JT and Sex

This seems to be the afternoon for music on the blog. This little post is about pop music and all that that entails….so you can’t say at the end I didn’t warn you.

Early today, in an attempt to get a reaction out of a friend (nameless because he knows who he is) who still doesn’t believe in the brilliance that is Justin Timberlake’s new album, The 20/20 Experience, I compared his albums to sex.

Let me preface, sex has been on my mind a lot lately. One of my final papers I am working on right now focuses on the Hebrew text of Song of Songs through an ecological lens. All that to say is I’m not thinking about anything else (in the least sexy way possible).

Anyways back to the music. I was so excited for JT’s new album, it was pre-ordered and when I woke up on Tuesday morning it was already downloaded onto my phone. I didn’t stop listening to it for about 72 hours. Getting ready in the morning, driving to and from work, during work and doing homework, I immersed myself in it. So to see that this dear person in my life just shrugged his shoulders in response made me sad. Of course it isn’t like FutureSex/LoveSounds, but don’t dismiss it because it’s different!

This morning I decided to listen to the two albums right after each other. Early on I had a revelation and sent him the following text message: 

“Ok. So I’m listening to JT’s FS/LS. Here’s what I think: the first album could be compared to having sex in an alley it’s hot, fast and dirty. Whereas the new album could be compared to sex in a relationship, it’s sometimes slow but beautiful because there’s depth.”

I think it is fair to say that our culture idealizes sex to the point that when it is normalized and perhaps even a little bit mundane we don’t know how to deal with it. We’re disappointed and feel betrayed. So after the heightened climax that was Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, of course one would be disillusioned to the beauty of an album that is based more on sustainable experiences and emotions (even the songs are longer!). If you are one of those who had too high of expectations and were initally disappointed by The 20/20 Experience, go back and have a listen and remember that the act of sex doesn’t always produce intimacy.