Suit & Tie

In September 2006, Timberlake released his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which was critically and commercially acclaimed and spawned six singles, including the worldwide hits "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".^[1] After wrapping up a worldwide concert tour to support the album in 2007, Timberlake took a break from his music career to focus on acting.^[2][3] In addition, Timberlake worked behind-the-scenes with his record label Tennman Records (founded in 2007) and his production team The Y's (founded in 2008). He also provided guest vocals on several singles by other artists, such as "4 Minutes" by Madonna and "Carry Out" by Timbaland.^[3] In 2010, Timberlake's manager, Johnny Wright, began conversations with the singer about working on new music. The two had general decisions about ways to release new music, because according to Wright, "a lot of the physical record sellers were gone, by the time we've got music again we need to think about different ways to deliver it".^[4]

Wright proposed a promotion based on an application or releasing a new song every month. Timberlake, however, was not interested in returning to music; instead, he continued to focus on his film career. Around the "late part of May, first week in June" 2012, Timberlake invited Wright to dinner and revealed that he had spent the last couple of nights in the studio with Timbaland working on new material. Wright was shocked at the revelation, telling Billboard magazine that he "wasn't prepared for that." The two immediately began marketing plans for how the album should be promoted and when it should be released. Ultimately, they agreed "to do this in a shorter period of time, so let's put the single out and [release the album] seven or eight weeks after that—make it a short window, and because we have such a short window, we have to make a big impact."^[4]

In August 2012, producer Jim Beanz reported that Timberlake had started work on his new music project. However, at that time, shortly after the announcement, Timberlake's publicist revealed that there were no current plans for a new Timberlake album, affirming instead that Timberlake was working with Timbaland on songs for his upcoming project Shock Value III.^[3] Although originally planned for release in October 2012, its date was postponed because of the singer's wedding to actress Jessica Biel. Wright stated that although the project involved artists who are primarily Timberlake's friends, it was tough to keep it a secret, so they used codenames.^[4] "Suit & Tie" was later included as the second track on his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience, released on March 15, 2013.^[5]

"Suit & Tie"

A 25-second sample of "Suit & Tie", which features Timberlake singing over Timbaland's "shiny collection" of percussion, featuring finger clicks and old-school horn blasts that add a layer of sophistication.

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"Suit & Tie" runs for a duration of five minutes and twenty-six seconds,^[6] while its radio edit lasts for four minutes and twenty-nine seconds.^[7] It was written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Shawn Carter, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and James Fauntleroy, and produced by Timbaland, Timberlake, and Harmon; it contains a portion of "Sho' Nuff", written by Terrence Stubbs, Johnny Wilson, and Charles Still of Sly, Slick and Wicked. Timberlake arranged and produced his vocals, which were recorded at Larrabee Studios in North Hollywood, California. Harmon provided keyboards, while Elliott Ives played guitar. Chris Godbey, with assistance from Matt Weber, engineered it, and Jimmy Douglass mixed it with Godbey and Timberlake at Larrabee Studios.^[8]

"Suit & Tie" is a mid-tempo R&B^[9][10] and soul song.^[11] Written in the key of D major, Timberlake's vocal range spans from E₄ to B₅.^[12] It begins with a "slow-drawl" intro^[13] comprising slowed-down synths and "slightly out of time" drum claps.^[14] A distorted Timberlake growls "awoo", before he and Timbaland sing: "I be on my suit and tie shit". After a brief pause, it settles into a "rolling, laidback" groove, featuring finger clicks and old-school horn blasts^[14] that add a layer of sophistication.^[15] Featuring Timbaland's "shiny collection" of percussion, "Suit & Tie" is a dance-oriented track that incorporates stop-and-start sections, drawing comparisons to his debut single "Like I Love You" (2002).^[16] It then goes into a "hypnotic, engaging outro before a great, cold ending".^[17] Lyrically, "Suit & Tie" is an ode to the joys of "being handsome and well-dressed".^[18]

