Dasein said:

laurarichardson said:

Dasein said: —Funny all the critics who still rave about it are not sycophants. The media is printed plenty about it this week and they were supposed to be talking about Justin. Do not get mad just get over it. The Purple Army is large and is not going away.

I'm not mad at all. I don't think you understood what I was saying in my post:

1) I didn't call any critic a sycophant. So, I don't know why you're making a quip about
critics still raving. Instead, I called some members of the Org who won't remove MJ's teat
from their mouth, or Prince's too, sycophants. And, I'm willing to bet the farm that if JT
didn't musically acknowledge Prince in Minneapolis on Sunday night, this board would have
lost its fucken mind!

2) There was nothing in my post that was critical towards Prince. A Super Bowl half-time show is
usually less than 15 minutes. A global pop star with a catalog as expansive as Prince's and JT's is
going to feel pressure in performing truncated versions of their hit songs, so you're going to have
a performance that can feel rushed. Prince did it, and JT did it too. Yet, I don't remember anyone
in the Org criticizing Prince for it back in '07. The only reason why this thread is criticizing JT for
doing the same thing Prince did is because most Orgers don't like the media attention JT receives
and then use that alone to hate on JT. The Purple Army may be large and not going away, but
it certainly could use some critical thinking skills, eh?

Here comes the post that says: "But, JT's music sucks. It's not good as the critics say it is; that's
why I hate Justin Timberlake." And that would be my point: it's not JT's fault that white critics
think he's hot shit. He knows he's not as good as white media members make him out to be.

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

[Edited 2/6/18 4:10am]

1) You said this

" won't hear any Prince sycophant utter one criticism about this . . "

Why would we or anyone have anything bad to s ay about the performance it was incrediable.

We are not sycophants. We are fans.

Critics who have a job of critically reviewing performances are not fans or sycophants.

Critics have always been hard on Prince but universally eveyone praises his Superbowl performances because it was damm good. Cover versions or short versions of his songs had no impact on his performance

He let the music do the talking and quite frankly he was an older and more seasoned performer then Justin. Who has spent more then half of his music carreer actiing instead of playing music.

Think about what Prince was doing at 37 and what Justin is doing at 37.

------

Justin is getting critized because he simply crammed too many songs into 15 minutes. Plain and simple. He actually gets a pass because he is white and simply not that good at what he does and most people with a brain and critical thinking skills are fully aware of it. I am sure Justin is aware of it as well. Are we suppose to live in fantasy land and pretend it is not true?

Justin is a big boy and he will go on to sell records and make money. He will be fine being told what is obvious to eveyone. In fact I will bet money he will be invited back to perform again in another 10 years or so.

See the review from the USA Today. It is the most spot on about what was wrong with Justin's performance and what was right about Prince's.

---------

ead what USA Today had to say.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/02/05/compared-prince-justin-timberlakes-halftime-show-hilariously-bad/307243002/

Considering Sunday's Super Bowl was hosted in Minneapolis, not paying tribute to Prince during the halftime show would’ve been sacrilege.

Prince, who died in April 2016, wasn’t just Minneapolis’ own king of pop, he also gave the Super Bowl its best-ever halftime show performance in 2007.

Yet, it’s unlikely that Prince and his deservedly-large ego would've been satisfied with the treatment he received: a tribute from Justin Timberlake, an artist with whom Prince had a historically fraught relationship, during a show that fell woefully short of The Purple One's legendary 2007 set.

There’s a reason why, when rumors spread last week that a hologram version of Prince would join Timberlake on-stage, that the late singer’s fans rioted. Timberlake had a history of mocking Prince in public, from taking a dig at the 5’2’’ singer’s height at the 2007 Golden Globes to dedicating an entire verse to dissing Prince on his song Give It To Me later that year.

There was no Prince hologram on Sunday, though a projection of the late artist performing I Would Die 4 U, projected on a stories-high white sheet reminiscent of the one Prince himself posed behind during his halftime show with his legendary phallic guitar left fans unsettled.

Yet, Prince devotees can take solace in the fact that their idol’s 2007 halftime show eclipses Timberlake’s in every way.

