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Justin Timberlake · S5 E4
Meeting Timbaland
The secret weapon nobody saw coming
Virginia Beach, 2002. Justin Timberlake walks into a studio, hangs up a phone call with his ex-girlfriend, and tells Timbaland he has an idea for a song.
Justin Timberlake, Cry Me a River (2002). Director Francis Lawrence films a Britney lookalike in a rain-soaked Malibu house while Justin stalks through shadows singing the most personal breakup song of the decade. The boy band kid is gone. This is someone else entirely.
The Phone Call That Started Everything
Timbaland later explained that Justin had just gotten off the phone with Britney when he walked into the studio and said he wanted to write something. She'd mentioned his name at a recent concert, and it got under his skin. What came out of that session was a revenge track so precise, so clearly aimed at one person, that the entire world knew exactly who it was about without a single name being spoken.
Cry Me a River, Justin Timberlake (2002)
Timbaland builds the track around a beatboxed rhythm and a haunting, looping vocal sample that floats above everything like a ghost. Scott Storch plays clavinet underneath while Larry Gold's string arrangement creeps in during the second verse, adding a cinematic weight that most pop records never attempt. Listen for how Justin's vocal shifts between a whispered confession in the verses and a full-throated cry in the chorus, switching registers like two different people telling the same story.
“I wrote Justified in, like, six weeks. Start to finish. Pharrell and Timbaland brought the beats, and I just sang what I was feeling.”
— Justin Timberlake, on recording the Justified album
TAP TO REVEAL: Who played the Britney lookalike in the "Cry Me a River" video?
Master Sound Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Where Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and The Neptunes recorded the bulk of Justified in six weeks, transforming a boy band singer into an R&B solo artist.
Who co-wrote "Cry Me a River" with Justin Timberlake?
Cry Me a River: The Impact
Take It from Here, Justin Timberlake
A Justified deep cut that strips away the swagger and lets Justin be completely exposed. Where "Cry Me a River" is pointed and accusatory, this track is reflective, almost tender. The production is minimal enough that you can hear him breathing between phrases. It's the most emotionally honest moment on an album built around heartbreak and reinvention.
Take It from Here, Justin Timberlake (2002)
The quiet confession buried at the end of Justified. No production tricks, no falsetto fireworks, just a voice and a thought. If "Cry Me a River" is the public version of the breakup, this is the private one.
Not a Boy Band Anymore
Justified sold over ten million copies worldwide and proved that Justin Timberlake could carry a record without four other voices behind him. The album was written in six weeks, recorded primarily in Virginia Beach, and produced almost entirely by two production teams: The Neptunes and Timbaland. It sounded nothing like *NSYNC, and that was the whole point.
The album is done. The revenge track is climbing the charts. But the world hasn't seen solo Justin perform yet. Next: a giant boombox, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the moment 10 million people realize *NSYNC is never coming back.
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