In early January 2013, via his official Twitter account, Timberlake posted a tweet, "I think I'M READY", before posting a link to a YouTube video which shows him walking into a studio and explaining his absence from releasing new music.^[1] In the minute-long video, a camera follows Timberlake as he walks through a recording studio, while the singer's voice-over explains why it has been so long since his last album. He reveals that he is not interested in releasing anything he does not love. The video closes with Timberlake entering a recording booth, putting on headphones, and saying, "I'm ready". Subsequently, on the singer's official site, a countdown leading up to Monday, January 14, at 12 am. ET appeared, prompting speculation about the release of a new single and album to break Timberlake's hiatus. That timing coincided with a tweet that Power 105.1 radio personality Charlamagne posted, saying, "Justin, Jay-Z Timbaland. New record Monday".^[19]

Following months of private beta testing, Myspace was relaunched on January 15. The site's front page featured an image of Timberlake in a suit and tie. A chance to stream or download "Suit & Tie" was offered to those who signed up for or logged in to Myspace.^[20] Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm wrote that by doing this, the site, which was completely revamped to focus on "assisting artists in sharing their music with passionate fans", is sending a "clear message" about what the network is good for: "posting music for free, and trying to upsell it to downloads".^[21]

Upon release, "Suit & Tie" received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave it three out of five stars, stating it "serves the same flirty dancefloor purpose" as "Rock Your Body".^[22] Andrew Halverson of Beats Per Minute said the song "seems to point to the notion that JT still knows what he's doing".^[23] Deb Doing Dallas of the Dallas Observer called it "just one song off an album that is entirely capable of making up for this sleepy release".^[24] A reviewer from The Independent wrote that Timberlake's voice appears to have "gone up an octave" since he last released new music. The reviewer also compared "Suit & Tie" to "Rock Your Body" and "SexyBack".^[18] August Brown of the Los Angeles Times called it "a radiant, ramshackle song that's less of a coherent single and more of a coronation event".^[25] Melinda Newman of HitFix said to "leave it to Timberlake" to represent R&B in a way that "few contemporary artists are today", noting Bruno Mars and Miguel as exceptions.^[17]

Rebecca Twomey of Marie Claire said: "It appears it's been worth the wait too as Justin is posed to shake-up the charts with his new sound".^[26] Stephen Deusner of Pitchfork awarded "Suit & Tie" the website's Best New Track tag, praising Timberlake's vocal performance and Timbaland's production by saying: "Timbaland creates a smooth beat out of a marimba roll and harp glissando that Marvin Gaye must have left on the cutting-room floor, and Timberlake rides it with that fluid, effortless falsetto". Deusner, however, called the feature verse from Jay-Z "another in a string of uninspired cameos", but said it could not "sink [the song's] slinky vibe".^[27] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars, and said it "is natty—as expertly tailored and crisply pressed as a high-end tux".^[28] Chris Martins of Spin said: "Timberlake's voice sounds stronger than ever—smoother, more rounded, pretty, mature".^[29] Vogue Australia said: "While not ground-breaking by any means, its the perfect track for summer soirees and will please his legion of pop-loving fans".^[30]

Jason Lipshutz of Billboard gave "Suit & Tie" three-and-a-half out of five stars, and said it "is a good song, but it's not the artifact from another planet that we've been expecting, nor it is the ambitious experiment that Timberlake alludes to when he describes heading into the studio and 'just creating with no rules'".^[31] Ernest Wilkins of Chicago Tribune said the song "sounds like it was conceived, recorded, funded, and sponsored by a department store that hasn't been relevant in a long time".^[32] Michael Cragg of The Guardian wrote that it feels like the work of someone "luxuriating in the fact they're making music again" rather than someone "desperate to redefine pop in the face of its recent club-related slump". He stated it is not a "sound-redefining, statement-making, globe-conquering comeback single" like "SexyBack" (2006), but "more of a midway point" between his previous singles "Señorita" and "Summer Love".^[14]

