Justin Timberlake

JT is no Al Green (or even D'Angelo), but his vocal performance on Futuresex is panting and seductive. But more than just the usual collection of hyper-sexualized pop songs, this is a gorgeous, unified album and producer Timbaland deserves much of the credit. His rhythms-on-'roids backdrops are crunchy and addictive, but they're also nuanced enough so that each track has a hidden treasure -- a rattling tabla here, a twisting violin quote there and sudden outbursts of glitch synths throughout. If this indeed is the future of pop, then it's cause for celebration.

On his 2002 solo debut, Justin Timberlake was so delighted with his own audacity he could
make jaws drop just by saying "good morning" to the ladies. On his skilled but sometimes
labored follow-up, however, the liberated 'NSync frontman bears the weight of
experience that drags down so many maturing lovermen. No longer an innocent on the
cusp, he knows more about sex than you do, and when he talks about whips he... More >