

However, issued through Columbia (his first major label release since Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic on Arista five years earlier), Musicology completely reversed his fortunes. Reaching No. 3, it became the star's first top 10 album since 1995's The Gold Experience and his highest charting since 1991's Diamonds and Pearls.

It Pioneered A New Sales Strategy 

In 2017, more than a third of the year's Billboard 200 chart-toppers benefited from ticket bundles, a release strategy in which a chart-eligible free copy of a new album is given away — when manually redeemed — with each concert sale. This included The Killers' Wonderful, Wonderful, Shania Twain's Now, and Kenny Chesney's Live in No Shoes Nation, the latter becoming the first live album to reach the spot in seven years.

While this was the technique's commercial pinnacle, the idea was actually first instigated by Prince. Indeed, proving that he could still be ahead of the curve in his fourth decade as an artist, Musicology was automatically made available to anyone attending Musicology Live 2004ever for no extra charge. This accounted for 125,000 copies (roughly 25 percent) of the 632,000 sold in its first five weeks. In fact, the experiment proved to be so successful that Billboard decided to change its rules to avoid the potential for chart manipulation.

It Gave Him Further GRAMMY Glory 

Keen to remind everyone of his inimitable talents in time for Musicology's release, Prince graced the GRAMMYs stage just two months beforehand and, with a little help from Beyoncé, brought the house down. The two generational icons kicked off the ceremony with a spellbinding medley which included the former's "Purple Rain," "Let's Go Crazy" and "Baby I'm a Star" and the latter's "Crazy in Love."

The following year, Prince was back as a five-time nominee. Not only were they his first R&B nominations in nearly a decade, but his two wins — for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Call My Name" and Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Musicology" — marked the Purple One's first GRAMMY wins since 1987.

It Set The Stage For A Trio Of Now-Classic Releases 

Prince certainly didn't waste the goodwill earned from his surprising commercial renaissance. In 2006, the Purple One achieved another major milestone when 3121 became his first album ever to debut atop the Billboard 200, knocking off the soundtrack from Disney phenomenon High School Musical in the process. Named after the address of the house he was renting during its recording, Prince's fourth U.S. chart-topper also spawned his first Hot 100 entry in seven years with the funky "Black Sweat."

Prince followed it up with 2007's No.3-peaking Planet Earth, a record controversially released for free as a Sunday newspapercovermount in the UK, but in the more traditional way this side of the Atlantic. And this particular golden period was wrapped up in 2009 with Lotusflow3r, a Target exclusive triple album also designed to showcase the talents of his latest protege Bria Valente, which reached No. 2. Without Musicology paving the way, this trio might not have attained late-classic status.

It Restored His Reputation As A Must-See Live Act 

While Prince had always remained a popular live draw no matter his commercial success, his touring presence since the start of the century had been a little unpredictable. His supposed 'world tour' of 2003 was largely confined to Australia; his One Nite Alone... run the year previously was more jazz club than regular gig, and 2001's A Celebration was reportedly cut short over a record company dispute.

Musicology fully restored him to must-see status. Its accompanying trek, which plotted 77 dates across 55 U.S. cities, sold over 1.4 million tickets, grossing a whopping $87.4 million along the way to become the most lucrative of 2004 — and the highest-grossing tour of Prince's career. Its success allowed Prince to launch a record-breaking 21-date residency at London's O2 Arena and the lengthier, guest-heavy Welcome 2 tour, during which he was joined on stage by everyone from Whitney Houston to Whoopi Goldberg.

It Fearlessly Embraced His Past 

Contrary to his previous array of jazz fusion albums, Musicology suggested Prince was now content to reconnect with his chart-topping megastar past. Its title track even concludes with some radio station surfing featuring snippets of "Kiss," "Little Red Corvette," and "If I Was Your Girlfriend."

It was a similar story with its accompanying tour. Giving exactly what his fans wanted, the set lists were largely comprised of his greatest hits, with his new album only getting a nod on a handful of occasions.

