Another artist that was responsible for the transformation that occurred in the beginning of the decade, the reuniting of black and white pop. In the end of the nineties, Justin Timberlake was a member of the boy band N'Sync, and they already showed a strong influence of hip-hop and R'n'B, working hard on MJ-style dance moves, with Justin adding beatboxing. N'Sync turned him into an accomplished performer, and he was quite cute and groovy even back then, but he had no chance of being considered cool as long as he was in a boy band. In 2002, Timberlake embarked on a solo career, enlisted the hottest black producers, developed his own style, and rightfully became a huge star. Even black folks had to admit that this white boy can move, sing, dress and even beatbox with style. Here he is once more with his nonchalant and polished routine, backed by the funky and bouncy production of the Neptunes, bringing it on with another sexy dancefloor winner.
In 2003, this record was part of the big party of that year, a year in which the pop world sparkled and produced loads of terrific records. But this was also the song that heralded the end of the party. In the beginning of 2004, Justin took part in the Superbowl halftime show, performed his hit together with Janet Jackson, and as he promises to do in the lyrics of the song, tore her top off. It was sassy and amusing, but not for a large segment of the American crowd that sat in front of the TVs in its tens of millions. A huge storm erupted, and most of the anger was naturally directed at Janet, the black woman, while Justin got away unscathed. It served as a reminder that pop culture may have succeeded in creating a higher harmony between the races and genders, but a large portion of our world did not take part in this journey, and remained behind, stuck in puritanism, chauvinism and racism. The wave of religious fundamentalism that rose in the past decades sees pop culture as its biggest enemy, and the war is still on. As long as pop keeps producing such cool records, however, we have no chance of losing.
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