Justin Timberlake reveals hit SexyBack was inspired by David Bowie, recalls working with Timbaland

In 2006, he brought sexy back.

And Justin Timberlake is now revealing the rock legend who inspired him to make one of the biggest dance hits of the early 2000s.

The  39-year-old hitmaker joined Zane Lowe on Essentials Radio on Apple Music as he said that David Bowie had inspired massive hit SexyBack.

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Timberlake discussed his career with the  47-year-old New Zealand radio DJ as he recalled his creative process whole in the studio with Timbaland: ‘I was listening to [David Bowie’s] Rebel Rebel, which essentially is about a cross-dresser, and so I was picturing guys, girls, all iterations of that in a club, singing this to each other. 

‘And I said, this has to be so simple and a vibe and just like an attitude. And I was like, what’s the most audacious thing you could possibly say. And that was the first line of the song.’

The track was different from his previous work as it didn’t feature Timberlake’s signature falsetto but he and  the 48-year-old producer felt inspired to do something completely different.

Justin explained: ‘And the funny thing is Tim’s playing the beat, right? This is exactly how it happened. I’ll never forget this moment. So he’s like, “All right man. I think we got to bring dance music back.” 

‘So he’s [beatboxing]…He’s like, “What are you going to say?” I just go like this, “I’m bringing sexy back.” And he goes, “Yeah!”‘

Then everything started to unfurl organically as Justin even compared it to freestyle rapping more specifically the act of gathering rappers and beatboxers in a circle to jam musically known as a cipher.

He said: ‘But Timbaland doesn’t do anything off-beat, you should know that. So then we just started trading lines back and forth and it was just, it honestly, it was like a pop dance cipher. You know, where we were, everything was off the top of the head and we were just going. 

‘And then we finished it, we knew it was different. We would invite people to the studio. And every time that record came on, the reaction you got from any female was, I was like, “This is it.”‘

Before that Timberlake had a longtime admiration for Timbaland during the infancy of being in boyband NSYNC.

He explained: ‘That was like a prophecy for me. You have to understand, when I was 14 and we were just actually forming the group, [Missy Elliott’s] Supa Dupa Fly [produced by Timbaland] was the thing for me. And I said to my mother, “I will work with that man one day. I will work with him one day, if it’s the last thing I do.”‘

Another living legend Timberlake has collaborated with is Jay-Z as the pop star revealed that the 50-year-old rapper was originally supposed to be on hit song My Love which was on smash album FutureSex/LoveSounds with SexyBack, however, he couldn’t as he was in the process of recording Deja Vu with Beyonce.

They did go on to record hits Suit & Tie as well as Magna Carta Holy Grail together while Beyonce appeared on Until The End Of Time on Timberlake’s album.

Of working with the 38-year-old hitmaker, Justin said: ‘I’d always written these songs, and I sing the way that I sing because I’ve always thought that I had, not the greatest voice, but a unique voice, and so I would write songs that fit me, but this was the first time where I was like, “Wow, I’m writing songs for Beyoncé, bro,” if not the, one of the greatest living singers, entertainers, the one, and I’m in the studio writing songs and pitching her these songs. 

‘I think that was the first time I really felt like, “Oh, I’ve arrived as a songwriter,” even though I had worked with other people. I mean, I think she’s a year younger than me, and I look up to her.’