The Musicology era was Prince's way of showing that he hadn't forgotten why everyone fell in love with him in the first place, while simultaneously extending his creative legacy. Whether looking back at all of its accolades or checking out all of the celebrations on Prince's official Instagram page, it's clear that Musicology remains a vital part of the Purple One's catalog 20 years on. 

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GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter, producer and percussionist Sheila E. has certainly had a glamorous life — and has done a lot with it. 

The child of percussionist Pete Escovedo and goddaughter of legendary timbalero Tito Puente, Sheila Escovedo has been energizing stages for most of her life. First performing as a child, Sheila was one of few female percussionists in the 1970s and '80s, and rose to the upper echelons of the music industry — performing alongside Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Herbie Hancock and Diana Ross. Whether in session or onstage, her dynamism and inventiveness continually made Sheila the star of the show. 

"I think outside the box," Sheila E. tells GRAMMY.com. "You just come up with ideas and it doesn't have to be traditional. It just has to be from your heart, a feeling that makes sense, that compliments whatever song it may be." 

Sheila's energy and unique approach to playing drums, timbale, and percussion caught the attention of Prince, a unique artist in his own right. The two spent decades as creative partners – Sheila acting as the Purple One's drummer, producer, musical director and, for a time, romantic partner; Prince shepherded her 1984 solo debut, A Glamorous Life, into being — and worked together until his death. Among her lasting contributions to their musical legacy, Sheila performed on the Purple Rain sessions and toured the album, and her vocals appear on "Erotic City." The two duetted on Sheila's 1986 single "A Love Bizarre" and, fittingly, got engaged in the middle of a performance.

In addition to her list of impressive accomplishments (which include co-founding the educational nonprofit Elevate Oakland), Sheila E has released eight albums as a solo artist. Her ninth, Bailar, finds the one avenue Sheila had yet to pursue: salsa. 

Recorded in Miami with a cast of local musicians, the 10-track record features originals and covers in both Spanish and English, and its lead single — an energetic cover of Celia Cruz's "Bemba Colorá featuring Gloria Estefan & Mimy Succar — fittingly has Sheila playing percussion, timbale and singing. 

"This is the best record I've ever done. I feel that good about it," she says. Ahead of Bailar's April 5 release, Sheila E. spoke with GRAMMY.com about creating music in a new idiom, the importance of collaboration, and finding space in music. 

This interview has been edited for clarity.

You've been working in the funk, R&B and pop space for years. What brought you to salsa now?

I've wanted to do a salsa record for a long time. My bucket list is extensive, and then I met [GRAMMY-winning producer and timbale player] Tony Succar in 2015… he did a project and took Michael Jackson songs and flipped them into salsa. I said, "Man, if I ever do my salsa record, we have to do it together because you understand."

I'm bringing that Oakland vibe to salsa. My dad was a Latin jazz artist — that's the foundation of who I am —  however, he also played salsa music in the house. I grew up listening to Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz and Tito Rodriguez, and the Fania All-Stars.  Our whole family loves salsa dancing.

There was music that I had written for an R&B album that I didn't release, and I said we can take some of this and flip it into salsa. This is another side of me that I'm excited about sharing with the people. 

Bailar sounds like something you would hear in New York or Miami, but there's something slightly different about it. What are you bringing to this record that might be different from another salsa band?

Salsa is very demanding. It's specific and traditional; there are things that are supposed to be played in specific sections of a song — whether it's a conga rhythm, a timbal rhythm, a cowbell rhythm. The element of the Bay Area and the Latin jazz with a little bit of funk, that was me [adding something new]. 

I always wanted to do "Bemba Colorá." I did a rumba in front of it and took a conga solo, and when I got to the half-time of that song, I said, "I want to take a drum solo." I don't think anyone has taken a drum solo or have even played drums on this song…especially a woman. Just adding different elements like that, as well as the way that I mix: where I place the horns and where I place the percussion and where the bells are and where the drums are. 

