It’s been 7 long years since Justin Timberlake blessed us with his exceptional FutureSex/LoveSounds. Many of us (myself included) probably just assumed that with his solid jump to film and his brilliant turns on SNL that our days of pumping up new JT were long behind us. 

But he decided to come back, and in the grandest way possible. With an announcement back in February that he would be dropping his new album, The 20/20 Experience, in March, we began a whirlwind journey from dramatic website announcement video to sexy first single “Suit and Tie,” to his triumphant return at The Grammys and SNL. 

So what do we really think of The 20/20 Experience? Many are whining that it’s a mistake, that he should have just stuck to his pop roots and given us another “Sexy Back.” I disagree. Musical evolution is necessary, and Timberlake has embraced that ideology through and through, and with fantastic results. 

Granted, I’m a little biased; I’ve always always adored JT and pretty much found him to be one of the hardest working, likable guys in the biz. Regardless, I was prepared to judge very harshly when this new album dropped. And at first listen, I thought it was good, but WAY different than what I was expecting. Having now listened to it 10+ times, I can safely say that it’s pretty darn phenomenal. 

The 20/20 Experience is leaps and bounds different than his previous endeavor, FutureSex/LoveSounds. Whereas that album was about 25 year olds and skinny jeans and slick pickup lines and sweaty makeouts on the dance floor, The 20/20 Experience is about 33 year olds, tailored suits, declarations of love, and babymakin’. There is no question his music has evolved from radio-friendly pop hits to can-be-radio-friendly-but-he-doesn’t-really-care-one-way-or-the-other soulful anthems. His Memphis roots shine through brilliantly, particularly on the brilliant “That Girl,” where his Tennessee Kids join him for a knee-slapping good time. 

More apparent here are passionate, soulful stories to be told. These tunes are lyrical and catchy, because of course they are, but they’re also deep, meaningful proclamations of love, desire, and class. The 20/20 Experience has more jazz and R&B influences than his previous work, and it’s exemplified especially well on tracks like “Blue Ocean Floor,” “Suit and Tie,” “Strawberry Bubblegum,” and “Spaceship Coupe.” 

But don’t get me wrong, his signature pop enthusiasm and charm are still present, but it’s less of his lingering early 2000 personality and more of his suave mature persona he’s developed over the past 7 years. Particularly reminiscent of FutureSex/LoveSounds are tracks “Mirrors,” “Don’t Hold the Wall,” “That Girl,” and “Tunnel Vision.” They’re catchy as hell, lyrically clever beyond anything on the radio right now, and body-moving in the best possible way. 

The few new tunes that seem to be wavering in between old JT and new JT are “Let the Groove In,” a fast-paced tribal sounding jam, and “Strawberry Bubblegum,” a sexy slow-jam that’s just the perfect mix of pop and R&B. It’s damn hot. 

The 20/20 Experience is different and fresh and so much more mature than his previous work, but for good. If you’re a loyal Timberlake fan, embracing his new sound won’t be that difficult for you. But if you’re expecting more “Sexy Back” and less “Let’s Get it On,” you might be out of luck. 

Grade: A

Whatchyou think? “Mirrors” is one of my favorite songs on his new album, The 20/20 Experience, so even if it was just him singing to his own reflection for 8 minutes, I’d be okay with that. 

And what I really mean is holy crap, I LOVE THIS. 

OBVIOUSLY. 

You heard that right. Now stop squealing and listen. 

Austin news station KVUE has reported that Justin Timberlake will indeed be in town during SXSW. He’ll reportedly be throwing an epic private party, with possible (read: totally) surprise performance somewhere. 

Sure, the party may be private, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be on the lookout for that sexy motherfucker, right? GAME ON, TIMBERLAKE.

Holla holla holla halleluja! 

SNL decided to do the only thing that makes sense, and announced today that brilliant host and wearer of dapper duds Justin Timberlake will be back as both host and musical guest for the March 9 episode. 

