Justin Timberlake has shared a new behind-the-scenes video about the making of his forthcoming album Man Of The Woods. The clip features appearances from Pharrell, Chad, Timbaland, Jessica Biel and Chris Stapleton, as well as previews of new music. Man Of The Woods is out February 2 (via RCA). It’s led by the single “Filthy,” his next single is called ‘Supplies’ produced by The Neptunes which will be out tonight!
It’s the first time The Neptunes worked on a Timberlake album since the singer’s 2002 solo debut Justified. In a new interview with Zane Lowe, Timberlake has now revealed the reason behind the decade-plus gap in collaboration, and it had to do with Clipse and their troubles with Jive Records. “Everyone remembers Clipse,” Timberlake began. “Clipse was signed to Jive Records, which I was signed to. I don’t know what went on with their deal, but I do remember that Pharrell was very adamant about getting them out of the deal. So it became—from my understanding, you know—it became challenging for him to work with any Jive artist at that point.”
In the early ‘00s, Clipse, childhood friends of Pharrell and Chad—were signed to The Neptunes’ Star Trak Entertainment, an imprint of Arista. But label restructuring in 2004 left Clipse on Jive Records, separated from Star Trak, which became part of Interscope. Clipse sued Jive to get out of their contract and join Star Trak at Interscope, and though the suit was eventually settled with Jive agreeing to distribute Clipse’s Re-Up Gang Records, the bad blood persisted until 2007, when Clipse finally left Jive for Columbia Records.
Timberlake continued: “If I’m being totally honest about it I was extremely hurt being caught up in the middle of it, but at the same time I had—listen—I had a shitload of money stolen, you know, from me by somebody else when I was in the group [*NSYNC]. I had already gone through legal troubles, and I kind of felt like, you know what, I’m at this point where I feel like I have so much ahead of me, I just don’t want to be in the middle of the record label and somebody that, you know, I consider a friend. And so I feel like I kind of just removed myself from the situation.
When Timberlake says he “had a shitload of money stolen” it is possible that he’s referring to the late Lou Pearlman, the manager who helped launched *NSYNC’s career. Pearlman sued the boy band in the late ’90s. Timberlake’s comments about Jive echo remarks Pharrell made back in 2005. “Me and Justin are good friends and I wanna work on his album [FutureSex/LoveSounds], but there are political issues with where he’s signed,” he said, according to MTV. “I can’t get into it, but all I’m saying is Justin is my boy, he’s like a little bro to me, but I can’t really… the company that he’s with….”
Justin Timberlake – Man Of The Woods (2018) (February 2)
01 – Filthy (Timbaland & Danja)
02 – Midnight Summer Jam (The Neptunes)
03 – Sauce (Timbaland & Danja)
04 – Man Of The Woods (The Neptunes)
05 – Higher, Higher (The Neptunes)
06 – Wave (The Neptunes)
07 – Supplies (The Neptunes)
08 – Morning Light feat. Alicia Keys) (Rob Knox)
09 – Say Something feat. Chris Stapleton (Timbaland & Danja)
10 – Hers (Interlude) (Justin Timberlake)
11 – Flannel (The Neptunes)
12 – Montana (The Neptunes)
13 – Breeze Off The Pond (The Neptunes)
14 – Livin’ Off The Land (The Neptunes)
15 – The Hard Stuff (Rob Knox)
16 – Young Man