Tony Succar and I produced this record together. I did a couple of arrangements [and] co-wrote seven of the 10 songs. The songs that I had already written were arranged, but then we wanted to flip them into salsa. 

Are there any other songs on this record that you're particularly proud of?

All of them. Every one is a different story. The only woman that I could think of to call [for "Bemba Colorá"] was Gloria Estefan; she's like my sister. Mimi Succar is a new and upcoming artist, so we had her to sing as well, and the three of us just had a blast. 

[Also] playing "Anacaona," which is a song I used to hear [by] Fania All-Stars and Cheo Feliciano. My dream was to have Rubén Blades sing on my record; he sang that song and I started crying. I was just overwhelmed. 

["El Rey del Timbal"] was one song that I had played with Tito [Puente] and my dad many times. When Tony sent me the demo, I listened to it and was like, "We got to go way faster than that. If Tito was playing it, he would've played it this way, and I know because I've played it with him."  So I started taking a solo, banging my legs while I was listening to it through the phone, and I just kept going faster, and then Tony's like, "Are you serious? This is 200-something BPMs." 

It was perfect for me taking the timbale solo, but when I had to then overdub and play all the parts on the bells and everything, it was so fast, I was like, What was I thinking? The horn section had it worse. A trumpet player yelled on the track  — "Ahh!" —  and I boosted him yelling [on the final mix], because that's real stuff.  It took everything for them. 

I'd love to hear a little bit about your relationship with Tito Puente and any important musical lessons he taught you, especially now that you're coming out with an album that's very much influenced by his work.

He was such an influence. He was amazing. He did so much for us as a family, musically, as well as being our friend and growing up listening to him. He and my dad met when they were 18, and having him around the house when I was growing up, I didn't even know he was.  

The biggest thing was we would go to New York, my dad and I, and we would sit in with Tito at the Palladium and the Corso. And back then, you'd have four bands playing in one night until 6 in the morning. And they would jump from one club to the other. It was the most stressful time because, as jazz artists, we didn't hardly sit in with salsa bands. I was like, "But papa, I don't know the clave, I don't understand what bell pattern or what conga pattern to play." He goes, "Don't worry about it. You don't listen to those guys. You just go play you."

So he kept encouraging [me]: it doesn't matter, you have the heart to go ahead. And my pops would say the same thing: We might not understand it technically, but we play it from our heart. [Tito] always encouraged me, and I got to play with Celia, Tito and [bassist] Cachao [Lopez] at the same time.

What a dream come true. Tito introduced me to all of these musicians as well, but really just telling everybody, "You be quiet and just let Sheila play."

Read more: Celebrating Tito Puente's Centennial: 10 Essential Songs By The Mambo King

Bailar is a bit more celebratory than your last album, 2017's Iconic: Message 4 America, which was heavily political. Obviously we continue to live in increasingly fraught times; why was it important for you to put more positive messages out into the world? One of your tracks is even called "Possibilities."

We are living in hard times, and it's challenging. Things are changing every single day. And everyone is going through something every single day.  One of the things that has been such a blessing to me is the gift of music. I don't take it for granted. To be able to share music and at least make people happy for the five minutes that you listen to this song or the entire record…is healing.

Many times in my shows, people end up crying. It's emotional, and music brings joy. It lifts you up. It brings you to a place of happiness and love, and we just want you to have a good time. But the joy that I get to be able to do this, it heals me too. And I just thought it was important.

Your work and relationship with Prince is so extensive and deep. What would you consider the peak of your creative partnership?

I don't think there ever was. We continued to grow and just kept experimenting on different sounds, and recording and jamming. We first jammed together in 1977 when he came to my house. We either recorded or played together [on] so many songs. There's still tons of stuff in the vault…I counted at least 200 songs I played on that I haven't even heard yet.

We were always jamming, coming up with something, or recording. A lot of times I would engineer for him as well; it's just he and I [in the room] most of the time. I taught myself some engineering when I was growing up; I saved all my money and started buying recording gear so I could learn how to write and produce myself when I was in my teens. 