Review: Justin Timberlake's 'Man ...pop fusion

More: Why Prince fans are bashi...erformance

Prince sang his songs during his halftime show, while Timberlake let his backing tracks and background singers do the heavy lifting, following a disastrously garbled opening in which the sound was so muffled fans could barely make out Timberlake’s lyrics.

Between Timberlake willfully ignoring his Suit and Tie vocals in favor of kicking around his mic stand, and the singer desperately reaching for his high notes at the end of Mirrors, he was doomed whether he opened his mouth or not.

Prince also knew how to balance his classic songs with some innovative risks, ripping through faithful versions of his hits (save a few added guitar solos) before debuting a blistering mashup of All Along the Watchtower and the Foo Fighters’ Best Of You. Meanwhile, Timberlake’s attempts to remix his own pop classics resulted in the lurching rock arrangements of songs like My Love and Cry Me a River, the instrumentals further jumbled by a horns section behind him. As heard in the confused Americana-R&B of Man of the Woods, Timberlake’s genre experimentations didn’t just doom his new album, but also Sunday's show.

And Prince knew how to stick his landing, ending his halftime set with one of the greatest moments in halftime show history, his breathtaking performance of Purple Rain. What would Prince have thought that Can't Stop The Feeling, a song from the Trolls movie soundtrack, capped Timberlake's set instead of his duet with Prince?

In a moment that went instantly viral, Timberlake ventured into the stadium stands in the song’s final moments and took a selfie with a teenager who, nonplussed, immediately looked back down at his phone, the singer still performing next to him.

Somehow, we think Prince would've been more proud of that kid than anything else in Timberlake's set.

[Edited 2/6/18 5:33am]

SoulAlive said:

woogiebear said:

Somebody "stoled" Justin's Suit & Tie!!! Up there lookin' like a long lost "Duck Dynasty" Relative, or an extra from "The Walking Dead"!!!

I was thinking "this is your biggest audience ever and you choose to go out there dressed like a bum?!",LOL

I know y'all aren't that nitpicky. But let me break it down quick: Much like Prince (I know you're going to hate that comparison), JT has had the foresight to mirror his music and the look of the album on his persona. Madonna, Janet, Beyonce all do the same thing. The album aesthetic extends onto the artist him/herself. During the FutureSex/LoveSound era, there was a look. A lot of dress pants, button-down shirts, with a vest and a hanky in the back pocket. The 20/20 Experience had a lot of tuxedos, more formal attire, and the casual attire mirrored the black & white feel of a tuxedo. You didn't see him in a lot of color at that time. His hair was also flat ironed and straightened.

With Man of the Woods, it's about flannel, a bit of camouflage, the knit hats, Timberland boots, he grew a beard out for this one w/ a buzz cut haircut. It's a bit of an odd look, even for JT - who is usually a blend of classic & hipster - but it fits the album. Images in the album damn near have him looking like the new Marlboro man.

I like when an artist does that. Janet was on MTV with that red curly hair during The Velvet Rope, and kept the red in it even with a straight wig ("I Get Lonely"), or on tour. Madonna wore a beret and a lot of black militaristic or minimalist clothing during American Life. It's not a new idea really. Prince never wore that purple jacket after April 1985. He didn't have his name on his clothes much before or after 1987-1990. He called his hair a "typhoon" for a short period. The artist mirrored the music.

I will concede that a jacket with watermarks and camo on it seemed odd. But then again, if you're going to be at the Super Bowl, do something unique and heightened and odd and memorable. And y'all are talkin' about it, so mission: accomplished! hehehe

it is beyond incomprehensible to me that anyone over the age of 30 still has anything, good or bad, to say about any of this...for fuck's sake...put your 'us' magazine down and go do something you love.

EmmaMcG said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Yeah the legacy that Prince has will live on a long time. I think people (self included) are just annoyed that Timberfake has a long track record of being a "Culture vulture" and having been disrespectful towards Prince on more than one occassion while he was still alive. I think that's the source of anger more than anything really.

