Justin Timberlake gave Playboy a pretty candid interview about everything from the women in his life, to being 17 getting mobbed by packs of screaming girls and his love for black culture. Check out a snippet:
PLAYBOY: Do you have an album’s worth of music hidden away somewhere?
TIMBERLAKE: No. I don’t have a single song ready to go. People keep asking me when a new song or album is coming out, and I don’t know what to say. Music is not my focus right now. It may be someday. It could happen next month or next year, but right now it’s not where it’s at for me.
PLAYBOY: It’s interesting. If you listen to your voice when you sing and when you speak, you sometimes sound black. You’ve got so much soul the NAACP nominated you for an Image Award this year for The Social Network. Do you ever feel as though there’s a black guy trapped inside you waiting to come out?
Justin also goes on to say that his cornrows back in the day was one of his biggest fashion regrets, check out more from the interview over at Playboy and see how Justin responded after the jump.
Photo: Givenchy
TIMBERLAKE: Dude, I’m not touching that shit with a 10-foot pole! All I can tell you is I grew up in the South, where everything’s just a little bit thicker. The accents are thicker, the air’s thicker.
PLAYBOY: But clearly you have an affinity for black music and black culture. How else to explain the pitch-perfect “History of Rap” routine you did with Jimmy Fallon last year?
TIMBERLAKE: That’s the music of our generation, man. We were impersonating those rappers. We weren’t trying to be black. Listen, you’re touching on a deep issue for me. It’s bringing up stuff from my childhood. I grew up near the town where Martin Luther King was assassinated . It has always been a very segregated place. When I was a kid people would ask me what I hated most, and I would always say racism. It always comes up, and it always came up regarding my style of performing. I wasn’t cool with the white kids because they thought I wanted to be black. And I wasn’t cool with the black kids because they thought I wanted to be black. So I was looked at as a traitor and an intruder or an imposter. I had to find solace in just being me.
Read more HERE.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting. I remember he was doing his country western thing on Star Search. I didn’t see a “black influence”
That’s a real stupid question for them to ask! It’s patronizing and he shud be a little offended fools!
it is a bad question.
but…who doesnt want to do what we do?
we whats hot.
after the Janet thing i stopped listening to him… just another white boy
I hate to admit it, but me too.
All the blame went to her. Do I think it was a planned stunt, yes, sure. But after the down turn it was like, oh well, she’s just another black chick, no Janet Jackson so I’ll let her take the blame.
Kanye West – “Even if you’re in a Benz, you’re still a nigger in a coup.”
I was pissed off that he left Janet out in the cold too, but I still like JT and can get over the Janet situation if he puts out some hot music.
I knew you guys were gonna say hating ass comments….it’s ok for black people to like white folks u know!!!
and the dumb ass comments starts in 5, 4, 3, 2……
don’t know if you’re white or Black jay. I’m assuming your White, but a lot of people believe, me included, that when the Janet thing went down, he left her to carry the weight of all the negative press when he could have stepped in and defrayed some of that negativity. Instead he said nothing and quietly tip toed away.
I can’t deny that I like some of his music–the guy is talented. But seeing what I saw, it’s difficult to respect him as a man. On top of that I don’t consider Black to be something you can put on when it’s cool. As BeyondGossip said, that sh*t is patronizing.
Can someone please tell me about that Janet situation. Surprisingly I’m not familiar with it. Thank you.
JT is a great talent. That Janet Jackson thing ( the nipple slip at the Superbowl) Was definitely planned she had a pastie on for Christ’s sake. But, he probably was just listening to his PR and stepped away from the issue, which is a character flaw, it has nothing to do with the music. Fact is, black people still support Justin’s music, how could you not, he’s is just talented guy. R. Kelly is a pedophile and the black community still supports him with the same argument I just put forth, his talent has nothing to do with his character. All R. Kelly did was put out some hot music and we forgot the Aaliyah marriage. Put out some more hot music after the child pornography issue. I’m just saying is Justin’s thing was a while ago and people should drop it.
My Favorite white boy!
Between the Janet situation, and his x band mate coming out the closet, I can see why music doesn’t make him “high” anymore. I’m not really feeling him as an actor, but his music is on point tho. Hope he gets back to it sooner than later….
swagging in the baddest hollywood starlets (jessica biel) and then bailing on them hoes when they start thinking marriage is on the horizon?????
*shrugs* that’s real niggrish to me.
heh
IMO, Janet and her management team should have known better.
I do believe the wardobe malfunction was intentional- ‘Gonna have you
naked by the end of this song”. The timing was perfect.
She should have been prepared for the backlash. We all know Americans are a bunch of convenient conservatives. I think Justin’s team did an excellent job of keeping him out of the fray. Can’t be mad that his group of people protected him. Smarten of Janet, we all know the rules are different for us.
I still love JT. Acting and Writing are his calling. He kills all of his guest spots
on SNL.