So when I started to record with [Prince], I had already recorded songs on tape before. Being in the studio with him, we would see who could stay up the longest, who's going to fall asleep first. We would catch each other [falling asleep] almost at the same time. 

*You also worked with Prince on your debut album, 1984's The Glamorous Life. You'd been working so much as a musician up to that point already that it's interesting to think of it as your debut. How did you work on that project together?*

We had already been jamming and playing together before we did all that. And I had been out on tour with so many artists beforehand; when we first met, I was already touring with George Duke in the mid-'70s. [Prince was] like, "I've been watching you and I'm following your career, and maybe one day we could do something together." 

He started doing all these albums, and then he becomes the Prince that we all know. He changed every record, which was amazing musically. At the time [we recorded Glamorous Life], he was at Sunset Sound [recording studio and] he had all the rooms going at the same time. We just went in and started recording.

Prince was very involved in getting me the deal with Warner Brothers. He just one day said, "You want to do the record now?" And I was like, "Yeah, I think I'm ready. Let's do it." It was that simple. We went into the studio and we were pretty much done with my record, from top to bottom, in a week.

We just stayed in there, literally no sleep. We were so excited. We had so much fun.

Back then, I wasn't really playing drums a lot. I wanted to make sure that my percussion was in the forefront, and he knew that too. That's how Glamorous Life came about, to showcase me in a light that I wasn't really a singer. I was a percussion player leading my band, playing timbales, which no one really understood because, in pop culture, no one had done that. 

So it took even a minute for [Warner Brothers] to understand releasing the record. They wanted to release "Belle of St. Mark" first as the single and not "Glamorous Life"; I had to fight them on it because I said, "'Glamorous Life' is a song that is important to me, and it showcases me as a percussionist and a singer. If I do 'Belle of St. Mark,' it's only me singing. I'm not even playing percussion."

I would love to hear about other musical collaborators who are a big part of your story.

I've been able to play with so many people: George Duke and my dad, and [drummer] Billy Cobham, [bassist] Alfonso Johnson, and it went on. Then [jazz guitarist] Lee Ritenour and [jazz pianist] Patrice Rushen and all of these other artists; Herbie Hancock…. Then you go switch over to Marvin Gaye, and then you go to Brooks & Dunn. I just hopped all over the place with Con Funk Shun and sitting in with so many people and recording. When we do these events, you get to sit and play with Phil Collins and Elton John; I'll just play percussion, I'll be the backup. I don't need to be in the front. Part of what I love is I get to be on both sides.

I can be a team player and play with a group, which is so exciting. Or if you want to feature me, that's fine. That's kind of what had happened throughout my life; anyone that I performed with would just say, "Sheila, you just go out in the front." They would push me out there. Marvin Gaye is like, "Sheila, you take over. I'm going to go back and change." He made it a part of his show. And then same thing with Lionel Richie. Everyone would just feature me, it became that thing. Everyone has influenced me in some sort of way.

You're out there being featured and just putting so much into your performances. You have this incredible amount of energy. What powers you?

God's given me the gift and point-blank. I am forever grateful to be able to do what I get to do because of that gift. I don't take it for granted. 

You have musical directed the Obama's Festival Latina, the Recording Academy's Tribute to Prince, and of course, you were his musical director for many years. Does that work require a special set of musical muscles?

When it comes to music and just being an artist, whatever you put into it is what you get out. I would always do the homework that was needed to play with an artist — learn all the music — so when I walked into a situation, I would walk in with confidence. I wasn't a great reader at all; it was really all by ear. That preparation is everything. 

Putting together my first ever band during that time in the early '80s, I knew what I wanted. [Today] I'm able to put together projects and put the right people together. For some people, it's just a gig and for me, it's more than that. It's a lifestyle and it's family and it's trust and it's respect. 

How did you choose the music for "Let's Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Tribute To Prince"?

Some of the songs they already had, some of the other songs I suggested. Almost everything that they were going to play, I knew and I had a lot of the original music. I had a lot of the samples; I had Prince's vocals. There were things that I had that could help in some of the arrangements, and a lot of the arrangements I used from my show. 