But does Justin Timberlake lowering the microphone stand or responding to Prince's "sexy never left" comment exclude him from performing a Prince tribute. It's not like JT only became a Prince fan after he died, like a lot of these celebrities who are now suddenly Prince fans but never once brought up his work when he was alive. JT went on record and said that Prince was the primary influence behind the FutureSexLoveSound album while he was promoting it. So he's undoubtedly a fan. And what right does anyone else have to tell him not to honour the man who inspired him? As for Timberlake being a culture vulture, of course he is. But he grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Prince, he can't help who his favourite artists are.

I think something difficult for folks outside of America to grasp is this notion of cultural appropriation and the deep resentment that comes with it. America's music industry has countless stories, revisionist history of white artists making attempts to take black culture while treating black people like second class citizens. Many black artists weren't even allowed to stay in certain hotels or had to use "colored" entrances to venues. This wasn't 300 years ago, this is stuff that was going on in recent history. On top of that, look at the music industry, how many times are black artists even put in a position to truly own their art, meanwhile, white artists like Timberlake are given a pass just because they're white and not because they're actually talented. Timberlake likes to show up and "pretend" to be an R&B artist then he goes right back to being a regular ass white suburban guy. I think those like George Michael, Teena Marie, David Bowie and Michael McDonald have far more respect from blacks because they never did those "cultural appropriation gymnastics" that Timberlake does. But it's nothing new. Whites in America can be black on a recreational basis (indulging in black culture) but then still have all "benefits" that come from not actually being black (being given the benefit of the doubt, being assumed to be fully qualified for a job, etc)

It's complicated.

How’d that giant Prince... trickery.

A lot of people were fooled — including plenty of locals. After Justin Timberlake duetted with a virtual Prince during last night’s Super Bowl halftime show, an overhead shot of U.S. Bank Stadium seemed to show purple lights blinking on all around the stadium, culminating in a giant Love Symbol ringing the stadium.

Was it real? No. Many observers with views of the stadium went running to their windows, and were disappointed not to see the Love Symbol out there in real life.

“It was definitely a cool effect,” says Eric Riggs, a creative director at Minneapolis agency Crash + Sues. “I was at a Super Bowl party with a bunch of people, and everyone was like, ‘Oh! How did they do that?’ I was like, well, I’m pretty sure that was not real.”

We’ve asked the NFL (which produces the show) to comment on the effect, but they haven’t yet responded. Riggs points out, though, that viewers actually see similar digital effects every time they watch a football game on TV.

“Any time you watch football, the yellow line painted on the field” to mark the yardage goal is virtual, notes Riggs.

“They’re tracking that camera live. That line isn’t real. It’s mathematically placed in to match the perspective. They even now do that with superimposed things that are sitting on the field — stats and things, with a camera that’s moving. All that stuff’s tracked in.”

The overhead shot was previously recorded, then digitally altered to add the Love Symbol. The shot was finished well before the game began, and even appeared on the stadium’s interior screens during rehearsals.

“You can see the buildings in the background, and everything in the sky is all purple,” observes Riggs. “That’s one indicator that something fishy’s going on there. Things aren’t naturally all that purple. They’re totally altering the image.”...


More behind the link...

SeventeenDayze said:

EmmaMcG said:

SeventeenDayze said:

I think something difficult for folks outside of America to grasp is this notion of cultural appropriation and the deep resentment that comes with it. America's music industry has countless stories, revisionist history of white artists making attempts to take black culture while treating black people like second class citizens. Many black artists weren't even allowed to stay in certain hotels or had to use "colored" entrances to venues. This wasn't 300 years ago, this is stuff that was going on in recent history. On top of that, look at the music industry, how many times are black artists even put in a position to truly own their art, meanwhile, white artists like Timberlake are given a pass just because they're white and not because they're actually talented. Timberlake likes to show up and "pretend" to be an R&B artist then he goes right back to being a regular ass white suburban guy. I think those like George Michael, Teena Marie, David Bowie and Michael McDonald have far more respect from blacks because they never did those "cultural appropriation gymnastics" that Timberlake does. But it's nothing new. Whites in America can be black on a recreational basis (indulging in black culture) but then still have all "benefits" that come from not actually being black (being given the benefit of the doubt, being assumed to be fully qualified for a job, etc)

It's complicated.

