Justin Timberlake Producer Timbaland Confirms Country Record. “I Don’t Discriminate No Genres”
Justin Timberlake is going country, and you’d have to be stuck on Mars with blinders and earplugs on not to notice this. The only reason the complicit country and entertainment media have yet to report it is because they’re paralyzed unless someone hands them a press release and gives them marching orders.
Justin Timberlake has said he wanted to make a country record in the past, he recently bought property just south of Nashville, it’s been confirmed he’s recording in Nashville as we speak, and he even released an old song “Drink You Away” to country radio.
Now long-time Justin Timberlake producer and collaborator Timbaland has confirmed Timberlake is indeed making a country record, and that he is and will be an integral part of the recording process. Speaking to the morons over at TMZ, who asked Timbaland if he and Justin Timberlake were making a country record, Timbaland responded,
“You mean, are we gonna go country? Well guess what, we are country. He’s from Tennessee, I’m from Virginia. It’s only right that we try to tap into you know, what we was raised, in, you know? And I feel like I was raised, we was raised in the country. I mean, that’s who we are. I mean we love love songs. We heard our parents sing ’em. You know, the old country songs. But now it’s a new generation of country. So “Drink You Away” was done on the ’20/20 Experience’ so, it’s now it’s one of the biggest songs, starting to be the biggest songs, but we always wanted to do country music. We thought some of the lyrics were country.”
Timbaland says that “Drink You Away” is “one of the “biggest songs,” but it is yet to be determined if it will be one of the biggest songs in country. The song did shoot up the iTunes and digital charts after Timberlake performed it with Chris Stapleton on the CMA Awards November 4th, but so far there’s been no significant movement on country radio to add it to rotations. It’s still early though.
“So are you saying that you are actually recording?” TMZ asked.
“I gotta break country. I gotta tap into country,” Timbaland responds. “I’m already posted up in Nashville. I’ve got a little spot in Nashville, so. That’s something I want to do ’cause I am music. So I can’t, I don’t discriminate no genres. I just like I learn it, I study it, and I love it. You know, it’s like, you know, one day you might like ice cream, one day you may want some apple pie with ice cream. You know it’s like that. That’s how I look at it. I don’t discriminate.”
“So you and Justin are doing a country album?” TMZ asks for a third damn time.
“You know what? Now that you put it out there? Why not?” Timbaland responded.
Justin Timberlake was also hassled by TMZ at the Chris Stapleton show at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on Monday (11-16). A clearly inebriated Timberlake could be heard saying, “See you soon, man” to Stapleton as he exited the country singer’s bus.
Some have wondered if Stapleton and Timberlake have been writing songs together, and if producer Dave Cobb might possibly be involved in the new Timberlake record since he produced Stapleton’s last album in Studio ‘A’ in Nashville—the same studio Timberlake is rumored to be recording in. But whether any country producers or songwriters are involved in the project, Timbaland appears to be along for the ride as well.
November 18, 2015 @ 10:38 am
His “music” is as strong as his grasp of the English language.
Timbaland / Timberlake, what the difference?
November 18, 2015 @ 10:41 am
Well that was just painful to, you know, try to listen to this guy speak English.
November 18, 2015 @ 10:51 am
That feller talks just like Chase Rice and Fl/GA Line..He really IS country!
November 18, 2015 @ 10:57 am
Well, to me he looks like someone who has nothing to do with country music, but I’m sure he can produce an album which is more country than what FGL and Sam Hunt put out. No that this takes much.
Anyway I think JT will go in the direction of this new metro-country mess that is poisoning country radio right now.
He’s a worldwide superstar, I don’t see him put out a traditional country album which may alienate his fans around the globe. I really have no hopes. Is he talented? Maybe. But this doesn’t mean he won’t join what’s hot in Nashville right now.
November 18, 2015 @ 11:13 am
Maybe, but it would likely be done well at least. Think of “Chattanoga Lucy” on Eric Church’s new record, or even JTs “Drink You Away”. No, these songs aren’t exactly country, but they’re still well done, especially compared to the radio stuff. If JT is going to use R&B elements in the album, it doesn’t have to suck necessarily.
November 19, 2015 @ 4:06 pm
The fact that he’s a worldwide superstar is exactly why he isn’t going to go metro-crap.
He’s a brand at this point. He doesn’t have to worry about “alienating fans around the globe,” any more than Swift did with Red or 1989.
He can do whatever the fuck he wants, which is why he’s making a country record.
November 18, 2015 @ 11:21 am
As glad as I am to see Timberlake making the foray into country music, Timbaland is the wrong producer to helm this project.
Much like Timberlake, Timbaland’s style is defined by opulence and ambition. He is anything but half-assed in what he does. However, simplicity is a hallmark of country composition, and it’s an antonym to all Timbaland has produced. His work is known to notoriously go on to absurdly lengthy runtimes track to track (see both “The 20/20 Experience” I & II”) and has so much going on sonically that is often impressive but hard to digest and not always accessible.
