On the 10th anniversary of his No.
IfJustifiedwas TimberlakesOff the Wall, it wasFutureSex/LoveSoundsthat would be hisThriller.
Released on Sept. 12, 2006, the record sold 9.2 million copies worldwide and became Timberlakes first No.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Below, an excerpt of EWs oral history on the track, which will be available online next week.
That was the only MO.
Does it excite you in that way?
Danja just happened to have that little feeling.
DOUGLASS:Justin was like, Maybe Ill bring something back!
Maybe Ill bring sexy back!
Thats literally how it went down.
We went about writing little ideas about club vibes.
We were just changing rhythms and finding melodies that [felt] timeless when we played them.
Justin, being the genius he is, said, Lets call it SexyBack.'
If you listen to the song, youll realize SexyBack happens [three] times in the song.
If you called the song Go Head Be Gone With It, people would have missed the whole point.
DANJA, Co-writer and Producer:Justin was singing in a way we never heard him sing.
I remember that opening line.
From conception it stuck.
One of the most important things about SexyBack is the silence between [the notes].
I think really good dance music that I hear now captures that as well.
They were just dancing around like crazy people, Justin and Timbaland and the entourage.
DANJA:I remember Cristal champagne.
I had my glass, like, Buddy up!
Tim had a chef there [in the studio].
I remember this lasagna he made and these frozen mojitos.
It was almost like cotton candy.
It was so sweet and good.
TIMBERLAKE:Thats the reason I had to go to the gym in the mornings.
I wasnt able to resist Tims chefs food!