Well thank god for someone who's actually willing to put forward a reasonable and realistic argument. I've missed you around here SeventeenDayze. I get what your saying that there are certain opportunities available for an act like Justin Timberlake that aren't available for many black singers who are just as good or better. I've experienced that first hand. A good friend of mine, who is black and American, has had to resort to the likes of Bandcamp to release his music because despite him writing his own songs and playing his own instruments, no label would touch him because he's "not marketable". Which, when reading between the lines, it's clear what they mean, especially because he's a good looking guy who is already a star, even if very few people have heard of him. But as tough as he's had it, he doesn't begrudge artists like JT or even the ones who are worse than JT their success. Just taking Timberlake as an example, yes, he's guilty of appropriating black music but at least he acknowledges that. His favourite artists are MJ and Prince so when it comes to making music, it's natural he would try to emulate their style. Not only that but Timbaland and Pharrell have a lot to do with his "signature" sound. Probably more than he does. I'm not his biggest fan in the world but I do think it's a little unfair to lay so much blame at JTs feet.

Hey! I've missed you too! I had to take a break from the lunacy on this site sometimes

I think part of the blame is also not being assigned to the media. Timberlake benefited from being in Nsync and was most likely groomed from the start to be the breakout artist. Basically he had the "machine" behind him in ways that arguably, the other members did not have in the same way. So, Justin's "privilege" doesn't necessarily begin and end with his skin color but it's undeniable that he benefits from some sort of favoritism that his band mates didn't necessarily get in the same amount.

Your friend being labeled as "not marketable" sounds like he's really talented but being cut short. The other day while I was at the gym, I caught a glimpse of some random music video playing in the background. It was of a black girl, using way too much autotune and looking/sounding like 100 other acts that I've seen. Same dull cheoreography, same dull overprocessed sound. So I was thinking, "Why in the world is someone like this being promoted when she's a copycat of a million other singers?" So the whole marketable thing is highly subjective and sometimes race is an issue and sometimes it's not. I think people here resent Timberlake because he comes across as smug and unrelatable.

I think, in my humble opinion, the most authentic white soul singer in recent history was/is George Michael. He was obviously influenced by American soul artists but never tried to blatantly copy the style. George was still George, so to speak. Justin passes off like he really loves to show up and do the "black thing" (or TRY to) and then he disappears. I saw a tweet from him that was apparent that he was throwing shade at the Black Lives Matter movement or something to that effect.

SeventeenDayze said:

EmmaMcG said:

SeventeenDayze said: Well thank god for someone who's actually willing to put forward a reasonable and realistic argument. I've missed you around here SeventeenDayze. I get what your saying that there are certain opportunities available for an act like Justin Timberlake that aren't available for many black singers who are just as good or better. I've experienced that first hand. A good friend of mine, who is black and American, has had to resort to the likes of Bandcamp to release his music because despite him writing his own songs and playing his own instruments, no label would touch him because he's "not marketable". Which, when reading between the lines, it's clear what they mean, especially because he's a good looking guy who is already a star, even if very few people have heard of him. But as tough as he's had it, he doesn't begrudge artists like JT or even the ones who are worse than JT their success. Just taking Timberlake as an example, yes, he's guilty of appropriating black music but at least he acknowledges that. His favourite artists are MJ and Prince so when it comes to making music, it's natural he would try to emulate their style. Not only that but Timbaland and Pharrell have a lot to do with his "signature" sound. Probably more than he does. I'm not his biggest fan in the world but I do think it's a little unfair to lay so much blame at JTs feet.

Hey! I've missed you too! I had to take a break from the lunacy on this site sometimes

I think part of the blame is also not being assigned to the media. Timberlake benefited from being in Nsync and was most likely groomed from the start to be the breakout artist. Basically he had the "machine" behind him in ways that arguably, the other members did not have in the same way. So, Justin's "privilege" doesn't necessarily begin and end with his skin color but it's undeniable that he benefits from some sort of favoritism that his band mates didn't necessarily get in the same amount.

