Justin Timberlake surprised fans last night (Aug. 31) with a brief performance in New York. And between that and tonight, it’s gonna be a Timberlake kind of New York.
Last night, the actor/producer/singer/entrepreneur was helping to promote the band FreeSol, which is signed to his Interscope imprint Tennman. After a listening session of the Memphis band’s forthcoming album at Jungle City Studios, says Billboard, the event was hosted at Southern Comfort, which Timberlake co-owns.
He helped FreeSol’s tear through their tracks live, and included a stripped-down version of his own “What Goes Around… Comes Back Around” plus an unidentified new song, according to People. In attendance were celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Amanda Seyfried.
Timberlake had only revealed plans for the gig to the public yesterday afternoon, with a Tweet: “NYC!!! Wanna check out some live music tonight?? Meet me and @freesol at 45th & 9th at 11pm.”
FreeSol’s album boasts Timberlake as producer, and he’s already co-directed two music videos, “Role Model” and “Hoodies On, Hats Low.” The clip for the latter is below; he’s also a featured on the former. The album will be out Oct. 11.
“I would describe their sound as a fusion of rock, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and soul. It’s Memphis,” Timberlake told Rolling Stone. “When I made super pop music, some urban people said ‘I don’t listen to that shit, but if I did I’d like these songs.’ Now it’s okay to like everything.”
And what has happened before will happen again. Tennessee native Timberlake and FreeSol have a redux tonight at New York’s Irving Plaza, for what’s dubbed National 901 Day, named for Timberlake’s 901 Silver Tequila and for the date Sept. 1. The liquor brand was named for the Memphis area code.