“超级巨星”Justin

　　[歌手简介]

　　As both a member of *NSYNC and a solo artist, Southern superstar Justin Timberlake has played a major role in the teen pop explosion of the '90s and 2000s. Like similar teen pop favorites -- who have included the Backstreet Boys, C-Note, Christina Aguilera, Hanson, the Spice Girls, and Britney Spears -- Timberlake usually doesn't get much respect from rock critics (who, in many cases, tend to be very alternative-minded and anti-commercialistic). Regardless, he is adored by millions of fans, many of whom have been adolescent girls.

　　Over the years, the teen market has had a lot of different sounds. In the '70s, for example, artists like Donny Osmond, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and the DeFranco Family were aimed at teens -- those were the bubblegum popsters one typically read about in Tiger Beat magazine back then. But Timberlake is part of the more modern school of teen pop, which is mindful of dance-pop, urban contemporary, and hip-hop and got started with the rise of New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, and Tiffany in the late '80s. New Kids, in fact, were the male group that paved the way for *NSYNC as well as the Backstreet Boys and Take That (who were meant to be a British equivalent of New Kids). And just as Tiger Beat (the bible of bubblegum) was obsessed with the New Kids in the late '80s, it would become equally obsessed with *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in the '90s.

　　Like Spears (who Timberlake became romantically involved with), Aguilera, and *NSYNC's JC Chasez, Timberlake got his start on the Disney Channel's '90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club. Timberlake and Chasez were on The Mickey Mouse Club simultaneously in their pre-*NSYNC days, and they kept working together when *NSYNC was formed. *NSYNC got started in Orlando, FL, in 1996, when Timberlake and Chasez teamed up with Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Joey Fatone. Released by RCA/BMG in 1998, the vocal quintet's self-titled debut album sold millions of copies in both the United States and Europe and contained the smash hits "I Want You Back" and "Tearing Up My Heart." *NSYNC's second album, No Strings Attached, was released on Jive in 2000 and was even more commercially successful; No Strings Attached went double platinum in only one week, and the singles "Bye Bye Bye" and "This I Promise You" became major hits.

　　Jive released Celebrity, *NSYNC's third album, in 2001, and after that, Timberlake started recording as a solo artist. The singer had performed live as a solo artist before *NSYNC, but it wasn't until the early 2000s that he actually recorded an album as a solo act. Justified, Timberlake's first solo album, was released on Jive in November 2002. "Like I Love You," the album's first single, became a major hit and was followed by a second single, "Cry Me a River" (not to be confused with the melancholy Arthur Hamilton standard that was a hit for the late jazz singer/actress Julie London in 1955).

　　世界上几乎有很少的人可以真正配得上“超级巨星”这个封号，对于'N Sync的Justin而言这个封号绝对实至名归。'N Sync上一张专辑里的几首成名作包括了Pop、Gone和Girlfriend都是出自于他的创作，这时Justin已经准备就绪，尽情发挥他个人的创作实力，发行他个人的最新专辑《Justified》，最新专辑的第一支单曲在美国媒体及音乐界深获好评，并且也登入美国单曲排行榜的第十四名，在英国单曲排行榜更是首周进榜便夺下了亚军，他的音乐创作风格及舞蹈表演的天份让人惊叹！

　　Justin的音乐素养非常多变和丰富，从灵魂音乐、R&B、嘻哈音乐、摇滚音乐、蓝调到乡村音乐，这张专辑《Justified》就是他所有喜欢的音乐类型综合体！虽然Justin年仅21岁，他的音乐背景及经历累积却是让人惊叹。在最新的个人专辑《Justified》里面Justin一口气创作了13首歌曲，再度证明他身为一名创作歌手的实力而绝非只是一名偶像男孩！

　　从小就深受60及70年代音乐曲风薰陶的Justin，这一次他找来了多名著名制作人和他一起完成这张专辑，这些制作人包括了The Neptune、Brian McKnight、Underdogs等人。美国东岸最知名的嘻哈音乐王牌制作人The Neptunes在《Justified》中制作了7首歌曲，其中包括了第一首主打歌Like I Love You，这首带点R&B、嘻哈曲风、摇滚味道的歌曲，是时下美国青少年最喜欢的音乐类型！Take It From Here则是另一首Justin最爱的歌曲，同样出自于The Neptunes的制作，专辑中其他由The Neptunes所制作的歌曲还有结合摇滚与R&B的Rock Your Body及受西班牙热情曲风及蓝调影响的Senorita，这些歌曲皆属前卫曲风的独创歌曲，绝对会让歌迷一改对Justin在'N Sync的印象！《Justified》是Justin年轻心灵对音乐情感最深的体会，这也是他献给歌迷们最诚恳的音乐作品！