Your friend being labeled as "not marketable" sounds like he's really talented but being cut short. The other day while I was at the gym, I caught a glimpse of some random music video playing in the background. It was of a black girl, using way too much autotune and looking/sounding like 100 other acts that I've seen. Same dull cheoreography, same dull overprocessed sound. So I was thinking, "Why in the world is someone like this being promoted when she's a copycat of a million other singers?" So the whole marketable thing is highly subjective and sometimes race is an issue and sometimes it's not. I think people here resent Timberlake because he comes across as smug and unrelatable.

I think, in my humble opinion, the most authentic white soul singer in recent history was/is George Michael. He was obviously influenced by American soul artists but never tried to blatantly copy the style. George was still George, so to speak. Justin passes off like he really loves to show up and do the "black thing" (or TRY to) and then he disappears. I saw a tweet from him that was apparent that he was throwing shade at the Black Lives Matter movement or something to that effect.

If he really did that with BLM, then he can fuck off......

ThatWhiteDude said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Hey! I've missed you too! I had to take a break from the lunacy on this site sometimes

I think part of the blame is also not being assigned to the media. Timberlake benefited from being in Nsync and was most likely groomed from the start to be the breakout artist. Basically he had the "machine" behind him in ways that arguably, the other members did not have in the same way. So, Justin's "privilege" doesn't necessarily begin and end with his skin color but it's undeniable that he benefits from some sort of favoritism that his band mates didn't necessarily get in the same amount.

Your friend being labeled as "not marketable" sounds like he's really talented but being cut short. The other day while I was at the gym, I caught a glimpse of some random music video playing in the background. It was of a black girl, using way too much autotune and looking/sounding like 100 other acts that I've seen. Same dull cheoreography, same dull overprocessed sound. So I was thinking, "Why in the world is someone like this being promoted when she's a copycat of a million other singers?" So the whole marketable thing is highly subjective and sometimes race is an issue and sometimes it's not. I think people here resent Timberlake because he comes across as smug and unrelatable.

I think, in my humble opinion, the most authentic white soul singer in recent history was/is George Michael. He was obviously influenced by American soul artists but never tried to blatantly copy the style. George was still George, so to speak. Justin passes off like he really loves to show up and do the "black thing" (or TRY to) and then he disappears. I saw a tweet from him that was apparent that he was throwing shade at the Black Lives Matter movement or something to that effect.

If he really did that with BLM, then he can fuck off......

Yeah I just found the tweet. It's buried a bit here in this article. I think it's about halfway down the page. It was basically an "All Lives Matter" response.

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/06/27/justin-timberlake-bet-awards-tweet/

SeventeenDayze said:

ThatWhiteDude said:

If he really did that with BLM, then he can fuck off......

Yeah I just found the tweet. It's buried a bit here in this article. I think it's about halfway down the page. It was basically an "All Lives Matter" response.

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/06/27/justin-timberlake-bet-awards-tweet/

Thanks for the link, that pisses me really off. JT doesn't see what the problem is. Like the Guy who called him out said, people like Macklemore aknowledge it while JT just takes whatever he can get.

I've been listening to a few things and the general consensus seems to be that Prince didn't like Justin Timberlake.

Sure Prince joked "Sexy never left" but it's such a inconsequential slight that it's hard to take too seriously, as some felt Justin did.

But for anyone who's read "Picturing Prince" and in particular the chapter "Battle of the Bands", Prince said a lot of things about others while not actually meaning them. It was his mental form of competition, and he had all the cd's of the people he seemingly had a problem with.

So him joking about "Sexyback" means he actually did like the record.

laurarichardson said:

CynicKill said:

I will say this; Justin had way more luck with a mic stand then Prince ever did.

Explain yourself. Prince knew how to work a mic stand. I have no idea what Justin was trying to do.

[Edited 2/5/18 8:15am]

What I mean is hasn't Prince eaten a mic or two while performing with that damn stand?

I was impressed with the mircobatics that Justin displayed at the superbowl.

I'm almost certain Prince would've been impressed too.