Ann Powers of NPR described "Suit & Tie"'s swagger as "Don Draper swagger, a testimony to the value of the pose".^[33] Joseph R. Atilano of Philippine Daily Inquirer said it "might just be a case of him being away too long from the music scene which could have resulted in, just maybe, Justin losing a step or two".^[34] Popjustice called the song "officially, and very disappointingly, mediocre", and said "it could make a decent third single from an album, if they were struggling".^[35] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said the song "is more filler than killer, more informal reintroduction than explosive comeback".^[36] Eight editors from Spin—Charles Aaron, Christopher R. Weingarten, David Marchese, David Bevan, Caryn Ganz, Brandon Soderberg, Philip Sherburne, and Marc Hogan—gave it mixed scores ranging from five to seven out of ten, with an average score of 6.25.^[37]

Within days of its release, "Suit & Tie" reached number one on the iTunes Store in 31 different countries, while charting in the top ten in 54 others.^[40] It debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 based on two days of airplay in the week ending January 26, 2013.^[41] It also debuted at number 14 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart with 6,045 plays, the highest detections total by a new entry in the chart's history.^[42] In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 3.^[43] By June 2013, "Suit & Tie" had sold 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[44]

The following week, "Suit & Tie" jumped to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 with 315,000 first-week downloads sold.^[45] It was Timberlake's highest sales week for a download, surpassing the 250,000 debut of "SexyBack" in 2006,^[46] but later bested by "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in 2016 with 379,000.^[47] "Suit & Tie" then fell to number 13 for two weeks, but returned to the top 10 on the week of February 10, 2013^[48] after Timberlake performed it at the 2013 Grammy Awards. It reached a new peak at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its eleventh week due to the album release.^[49] It reached the number one position on Billboard's Rhythmic Airplay chart in its April 1, 2013, issue.^[50] By March 2014, it had sold 3,044,000 downloads in the United States.^[51] By 2018, it had accumulated 4.6 million units in the country, combining sales (3.3 million downloads) and equivalent streams.^[52]

On January 7, 2016, it was reported that two members of Sly, Slick and Wicked had filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, claiming that, although the sample in "Suit & Tie" had been cleared, the rights in the original vocal performances were not.^[65] Despite getting paid for the horns from "Sho' Nuff",^[66] the band members claimed that they were not paid for the licensing and promotions that used "Suit & Tie", including a Bud Light commercial.^[67][68][69] Anheuser-Busch was also included in the lawsuit for using the song in a Budweiser commercial.^[70]

Although the group's copyright claims were dismissed by US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer as untimely in 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the decision in a unanimous ruling. US Circuit Judge Pierre N. Leval wrote that Engelmayer "reasoned that the claims were time‐barred because the defendants had repudiated plaintiffs' claims of copyright ownership many years earlier, during the initial copyright terms".^[71]

Timberlake and Jay-Z performed "Suit & Tie" live for the first time at the DirecTV Super Saturday Night on February 2, 2013.^[72] They both performed it at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, where Timberlake also performed "Pusher Love Girl".^[73] Brad Wete of Billboard ranked Timberlake's performance at the ceremony as one of the night's best performances.^[74] Timberlake also performed "Suit & Tie" with Jay-Z and "Mirrors" on Saturday Night Live on March 9,^[75] and at the SXSW MySpace Secret Show on March 17.^[76] On August 25, Timberlake performed "Suit & Tie" in a medley with other songs of his at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.^[77] After the performance, he accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the ceremony.^[78]

It was also included in the set lists for Timberlake and Jay-Z's co-headlining Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour (2013),^[79] The 20/20 Experience World Tour (2013–2015),^[80] The Man of the Woods Tour (2018–19),^[81] and The Forget Tomorrow World Tour (2024–2025).^[82] In addition, it was featured on the set list for three editions of Rock in Rio in 2013,^[83] 2014,^[84] and 2017.^[85] A shortened selection of it was included in Timberlake's Super Bowl LII halftime show performance in 2018, and featured the University of Minnesota Marching Band wearing black tuxedos while playing backup instrumentals.^[86]

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience.^[8]

• List of number-one hits of 2013 (Denmark)