I’m not gonna say that I was responsible for this, (see my future-predicting tweet below), but I’m going to say that I was responsible for this. 

Do you think @nbcsnl will take the opportunity of @jtimberlake’s new album to bring him on as host and musical guest again this year?!

February 10, 2013

Considering how I could give a crap less about Kevin Hart’s hosting gig, and several of the last hosts have underperformed, you bet your ass I’m more than stoked at JT’s return. He is one of the best hosts the show has ever seen, and it’s been a nice long time since we’ve seen him bring it on down in an ill-fitting food outfit. I just hope we get some sort of musical short with this episode, as that would be a SEVERE missed opportunity if not. 

Can’t wait till March 9! 

I’m lookin at you JT. 

HOT DAMN! 

Grammys were back last night, and aside from a ill-advised memo regarding stars showing too much skin, the show went off without a hitch. Mumford and Sons wins, Gotye wins, Frank Ocean rocks, Adele is adorable, Taylor Swift is sexy, but perhaps most importantly, Justin Timberlake is BACK!

But enough of all that. Let’s get to the fashion. Here’s my list of the Best and Worst Dressed of the 2013 Grammys. 

BEST

WORST

List of big winners below: 

Album of the Year
Mumford and Sons, Babel

Record of the Year
Gotye feat. Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used to Know”

Best New Artist
Fun.

Best Country Album
Zac Brown Band, Uncaged

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Jay-Z and Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean, “No Church in the Wild”

Best Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson, Stronger

Best Rock Performance
The Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”

Best Urban Contemporary Album
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

Song of the Year
Fun. feat Janelle Monae, “We Are Young”

Best Country Solo Performance
Carrie Underwood, “Blown Away”

Best Pop Solo Performance
Adele, “Set Fire to the Rain (Live)”

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Gotye featuring Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”

And just one more time for good measure: 

Word on the street is that Justin Timberlake will be performing at the Grammy awards on Sunday, Feb. 10. I think the Grammys are usually pretty lame, but if I can get some JT/Jay-Z action, I. Am. All. Set. 

Welcome back old friend. 

Is it just me or is this not as good as I wanted it to be? 

After his cryptic anouncement last week, he released this new single on his website on Sunday. It’s far more babymakin’-R&B-meets-pop than it is sexy-pop-with-a-little-bit-of-soul/MJ inspirations like his last album. Not sure if I’m a fan. Even if it does feature Jay Z, who on any given day I love to moon and back. So…what I’m trying to say here is, welcome back JT?

His new album is entitled The 20/20 Experience. Whatever that means. 

In a new video released today on countdown.justintimberlake.com, JT dropped some serious news: he’s back in the recording studio and is ready to make some new tunes! This is the best news of the day, and this day already includes the Oscar noms and the news that Destiny’s Child is reuniting. SO YEAH. Fuck yeah. Damn, JT we’ve been waiting a long ass time for you to come back from your Friends with Benefits and your Social Networks and shit. Straight up, sexy, catchy as hell music is where it’s at for you. 

Did you have to go an make a little video tell us you’re back in it to win it? No, it’s a little gratuitous. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the fuck out of it. 

The clock on his site is counting down to this Sunday, Jan. 13. Expect big news that day. 

WELCOME BACK JUSTIN. WE’VE MISSED YOU. 

I’m not sure if it’s because this actually looks like a pretty solid movie, because I love Clint Eastwood, or because Eastwood reminds me so much of my dad, but I totally hard core teared up when I watched this trailer. I love baseball, I love Eastwood, and I love Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. I also love the song used in this trailer. And OMG I clearly can’t even handle the trailer so I don’t know how I’m going to handle the movie but YES. 

The film is about “n aging Atlanta Braves scout with vision problems whose daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), reluctantly agrees to be his eyes on a crucial recruiting trip.” (via EW)

It also stars Justin Timberlake (obvs) and Matthew Lillard. Baseball and Clint Eastwood? Sign me up. 