CynicKill said:

laurarichardson said:

Explain yourself. Prince knew how to work a mic stand. I have no idea what Justin was trying to do.

[Edited 2/5/18 8:15am]

What I mean is hasn't Prince eaten a mic or two while performing with that damn stand?

I was impressed with the mircobatics that Justin displayed at the superbowl.

I'm almost certain Prince would've been impressed too.

Seems like you're going out of your way to give Timberlake credit and going out of your way to shade Prince. Typical of the Org though....

ThatWhiteDude said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Yeah I just found the tweet. It's buried a bit here in this article. I think it's about halfway down the page. It was basically an "All Lives Matter" response.

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/06/27/justin-timberlake-bet-awards-tweet/

Thanks for the link, that pisses me really off. JT doesn't see what the problem is. Like the Guy who called him out said, people like Macklemore aknowledge it while JT just takes whatever he can get.

Yeah I think a lot of people on this thread who are defending Timberlake are either willfully ignoring his questionable comments of the past or just don't know he's done/said these things.

EmmaMcG said:

CynicKill said:

I've been listening to a few things and the general consensus seems to be that Prince didn't like Justin Timberlake.

Sure Prince joked "Sexy never left" but it's such a inconsequential slight that it's hard to take too seriously, as some felt Justin did.

But for anyone who's read "Picturing Prince" and in particular the chapter "Battle of the Bands", Prince said a lot of things about others while not actually meaning them. It was his mental form of competition, and he had all the cd's of the people he seemingly had a problem with.

So him joking about "Sexyback" means he actually did like the record.

I think Prince may have felt JT was claiming he was bringing Prince's sound and aura back, could have irked Prince a bit since he did have 3121 out that year which topped the charts for a week or 2.

JT, being young and feeling himself, upped the ante.

I've heard some people say the two got to a better place in the years after. Is that true?

CynicKill said:

laurarichardson said:

Explain yourself. Prince knew how to work a mic stand. I have no idea what Justin was trying to do.

[Edited 2/5/18 8:15am]

What I mean is hasn't Prince eaten a mic or two while performing with that damn stand?

I was impressed with the mircobatics that Justin displayed at the superbowl.

I'm almost certain Prince would've been impressed too.

Let us know when Justin does something like this.

laurarichardson said:

Dasein said:

I'm not mad at all. I don't think you understood what I was saying in my post:

1) I didn't call any critic a sycophant. So, I don't know why you're making a quip about
critics still raving. Instead, I called some members of the Org who won't remove MJ's teat
from their mouth, or Prince's too, sycophants. And, I'm willing to bet the farm that if JT
didn't musically acknowledge Prince in Minneapolis on Sunday night, this board would have
lost its fucken mind!

2) There was nothing in my post that was critical towards Prince. A Super Bowl half-time show is
usually less than 15 minutes. A global pop star with a catalog as expansive as Prince's and JT's is
going to feel pressure in performing truncated versions of their hit songs, so you're going to have
a performance that can feel rushed. Prince did it, and JT did it too. Yet, I don't remember anyone
in the Org criticizing Prince for it back in '07. The only reason why this thread is criticizing JT for
doing the same thing Prince did is because most Orgers don't like the media attention JT receives
and then use that alone to hate on JT. The Purple Army may be large and not going away, but
it certainly could use some critical thinking skills, eh?

Here comes the post that says: "But, JT's music sucks. It's not good as the critics say it is; that's
why I hate Justin Timberlake." And that would be my point: it's not JT's fault that white critics
think he's hot shit. He knows he's not as good as white media members make him out to be.

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

[Edited 2/6/18 4:10am]

1) You said this

" won't hear any Prince sycophant utter one criticism about this . . "

Why would we or anyone have anything bad to s ay about the performance it was incrediable.

We are not sycophants. We are fans.

Critics who have a job of critically reviewing performances are not fans or sycophants.

Critics have always been hard on Prince but universally eveyone praises his Superbowl performances because it was damm good. Cover versions or short versions of his songs had no impact on his performance

He let the music do the talking and quite frankly he was an older and more seasoned performer then Justin. Who has spent more then half of his music carreer actiing instead of playing music.

