Justin Timberlake is signaling a return to the studio, confirming he is actively working on new music following the conclusion of his Everything I Thought It Was tour cycle. In a recent appearance on the Complex Re-Rank series, the artist revealed he has been recording in Miami with long-time collaborators including Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Quavo, and Don Toliver.
Three Fast Facts on Timberlake’s Creative Pivot
- Timberlake is currently in the studio with a mix of veteran producers and newer voices, specifically citing sessions with Timbaland and Don Toliver.
- The artist explicitly distanced his current creative process from artificial intelligence, emphasizing that his upcoming material is being built “from scratch.”
- Beyond music, Timberlake has expanded his business portfolio, recently entering the protein beverage market as a co-founder of the brand Proda.
Timberlake Joins Don Toliver in the Studio After a Miami Concert
Timberlake’s work with Don Toliver began after a serendipitous meeting at the Kaseya Center in Miami. After attending a concert with his 11-year-old son, Silas—a fan of Toliver’s work—Timberlake joined the artist onstage before heading directly to the studio.
“I was like, ‘Don’t you have a studio on the road?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘Alright, cool. Take a shower. Let’s work,’” Timberlake recalled. The two artists spent several hours at the arena recording new ideas, marking a swift shift from the polished, large-scale production of his 2024 tour to a more immediate, collaborative environment.
Label Executives Resisted Releasing SexyBack Due to Its Tempo
As the industry marks the 20th anniversary of his sophomore record, FutureSex/LoveSounds, Timberlake is reflecting on the friction that defined his most successful creative risks. During the Re-Rank discussion, he recounted the resistance he faced from his label regarding the release of “SexyBack.” Executives at the time were concerned that the track’s 118 BPM tempo and ambiguous vocal production deviated too far from radio standards.
“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,’” he explained. Despite these warnings, the song spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, proving that his instinct for subverting radio-friendly expectations was a commercial catalyst. This history of defiance informs his current stance on modern music production, particularly his pointed dismissal of AI-generated content.
Bridging the Gap Between Eras
By using his son’s interest in artists like Don Toliver, he is bridging the gap between his established pop legacy and current hip-hop and R&B music.
The inclusion of long-term partners like Timbaland and Pharrell Williams—architects of his signature sound—provides a familiar anchor, while the addition of newer, genre-bending talent suggests a desire to evolve the “chef-ing” process he describes. As he balances these sessions with his role as a co-founder of the protein brand Proda, Timberlake is positioning himself as an artist-entrepreneur who is as focused on the business of his brand as he is on the technicalities of his production.
Whether this “chef-ing” results in a full-length project or a series of strategic singles remains to be seen.
