redhenry

I know just bagging on an 'artist' is not the done thing as it might offend some poor sensitive soul, but for the life of me I cannot fathom the popularity of Justin Trouser-snake!

The man cannot sing, dance or appear even remotely threatening and nasty no matter how hard he tries or how much he mixes it with a few bad boy rappers.

If someone can help me understand what it is I do not 'get' then I would be appreciative. Until then I wil have to keep trying to avoid his miserable videos and crap performances.

OK - rant over!

T

The Ferret

I'm not a fan or anything, and this doesn't fully explain his massive appeal, but he definitely sing and dance. Whether you think what he's singing and dancing to is garbage is another story.

DX 4 Life

I couldn't stand the guy for the longest time...some of his songs were okay. But all in all, in my mind all he was, was a boy band member that helped ruin the face of music of today....That is until I took my girlfriend to his concert in January. I have much more respect for him, he can play every instrument, he can sing any kind of genre (which he did that whole night), can beatbox with the best of 'em, and can dance like a mofo. He is still not a favorite of mine, as I'm a classic rock/80s rock kind of guy...but he did earn my respect that night.

mndtrp

I was going to see your side of things, but I can't stand when people do what you did. It screams immaturity.
Timberlake has quite a bit of talent, especially considering the genre he came from.

redhenry

Thank you for your feedback - which amounted to zip!

Perkinsun Dzees

Timberflake is the poster child for the media manipulation of the masses into mistaking minimal musicmanship and mediocre masculinity for messiah-like magnificence.

He's an individual with negligible talent who's been hooked up with hotshot honchos who help him churn out the kind of the limp, overproduced musical gravy that has enough hooks and generic attitude so that it gets lapped up by teen girls and middle aged, tin-eared musical afficionados who see it as their fountain of youth and eagerly devour it as if they were starving puppies being led to the slaughter only to be given a momentary reprieve in order to dine on their own sh*t.

Were it not for the Britney connection, Timberflake would not exist, but due to her rapid disintegration into grade-z trailer trash celeb, he now appears superior to his creator when in fact she was the only thing interesting about him in the first place.

Not only is this geek in wolf's clothing not bringing sexy back, but besides making bad Prince jokes he is now infiltrating cinema screens where his putrid performances attain a watchability factor ranking somewhere between an Uwe Boll film festival and Ross the intern shaving his armpits.

In short, I can't quite fathom his popularity either.

Corvin

I hate bad puns. Seriously.

dadaluholla

I wasn't crazy about him during the N*Sync days, but I have to say I have really enjoyed the last few singles he's released. That may be due to Timbaland more than JT, but I would definitely consider picking up his cd. Very catchy tracks.

mndtrp

You could try quoting the entire post, where I gave my opinion in regards to the original statement. I'll even bold it for you.

db27

I might not dig his music, but denying his talent? Geez, this guy has more talent in his feet alone then many of the artists in the industry today. Plus he can sing as one put above "like a mofo"

Sure he is highly marketable, has tremendous charisma, and is a record labels wet-dream. But I find it terribly difficult to deny talent.

Sometimes people get confused with what they like, and what is talent. I also think if he hadn't come from Nysnc that people would be less likely to harp on him.

Just my thoughts.

splattii2

This was a pretty impressive series of words

JPRaup

justin is a great entertainer, I really dont get the hate

fernsita

how can you dislike a man who performs the song d**k in a box?

gimmepilotwings

....and that is coming from someone who denies JT's talent. Ironic.

digitalfreaknyc

Exactly. he's great all around. I may not be interested in seeing him live and don't own his albums but at the same time, I can definitely appreciate him. And he doesn't take himself too seriously. THAT I like.

Big Quasimodo

I think he's talented, but definitely over-hyped. His charisma is probably his strongest (of many) assets. His voice (falsetto) is marginal, he dances well.

I do HATE his scraggly neck look, though. Oy.

Rogue588

Well, except for the "Six degrees of Britney" thing, since the first two paragraphs can be applied to her too. His performance[s] at the Grammys last night were terrible.

Gdrlv

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I like the guy. All of his singles have been fantastic (especially, "Cry Me a River"). I'm not interested in owning his albums, but I enjoy just about everything I've heard of his solo stuff. Like a few others have said, he's got a lot of charisma and is a great entertainer. He's legitimately funny and self-deprecating and (according to a lot of reviews I've read) was the only thing worth watching in Alpha Dog.

DVD Josh

Guy has tons of talent. Like his music or not, it doesn't change that.

Michael Corvin

10 of which start with the letter 'M.'

thismeansyou

I think that's one of the most important things about his appeal.. He knows exactly who he is, and who he makes his music for. I can't stand people whose target audience is 12-16 year olds who think they're so deep and artistic and serious. Anyone in that bracket is pop, no matter how many different colours they dye their hair, or how asymmetric they can paint on their eyeliner.

JT's a talented guy who can sing and can dance and makes good music for kids that is well constructed and fresh enough to grab the attention of many adults as well. If he thought he was some sort of musical messiah I'd hate him, but like many others, there's nothing really to hate. He knows exactly what he is and he pimps it.

DrRingDing

I despised the idea of liking him until I listened to his first solo album on a whim, trying to see if the hype was worth complete, unadultered hatred or just disgust - I ended up liking many of the songs (as mentioned before, especially "Cry Me a River") and now respect him as an artist.

I resisted so long and so fiercely (How could I ever like a former boy group member?) and, it should be said, superficially, that I think it was inevitable that I would end up liking his music. Plus, he seems to have good judgment (letting go of his former gf who is now the epitome of trailer trash celebrity).

-ringding-

Turd Ferguson

Post of the year.

milo bloom

I'm still not sold on Timberlake's talent, but I'll say what I always say in these conversations: I have no doubt many "artists" and "performers" of this type have talent of some sort; engineering and production can only go so far. I just feel they get saddled with poor material, and are hyped more for their looks and their "sex appeal", than for said talent, and that's why so many folks dislike them.

If they can break free of the bubblegum stuff, then they might actually do something worthwhile in the music world.

redhenry

Thanks for all the varied respones - some have been great and it does get me some way to understanding his appeal. I am still of the opinion however that they guy is totally devoid of talent but that's obviously not an opinion shared by all - so be it!

I guess it's typical of today's industry. Had he not been a pretty boy with a great physique he would most likely have faded away to nothing pretty damned quickly.