Justin Timberlake’s record company warned him SexyBack “wasn’t going to work”.
The 45-year-old singer topped the charts in eight countries, including the US and UK, back in 2006, but while Justin had set out to record something that didn’t sound like himself, the “androgynous” vocal effect was enough to put off executives, who were convinced it would flop.
Appearing on Complex’s Re-Rank series, Justin said the song “makes zero sense, but makes all the sense in the world” as he recalled how he and co-writer and producer Timbaland penned the track “so fast” while on a mission to “redefine” what dance music could sound like.
He added: “When people heard this song for the first time, I didn’t want them to know it was me. I wanted it to sound almost androgynous in a way, where if you were singing along to it, you were that person.
“And when I brought it to the label, they were like, ‘This is not gonna work. You don’t sound like you. It’s too fast. Nothing on the radio right now is 118 BPM.’
“And every reason that they gave me that it wasn’t going to work is the reason that I thought it would… It was personally an experience of trusting your gut and doing something so decidedly different. It kind of changed everything.”
Elsewhere on the show, Justin hinted he has some new music in the works with Quavo, Pharrell Williams and long-term collaborator Timbaland.
He said: “I think it’s safe to say y’all saw me on a boat with Que and P. Tim[baland] and I are always locked in. From scratch. Just want to say that, for the record, from scratch. I don’t want to hear any of that talk.
“We’ll see, but I’m really excited about… I’ve been chef-ing. All in due time.”
Meanwhile, Justin previously revealed that music producer Timbaland beatboxed the tune to Cry Me a River, his 2002 hit single, before they recorded the track together.
The former *NSYNC star explained that he still had vivid memories of how his single came together in the recording studio.
He said on Hot Ones: “The crazy thing about Cry Me a River was he beat-boxed it first. I came into the studio and I was like less than thrilled and I think he saw my mood and he just started, like, [beat-boxing].
“Four hours later it was, like, written and recorded and then we started working on post-production.”