Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods review
He announced he’d be putting out a new record: Man of The Woods. The title has given life to a variety. including the idea of Timberlake’s first country record or an album about his life in Memphis.
Thoughts of flannel, John Mayer’s Paradise Valleyponcho and the smell of a campfire likely flooded your mind. once he released his initial promo video for the LP. Even the tracklist – with songs like “Montana” and “Flannel. 
The new aesthetic Timberlake debuted in the trailer for the album with some surprise.
But Timberlake can make a major aesthetic shift like this if he’d like. his white masculinity isn’t actually new: It’s been at work in his career all along, invisibly. It’s what allows him to be both Justin Timberlake. R&B crooner of club bangers. Justin Timberlake, man of the great outdoors and the Wild West. 
Timberlake is performing at his second Super Bowl halftime show as a solo artist this weekend. He’s returning to the stage as an old family friend. one unblemished by the Wardrobe malfunction. that kneecapped Janet Jackson 14 years ago. The incident is a microcosm of Timberlake’s career.
He played a pivotal role in one of this centuries. defining TV controversies and was happily invited back to the scene of the crime. little more than a decade later.
He rush-recorded and released a massive two-part album and was welcomed back into the music industry with arms wide open. None of it mattered. When you skate through your life unscathed. you accumulate hubris. And it takes a lot of hubris to make an album like Man of the Woods.
