GQ has a shiny new feature on their website that lists the 21 Albums from the 21st Century Every Man Should Hear, because only dudes are allowed to enjoy Back to Black? SORRY LADIES. Anyway, for some of the entries, they asked the musicians to discuss the albums that inspired them, which is how you get Daft Punk praising the Strokes and Karen O giving a big ol’ thumbs up to the first Liars album. Here’s what Justin Timberlake, whose Futuresex/Lovesounds placed in the top-10, had to say.
D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Radiohead’s Kid A. It may seem ironic that I’d pick two albums released in the first year of the twenty-first century, with all the great music that has come since then. But I was 19. I was ready to listen to music in a different way. Not only were they filled with great songs, but the sound of them really affected me. They were complete pieces of work — progressive and retro at the same time. They transformed whatever world I was in at the time. And eventually led to my desire to make my first solo record. I’ll always reference them as the inspiration that got me off of my ass. I always go back to them, and they still do (get me off of my ass).
Let’s play revisionist history: if Radiohead had never released their sad bastard masterpiece Kid A, Justin Timberlake may never have had the courage to go solo, meaning there would be no FutureSex/LoveSounds, no “Dick In a Box,” the FX series would own the Google search result for Justified, and Jessica Biel might still be single. DAMN YOU THOM YORKE.
