[Single Review] Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z – Suit & Tie (Prod. Timbaland)

Justin Timberlake‘s long-awaited comeback track, “Suit & Tie”, isn’t an instant swooner like “Like I Love You”, nor is it the musical right hook that “Sexyback” was. But it’s still shocking in its own way, namely for not being what anyone expected the first new Justin Timberlake single in six years to sound like.

“Suit & Tie” circumvents everything that’s currently popular on the charts. It’s not an EDM banger, it’s not dubstep, it’s not the ghostly urban music of Noah “40″ Shebib, and it’s not a made-for-radio hit like recent fare from Rihanna and Maroon 5. It’s also not an outdated, behind-the-times slice of R&B like some of the recent fare from Ciara and Nelly Furtado — something that’s always a concern when you’ve got Timbaland on production. What “Suit & Tie” is, is a throwback to the smooth sounds of the seventies, with JT playing the role of a modern day Barry Gibb. Guest star Jay-Z brings some contemporary hip-hop flavor to the table, while Timbaland –who has finally dug himself out of the rut he’s been stuck in since Justin last released an album– meticulously builds the track with the skillful precision of someone who’s been churning out hits for almost two decades. Synths quietly skate by, funky horns blare, fingers snap; with each play, a new sound is discovered hidden somewhere within Timbo’s dense production.

Of course, the big elephant in the room is Robin Thicke. Isn’t this supposed to be his sound? Is JT just swaggerjackin’ Thicke in the same way that his detractors claim he jacked from Michael Jackson and Prince on his last two albums? Yes and no. While “Suit & Tie” certainly has Thicke’s prints on parts of it, the blue-eyed soul singer never quite flipped the script on his retro jams in the same way that Justin has. Thicke’s records tend to sound more like throwbacks that have been tailored to fit current radio trends, whereas “Suit & Tie” twists the classic sound into something much more interesting and inventive. There’s the lethargic intro, the chopped & screwed post-rap breakdown, and all of the subtle production quirks that Timbaland has filled the song with. “Suit & Tie” is, without a shadow of a doubt, a Justin Timberlake record.

Like Destiny’s Child’s recently released “Nuclear”, “Suit & Tie” isn’t so much of a comeback smash as it is an anti-single. Both songs quietly creep in through the back door instead of kicking down the windows like they’re expected to. But while “Nuclear” is destined to live on as nothing more than a budget compilation bonus track, “Suit & Tie” has the power to make a real difference on the charts. It’s time to bring classy back, and Justin Timberlake is just the man to do it.

Score: 4/5

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2013 at 2:23 am and is filed under New Music, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  • IStanRobinThicke

    Robin Thicke’s ”Magic” was such an underrated single after listening to ”Suit & Tie”

  • FreakyFlyBri

    How are his facts piss poor? Boyz II Men, Keith Sweat, Toni Braxton, TLC, En Vogue, etc. were landing smashes on the Hot 100 in the mid 90′s, which is when R&B really started to take off on Top 40 radio and become truly mainstream. Stars like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston were actually rare; they were artists who did well simultaneously on the pop and R&B charts. Then the mid-90′s came along, and R&B became the “In” thing for pop stars to experiment with (Madonna’s Bedtime Stories is a magnificent example, although she herself had her own roots in R&B in the 80′s). At that point it was a toss-up between country and R&B as to what the most popular sound on radio was in America. Justin had nothing to do with it, he was just one of the few white boys that were successful at pulling off an R&B sound. That doesn’t make him any more special than the people doing it before him.

  • mit2408

    Just look at the responses of the ppl, this song is a dissapointment, if this was one of those rihannas first singles every 10 months none would care about how awfull this was. But this ain’t a comeback, it’s just boring.
    An also, (and I swear I’m not and I’ll never be a lamb) if this was a new single from Britney, Bruno Mars, will.i.am, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, or one of those singers that you like to make fun lately, you would have called this song for what it is: borning disappointing shit.
    Anyways, I saw your “review” about that “kiss you” video form 1D and after that I can expect anything from your stanning.

  • theprophetblog

    The sounds classy, despite having sexy lyrics. It doesn’t sound trashy when people sing about sex in most hits today.

    And have you seen the sales predictions, btw? 400k+ first-week sales, airplay blowing up, and officially predicted to hit No. 1 in first or second week out. Obviously a LOT of people are feeling this song.

  • steve madden

    this is the sound beyonce will be going for on her new album at least thats what sources say

  • Burk Kyler

    Umm I like it, especially after Jay-Z raps the rest of the song is great from that point on.

