Justified
Common Sense Note
The songs here are pretty much divided into two camps: bitter post-breakup rants and newly-single boasts. The former are clean in terms of sex and language but the anger and vengefulness Timberlake displays is a bit alarming--you may want to ask your kids why they think he is so angry and talk about the different ways people handle the end of relationships. The latter group of songs are full of sexual messages--from "Funny how a few words turned into sex" in "Like I Love You" to "I could think of a couple of positions for you" in "Right for Me", it's clear that Timberlake, though heartbroken, isn't sitting home alone pining for his ex. Ask your kids why they think he feels the need to be so in-your-face about his love life. They may tell you that they don't listen to the lyrics because these are just fun dance songs, but it's still worth discussing the sexual messages they're receiving here.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Common Sense Media
Like his fellow ex-Mouseketeers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake is out to prove to the world that he has matured. For his first solo album JUSTIFIED, he didn't take any chances--he brought in the big guns of hiphop (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, P. Diddy) to help create a legitimate R&B album that should make most people forget about his boy-band days.
The best songs here are the fun, upbeat ones--"Rock Your Body" is the kind of song that gets wallflowers on the dance floor (although parents should be aware that the lyrics are racy, with Timberlake promising to "get you naked by the end of this song") while "Senorita" is the perfect party starter (that's quite a falsetto he has!). However, he slips when he shifts into bitter mode ("Never Again", "Last Night"), and the lyrics on "Take It From Here" are embarrassingly bad ("I wanna be your sky/So blue and high...I wanna be your air/So sweet and fair"). Clearly Timberlake still needs to grow as an artist (and get over his bitterness!) but it seems that we can certainly expect great things from him going forward.
Bottom line: This is great R&B, but you may want to run through some of the lyrics on a website such as Lyrics.com before you share this with your kids.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentRanges from innuendo ("get real wet if you know what I mean" in "(And She Said) Take Me Now" to obvious ("better have you naked by the end of this song" ) in "Rock Your Body". |
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LanguageSome profanity--"hell", "damn", "ass". |
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Social BehaviorJustin Timberlake comes across as one very bitter young man--apparently his last relationship didn't turn out too well...Also, his bragging about his swinging single life borders on being obnoxious. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoOne reference to drinking shots in "Like I Love You". |
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