What Timberlake needs is a producer who can reel him in the zone and get a grasp of the subtleties that define authentic country music while allowing his signature personality to remain front and center. Maybe Dave Cobb can provide some support via their mutual friend Chris Stapleton. Maybe someone like Chuck Ainlay.
Though I’ll wait and listen regardless, I’m feeling less excited about this project learning Timbaland is helming much of it.
November 18, 2015 @ 2:22 pm
Such an impressively smart take. I agree. I think we’re looking at lyrically a country record set to Memphis soul and blues. With Timbaland ambition and risk taking.
November 18, 2015 @ 3:31 pm
Good analysis.
You’re right, it doesn’t seem like Timbaland would be the right producer to bring on board if any traditional variety of country music is what they’re going for here. As stated by other commentators, I would bet that Timberlake’s “Nashville” album is going to include a mix of country, R’n’B, and pop elements. As such, I doubt it will do much to restore country music to a more traditional sound or identity.
However, taking off my country music “purist” hat for a second and putting on my general music fan hat, I have to say that the whole idea of Justin Timberlake recording an album in Nashville’s historic Studio A, with artists as various as Timbaland and Chris Stapleton possibly being involved is, at the very least, an intriguing concept. It could be a fascinating synthesis of genres, or it could be a total mess. Like most music fans, and as I believe even Trigger has said, I don’t have a problem with artists blending different musical genres if it’s done credibly or intelligently. Recently, Dwight Yoakam tried to claim that Sam Hunt was a musical pioneer for mixing country with modern R’n’B, which I think is dubious for multiple reasons. However, if anyone could actually pull that off, it might be Justin Timberlake.
Having said all that, if Timberlake insists on releasing blatantly non-country material to country radio, he will open to criticism just as much as any other modern country artist. And unfortunately, it seems like that’s started already, unless “Drink You Away” is just a fluke.
November 18, 2015 @ 4:24 pm
Oh, I’m definitely expecting a fusion album that is nonetheless professionally produced and more tasteful.
I just can’t see Timbaland pulling this feat off, even wearing a mainstream country non-purist point of view hat. Timberlake at the very least better have collaborators who will provide honest, constructive guidance on the subtleties of country music craftsmanship and disposition. Timbaland is anything but subtle and simplistic (and I say that as someone who genuinely likes some of his production work in pop and Rhythmic music).
November 18, 2015 @ 7:23 pm
My opinion of it began to wane as soon as I heard him sing at the CMAs. His album will most likely be a great JT album, a very good R&B album, maybe even a nice soul album. But it’s not going to be much country. His voice just isn’t there for the meter or pace or delivery.
He’s a great entertainer though. You could see the amazement in the eyes of the men not performing, and the worry in the eyes of the lesser men who did perform.
November 18, 2015 @ 12:59 pm
I wouldn’t trust it. Remember Chris Cornell’s solo album from a few years back that he produced.
November 18, 2015 @ 2:29 pm
Most people try not to.
November 18, 2015 @ 3:34 pm
Oh man, I forgot about that.
Absolutely god-awful.
November 18, 2015 @ 2:09 pm
good for them. i’m still gonna pass on it though.
November 18, 2015 @ 2:13 pm
As I’ve said before, Whatever it is that Justin Timberlake is about to put out it will make pop country sound like the most traditional country music you’ve ever heard. You can take the boy out of the band but you can’t take the boy band out of his music.
November 18, 2015 @ 3:31 pm
“I only discriminate against the English language.”
-Timbaland
#Englishgrammarmatters
November 18, 2015 @ 3:35 pm
So what’s the over/under for Chris Stapleton written tracks on this album?
November 18, 2015 @ 9:32 pm
I’m gonna say it’s either six, or all of them.
November 18, 2015 @ 3:40 pm
By the way, it’s good thing that greedy developer bastard didn’t get away with bulldozing Studio A last year. Now it seems like it’s is a hotter commodity for making records than it has been in years.
This Thanksgiving I’m sending a turkey to Aubrey Preston.
November 18, 2015 @ 4:20 pm
Especially when it was even mulled at the time in Trigger’s commentary whether it might have been all the better that the building be let go due to the known asbestos and site issues then.
I for one am also glad they succeeded in preserving the property, as someone who does have a nuanced view on gentrification and acknowledging its positive effects in some contexts.
November 18, 2015 @ 8:29 pm
So all the songs will include six minutes of backing track with occasional “aaay’s” from Timbaland. Oh, and a smorgasbord of Beats product placements.
November 19, 2015 @ 10:57 am
I had my hopes up about this project, despite “Drink You Away.” Now, Timbalands words make me fear it.