    Here is the problem, timbaland is SO dated, cause seriously this songs like it should have been the lead single to the Re-Release of FS/LS back in ’07, e.g. unnecessary timbaland prelude that we’ve all heard on FS/LS. It’s 2013, and I think we’re letting this slide because FS/LS is still FYRE til this very day, I mean 6 years later and What Goes Around… Comes Around is still amazing. I’m still holding my breath that the Y’s had some production on his album and that it’s not all timbaland produced cause I think that is the real achilles heel

  • Burk Kyler

    LOL i’m glad I wasn’t the only who thought that part was ridiculous

  • Tanay

    You do realize these are first week sales which are made of the most hardcore stans (like you?). Godney already did this with Womanizer, 3 and HIAM. We should stop getting our panties in a bunch and see how it does over the coming weeks before declaring it either a “4/5″ or a phucking flop :)

  • http://twitter.com/HBF82 Bojan Goranović

    Answer as exšected. You’ re in denial. Never mind.
    Tamar “Love and War” was #1 for 3 secs, an R&B record, but it didn’t change charts. And as an proved R&B fan I would loved to have it (R&B) at the top of the charts but not with this unimaginative described as revolutionary.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tanay.tiwary Tanay Tiwary

    You do realize that first week sales are really not indicative, considering this is his first single in 7 years, and that sales are likely being driven up by all the hardcore stans (yourself included? ;) ) Remember Godney already did this thrice with Womanizer, 3 and HIAM. We should all stop getting our panties in a bunch and see how it does over the coming weeks before we decide if it’s either a “4/5″ or a phucking flop :)

  • theprophetblog

    Many other megastars that took long breaks came back and flopped. Look at No Doubt and Christina Aguilera (bionic era). JT said he was coming back, dropped a new single a couple of days later, and it’s #1 on iTunes worldwide and predicted to sell over 400k first-week.

    I’m having trouble keeping up with the haters. Before JT’s comeback, they all said he was irrelevant and nobody cared about him anymore because he took too long of a break. Now all of a sudden his huge success is only a result of stans. I’m confused.

  • theprophetblog

    When did Love & War sell over 400k? Oh yeah, it didn’t.

  • Alex

    This song will flop. Its not catchy and its easily forgetful. The only reason its number 1 on iTunes is that its Justin Timberlake, Singer turned Actor turned singer. Sales prediction: 1 million – 2 million US. Ok so not really flop.

  • Tanay

    I think you do JT a huge disservice by comparing him to Xtina or No Doubt lol. The only other star he is really comparable to is .. well, Britney. He’s Justin freaking Timberlake, he’s bound to do well when people have been starving for new music from him for all these years, All I’m saying is, this tune is just not cutting it. Come on Prophy, it’s nothing personal, I merely am voicing what many people seem to think.

    And I’m not a hater, I would happily lick every inch of that flawless man hahah

  • theprophetblog

    Yeah he’s Justin freaking Timberlake but No Doubt/Gwen Stefani are almost as big stars. Check their record sales. They’re higher than Justin’s.

  • theprophetblog

    Yas, L.A. Times praising Suit & Tie with a lot of the same stuff I said.

    Quick, add them to the list of delusional stans along with the 400k+ people that are set to pick this song up in its first week.

    http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-single-review-justin-timberlake-suit-tie-20130114,0,6127243.story

  • Tanay

    No Doubt has released 6 albums, JT has released 2 :)

    Let’s just agree to disagree, because otherwise we’ll be going at it all night long lol

    Anyways, I love your blog, wake up to it every morning.

    Keep writing! Cheers :)

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  • http://twitter.com/themusicprophet The Music Prophet

    I agree…. That line is absolutely ridiculous. But then again, so are several of the lines in ‘SexyBack’. It’s all perception. It’s gonna end up riding on how JT chooses to “Sell” this song. He’s gonna need a legit video for sure.

  • http://twitter.com/themusicprophet The Music Prophet

    I don’t think anyone (with the exception of pressed Bieliebers) thought JT was a has been, or irrelevant. He’s had so much success through almost every endeavor he’s taken on in the past 7 years, that he could never be called irrelevant. I do agree with some of the detractors here though in the sense that as much as I like this song, It is still definitely dated…. the same way Ciara’s ‘Sorry’ and Mariah’s flop were. Albeit, this track packs much more swag then Mariah’s did…. so I definitely don’t see it falling down the charts like that. I think he’s gonna be just fine.

  • UncleFan

    The only thing wrong with this song is Jay-Z’s boring rap. Any rapper is going to drag JT down, but Jay-Z is the worst because he puts this song only ONE measly degree of separation away from his babymama, the Ratchet Queen of Flopped Comebacks! I pray to Satan every night that I will wake up in a universe where a song can just be a song and doesn’t need a god-damned rap intro or breakdown to give it “flava”.

  • http://www.freshhostgatorcoupons.com/ HostGator Coupons

    Don’t forget that Taylor had that near-500k first week before IKYWT was even added to radio.

  • Quest

    its a grower.

  • Quest

    Music is getting ready to get very interesting.

  • http://www.facebook.com/manas.sharma.50 Manas Sharma

    The song’s not very memorable…..but it’s better than all the s**t on the charts…and Nelly’s “outdated” stuff is way better than both…..

  • big bootie

    CORNY ASS TRASH. Id also love to know why Jayz is still being featured on songs? His features suck. He is not necessary on 10 out of 10 songs. Bye

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