You try to adjust to make sure that [the artists] shine and that they feel comfortable, because everyone was really nervous. I had many conversations with people making sure, "Is this a good key for you?" Making sure that "You don't have to sing it like Prince. This is your representation of who you are and you happen to be doing a Prince song and no one's going to judge you for it." 

Speaking of collaborative efforts, The Greatest Night in Pop music doc came out recently. What do you remember from recording "We Are the World"? 

I kind of didn't want to do it because, initially, we were on the Purple Rain tour [and] we were exhausted. At some point I thought,  Do I even belong in that caliber of people? 

[At the "We Are The World" session,] everyone was hanging out, everybody was really cool. No one had a huge entourage. I was excited to meet people I hadn't met before. One of the people I was excited about meeting was Cyndi Lauper. I loved her. I wanted to meet Bruce Springsteen, the boss. 

In that moment of being in that room with everyone, and it was just amazing to [think], Wow, we're going to do something incredible to be able to raise money for people who are starving.  Then you just take a breath and you do what you do, and then things happen.

Do you think that you have changed or contributed to the sound of percussion in R&B and pop music?

My style is my style. Different artists from the Bay — Sly and the Family Stone, Carlos Santana, my dad's band [Azteca], Grateful Dead, Tower Of Power, of course, Pointer Sisters — listening to all those bands and being able to watch their rehearsals when I was a teenager influenced me. 

The key was being adaptable to what needed to be for that specific song. You have to make up your own beats, because being a percussion player is like [working on] a beautiful painting that's already painted and they're asking you to put one color in there or you see a space — what would you put in that space? 

It's not about playing all over the place and playing something that doesn't belong. You have to figure out those spaces and, to me, the most important part of music is space. That space is what allows a song to breathe.

I would use different things even in the studios; I didn't use all of the right mics all the time. I would bite on an apple and sample it and put that sound on top of the snare. I just experimented. I started on pots and pans, and I used keys, and I used a spray bottle can that blows out air to clean your computer as a high hat. Everything can be musical. 

One of the biggest things is Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough." Quincy [Jones] had called me and said, "Michael wants this kind of sound, I don't know what it is, bring all your toys." I brought everything. I ended up getting two bottles and I poured water in it, and I used the holder to play the triangle on the sides of the bottle. So "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" has those bottles.  

You just come up with ideas and it doesn't have to be traditional. It just has to be from your heart, a feeling that makes sense, that compliments whatever song it may be.

Are there any other female percussionists out there right now that you see carrying the torch that you lit?

Oh my God. There are so many drummers right now. I go on social media frequently throughout the week, and I try to find at least someone new and DM them and say, "You're amazing. God bless you. Thank you for your gift. Keep doing what you're doing," and people freak out. 

That's part of my job, to continue to encourage the young people to keep playing. 

You've mentioned in previous interviews that you've dealt with a lot of harassment throughout your career as a woman playing an instrument that women don't traditionally play. I'd like to know how you continued to move forward and own your vision in an industry, and in an era, where women are often belittled or posited as like sex objects.

When I first started, I didn't know it was a big deal that I was one of few — or one of one — that was doing what I was doing. In the Bay Area, you see a lot of women playing percussion. In Berkeley, we all go and hang out at the park and everyone plays and it's like 20 or 30 of us and whoever brings their instrument, they just jam with us.

Coming to L.A. and recording with other artists, when I walked into a room, the drummer would say, "Can you get me a cup of coffee?" And I'm like, "I'll get it for you but I'm not the receptionist or anything. I'm the percussion player." They would freak out. 

When that first started happening and things were being said that were really rude and bad, I would go back to my parents. They would just say, "You just keep doing what you're doing. They're jealous or they're mad because you're there, or they've never seen anyone like you. You have a gift and you just go ahead. You learn the music, know what you have to do, so when you walk in with confidence, it's not an issue." A lot of the time, those musicians were not prepared, and I was, and they hated me even more because I knew everything. 

