One of 2013’s best albums of the year, Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, was released back in March of this year and cemented Timberlake’s status as an international pop sensation. When May rolled around, the singer/songwriter/actor revealed that he would be releasing a second half of the iconic record, entitled The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2. It was a unique move from the team behind Timberlake, releasing a second full-length album just shy of six months past the original album’s due date, specifically because so many solid tracks were recorded and they didn’t want to miss out on offering them to the fans.

The album’s lead single, “Take Back The Night”, was released in July to positive reviews, with JT borrowing a little retro R&B groove and smooth lyricism reminiscent of Marvin Gaye or Al Green. But the record is not just a collection of light, danceable funk: it has the same chopped-n-screwed production of The 20/20 Experience, even dating back to Timberlake’s 2006 LP FutureSex/LoveSounds. Once again, JT has released a collection of progressive songs that are either longer that 6 minutes or a mashup of two completely different tracks, which is an extremely difficult feat to pull off in the age of technology where society has very little attention span.

Justin Timberlake’s bold move on releasing two albums in one year might be the wave of the future for many artists. A lot of musicians claim that they record up to 50 tracks for an upcoming album, and when an average of 10-16 of those tracks make the final cut, where do the rest of the songs go? Maybe other artists will pull a JT and share as much music as they can with fans in the upcoming months.

Artists: 20/20 Experience, album, Justin Timberlake, Take Back The Night

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