Thursday , March 28 2024

Anil on Justin

My Justin/Britney piece was half showbiz and half an attempt at a serious look at their relative talents and status in the industry:

    Ultimately, though, the diverging perceptions of Justin and Britney come down to the legitimate matter of music. With similar young lifetimes of performance experience, vocal training and the pick of crack arrangers, producers and songwriters, natural talent and taste are the only real variables left, and for now at least, Justin appears to possess the stronger musical hand.

    There might even be something approaching a “Justin Timberlake” sound emerging from the haze. His best songs are built upon organic funky grooves, from which Timberlake and collaborators like the Neptunes, Timbaland, and Brian McKnight then construct songs – a firm musical foundation not dissimilar to that of one of Timberlake’s idols, Michael Jackson, whose falsetto Timberlake’s resembles. [MSNBC.com]

Anil Dash – whom I didn’t realize is such a fine, serious music critic – had the good fortune of catching Timberlake at a club gig in Manhattan this summer, where some of the skills he (Timberlake) displayed on SNL were writ large:

    The basic details: Justin took to the stage at 1:30am after the end of the VMAs, where he won 2 moonmen. Performance lasted one and a half hours, and onstage guest performers included Timbaland, Pharrell, Black Eyed Peas, and John Mayer sat in on guitar all evening. Except for guest songs and a brief interlude of “On Broadway”, all songs were from the current album, Justified.

    ….Kicking off the set was a frenetic, honest-to-god rock and roll version of “Cry Me A River”. The best song on the album, the best single of the year, and this was perhaps the best version I’ve heard. Real guitars, spot-on backup singers, and jamming on the song, including the first appearance of JT’s surprisingly credible beatboxing skills. The audience seemed a bit hesitant, perhaps even taken aback, and I suspect that part of the problem was that this was an arena show audience, unfamiliar with the standard R&B show convention of breaking a song down, showcasing the band, and relying on a bandleader to guide the proceedings. They were, as on several later songs, slow to recognize the track if it was played in even slight deviation from the album cut, and they were either confused or reluctant to fall into the groove established by the band if the song were extended or modified from the familiar confines of the radio edit.

    ….And that’s the key thing that stuck with me after the show. Justin Timberlake has a fantastic amount of talent, a credible understanding of his abilities and place in the music industry, the resources to get the best producers and band for helping create his music, and the only thing he lacks is an audience that can appreciate it. Over the last few years, I’ve seen credible neo-soul efforts from white guys like Remy Shand or Thicke, and they made good, even great albums. But Timberlake is light years ahead of them, and has the sense and the industry weight to go to the best people working in contemporary pop today, the Neptunes and Timbaland.

    ….Justin Timberlake is a fantastic soul/R&B singer already, a great dancer, a strong band leader, a competent keyboard player, and a serviceable guitar player. And he’s an extremely canny music industry player, especially given his age. That he’s playing in the realm of black music shouldn’t be a particular hindrance for his success, given how well he’s managed the question of his street credibility and his industry connections. But he’s saddled with the burden of being perceived as a pre-fab boy band prop, fundamentally inauthentic. Worse, he’s weighted down by an audience that is unfamiliar with the tradition he’s trying to evoke, and most likely unwilling to embrace the new direction at anything but the most superficial levels.

Excellent and insightful – read the whole thing. Dash has accomplished what the best music writers do: explain and elucidate what most of us feel as vague notions and inarticulated generalities and make them specific, real and concrete. I am not quite as convinced as Anil that Timberlake is THE neo-soul avatar, but I sure enjoyed reading his convincing case.

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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