I got so much joy out of performing. And even with all the nos and the nastiness and the stuff that was being said [like], "Hey, if you sleep with me," all of these other things. It just made me stronger. You keep pushing through; you just keep playing. 

When you find your passion and that's your purpose, no one can stop you.  I stand on that word.

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The Recording Academy has announced 10 recordings to be newly inducted to the distinguished GRAMMY Hall Of Fame as part of its 2024 inductee class and in celebration of its 50th anniversary this year. This year's GRAMMY Hall of Fame additions, the first inductions since 2021, include four albums and six singles that exhibit qualitative or historical significance and are at least 25 years old. The inducted recordings, which will be added to the iconic catalog residing at the GRAMMY Museum, will be honored at GRAMMY Museum's inaugural GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Gala and concert, presented by City National Bank, taking place Tuesday, May 21, at the NOVO Theater in Los Angeles. Tickets for and performers at the Gala will be announced at a later date. 

The 2024 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inducted recordings range from Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction. Others include recordings by De La Soul, Buena Vista Social Club, Donna Summer, Charley Pride, Wanda Jackson, Kid Ory's Creole Orchestra, the Doobie Brothers, and William Bell. Eligible recipients will receive an official certificate from the Recording Academy. With these 10 newly inducted titles, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame currently totals 1,152 inducted recordings.

See below for a full list of the 2024 recordings inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, and see the full list of all past GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inducted recordings.

Full list of 2024 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Inducted Recordings:

3 FEET HIGH AND RISING
De La Soul
Tommy Boy (1989)
(Album)
Inducted: 2024

APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
Guns N' Roses
Geffen (1987)
(Album)
Inducted: 2024

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Buena Vista Social Club
World Circuit/Nonesuch (1997)
(Album)
Inducted: 2024

“I FEEL LOVE”
Donna Summer
Casablanca (1977)
(Single)
Inducted: 2024

“KISS AN ANGEL GOOD MORNIN'“
Charley Pride
RCA Victor (1971)
(Single)
Inducted: 2024

“LET'S HAVE A PARTY”
Wanda Jackson
Capitol (1960)
(Single)
Inducted: 2024

THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL
Lauryn Hill
Ruffhouse/Columbia (1998)
(Album)
Inducted: 2024

“ORY'S CREOLE TROMBONE”
Kid Ory's Creole Orchestra (As Spike's Seven Pods of Pepper Orchestra)
Nordskog (1922)
(Single)
2024

“WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES”
The Doobie Brothers
Warner Bros. (1978)
(Single)
Inducted: 2024

“YOU DON'T MISS YOUR WATER”
William Bell
Stax (1961)
(Single)
Inducted: 2024

"We're proud to unveil the diverse mix of recordings entering the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in its 50th year," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. said in a statement. "The music showcased here has played a pivotal role in shaping our cultural landscape, and it's a true honor to recognize these albums and recordings, along with the profound influence each has had on music and beyond."

"The artists, songwriters, producers, and engineers who composed this year's inducted recordings are a reflection of the sheer talent and hard work that goes into creating such seminal music," GRAMMY Museum President/CEO Michael Sticka said in a statement. "It's a privilege to be able to welcome these new additions into our distinguished catalog and celebrate the recordings at our inaugural gala on May 21."

The GRAMMY Hall Of Fame was established by the Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973. The inducted recordings are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts with final ratification by the Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees.

This year, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Gala will be the first of what will become an annual event and includes a red carpet and VIP reception on the newly opened Ray Charles Terrace at the GRAMMY Museum, followed by a one-of-a-kind concert at the NOVO Theater in downtown Los Angeles. 

The inaugural gala and concert is produced by longtime executive producer of the GRAMMY Awards, Ken Ehrlich, along with Chantel Sausedo and Ron Basile and will feature musical direction by globally renowned producer and keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. For sponsorship opportunities, reach out to halloffame@grammymuseum.org.

Explore the history of the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame

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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