Holy hell hallelujah my girl Maya is back! And what a triumphant return it was. I have very few negative things to say about this episode, as it filled me with glee almost through and through the entire hour and a half. Sure there were come clunkers, but overall it was a really pleasing evening. (Not as funny as Jimmy Fallon’s return, but darn close) So I’m going to get right to it! 

The cold open was NOT a political sketch, so it already is miles ahead of most cold opens in my book. It was a sketch about LINsanity and the racial slurs surrounding it. Not bad. 

Maya’s monologue was LEGIT. She sang, she busted a move, she made sexual jokes. It was a freaking blast. They did it up big for her, and it paid off in one of the most enjoyable monologues in a while. But OF COURSE this clip is not available online at the moment.

Up next we had—wait for it—BRONX BEAT!!!!! Yes. People, we got the return of one of my favorite sketches of all time WITH Amy Poehler!!! This was just the beginning of cool cameos. Okay, I can’t hold it—Justin Timberlake showed his face to Jodi and Betty!! It was like they’d never left. 

We got an edition of What Up With That?, and I was kind of dozing during this one, but this sketch kind of lost its luster a while back, and what I do remember was just al right. There were cameos in this one too, but none that I care for. 

We got an original sketch about Beyonce and Jay Z’s baby and holy hell I was DYING. This was such a funny sketch—filled with impressions, another Timberlake appearance that had me almost crying laughing, and everyone involved just being flat out awesome. I was laughing SO HARD you guys. 

Weekend Update was all right (felt a bit short, actually), except for the part where we got another fantastic appearance by Amy Poehler for one of my favorite segments ‘REALLY?!?! with Seth and Amy. It was great, and Poehler did us all a solid and stuck around to co-host the rest of update. She’s so wonderful I just can’t even handle it. 

If you love it when SNL players lose their shit on live TV (and let’s face it—who doesn’t?), then you’re in luck. With the sketch Super Showcase, a Price is Right spoof, we were treated to not one, not two, but three of the best SNL players ever breaking during the sketch. Rudolph and Wiig TOTALLY committed and it was so weirdly wonderful that it got all of them and Bill Hader especially to just fucking lose it. I love it SO MUCH when that happens. Even if a sketch is just mildly comical, if someone can’t keep a straight face, it automatically becomes 20 times funnier. 

We got a silly fauxmercial for a Maya Angelou Punk’d type show which was not that funny. Rudolph’s Maya Angelou impression is always solid though. 

And as if SNL might suffer from some sort of seizure if they left out any sort of political comedy, we finally get to it in a sketch about Barack Obama’s support from black voters. It was comical enough, in that way that playing off of racist stereotypes can be funny when paired with Obama jokes. 

I’ll leave the next few words with you and you can make your own judgements: The Cosby Obama Show. Okay, I won’t leave you to make your own judgements—it pretty much blew. 

Sleigh Bells were Sleigh Bells. 

And in what I think was the most jarring moment of the night (for me anyway), the show cut to commercial about midway through and revealed that the next host would be none other than Lindsay Lohan. Now, you may be thinking WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?! like me. At least, for your own dignity, I hope that’s what you are thinking. She hasn’t been relevant for some time now. And even worse, she’s been a fucking joke for the past several years during her stay at the Irrelevance Inn. I have NO idea what SNL is thinking. Sure, they’ve made some weird choices in the past with hosts and musical guests alike. But this is just plain stupid. She is the laughing stock of, oh, I think the world at this point! Not to mention she’s a terrible person and someone NO ONE looks up to (no decent humans anyway). She’s committed so many crimes, what is SNL trying to say by rewarding that kind of behavior and D-list status? I question their motives, and I question their sanity with this. It will be with a heavy heart and hopefully a strong stomach that I watch that episode in 2 weeks. 

You’ve been warned. 

Also, I just wanted to include this because it touched my heart so—towards the end of the show, we were treated to a lovely image of the Golden Years of SNL—with heroes like Belushi, Radner, Akroyd, Murray all surrounding our darling of the hour, Maya. It is such a lovely image. Delightful.