Think about what Prince was doing at 37 and what Justin is doing at 37.

------

Justin is getting critized because he simply crammed too many songs into 15 minutes. Plain and simple. He actually gets a pass because he is white and simply not that good at what he does and most people with a brain and critical thinking skills are fully aware of it. I am sure Justin is aware of it as well. Are we suppose to live in fantasy land and pretend it is not true?

Justin is a big boy and he will go on to sell records and make money. He will be fine being told what is obvious to eveyone. In fact I will bet money he will be invited back to perform again in another 10 years or so.

See the review from the USA Today. It is the most spot on about what was wrong with Justin's performance and what was right about Prince's.

---------

ead what USA Today had to say.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/02/05/compared-prince-justin-timberlakes-halftime-show-hilariously-bad/307243002/

Considering Sunday's Super Bowl was hosted in Minneapolis, not paying tribute to Prince during the halftime show would’ve been sacrilege.

Prince, who died in April 2016, wasn’t just Minneapolis’ own king of pop, he also gave the Super Bowl its best-ever halftime show performance in 2007.

Yet, it’s unlikely that Prince and his deservedly-large ego would've been satisfied with the treatment he received: a tribute from Justin Timberlake, an artist with whom Prince had a historically fraught relationship, during a show that fell woefully short of The Purple One's legendary 2007 set.

There’s a reason why, when rumors spread last week that a hologram version of Prince would join Timberlake on-stage, that the late singer’s fans rioted. Timberlake had a history of mocking Prince in public, from taking a dig at the 5’2’’ singer’s height at the 2007 Golden Globes to dedicating an entire verse to dissing Prince on his song Give It To Me later that year.

STORY FROM ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

Discover British Columbia...nd legends

There was no Prince hologram on Sunday, though a projection of the late artist performing I Would Die 4 U, projected on a stories-high white sheet reminiscent of the one Prince himself posed behind during his halftime show with his legendary phallic guitar left fans unsettled.

Yet, Prince devotees can take solace in the fact that their idol’s 2007 halftime show eclipses Timberlake’s in every way.

Review: Justin Timberlake's 'Man ...pop fusion

More: Why Prince fans are bashi...erformance

Prince sang his songs during his halftime show, while Timberlake let his backing tracks and background singers do the heavy lifting, following a disastrously garbled opening in which the sound was so muffled fans could barely make out Timberlake’s lyrics.

Between Timberlake willfully ignoring his Suit and Tie vocals in favor of kicking around his mic stand, and the singer desperately reaching for his high notes at the end of Mirrors, he was doomed whether he opened his mouth or not.

Prince also knew how to balance his classic songs with some innovative risks, ripping through faithful versions of his hits (save a few added guitar solos) before debuting a blistering mashup of All Along the Watchtower and the Foo Fighters’ Best Of You. Meanwhile, Timberlake’s attempts to remix his own pop classics resulted in the lurching rock arrangements of songs like My Love and Cry Me a River, the instrumentals further jumbled by a horns section behind him. As heard in the confused Americana-R&B of Man of the Woods, Timberlake’s genre experimentations didn’t just doom his new album, but also Sunday's show.

And Prince knew how to stick his landing, ending his halftime set with one of the greatest moments in halftime show history, his breathtaking performance of Purple Rain. What would Prince have thought that Can't Stop The Feeling, a song from the Trolls movie soundtrack, capped Timberlake's set instead of his duet with Prince?

In a moment that went instantly viral, Timberlake ventured into the stadium stands in the song’s final moments and took a selfie with a teenager who, nonplussed, immediately looked back down at his phone, the singer still performing next to him.

Somehow, we think Prince would've been more proud of that kid than anything else in Timberlake's set.

[Edited 2/6/18 5:33am]

I don't think you're following my argument, Laura.

If an Orger is unable to criticize Prince for doing what Justin Timberlake did during their respective
Super Bowl half-time shows, then why aren't I justified in calling Orgers who are Prince fans "syco-
phants" who then lack the ability to be critical towards their own hero?

This is not about Prince vs Justin Timberlake. This is about the Org being absolutely ridiculous about
its collective reasons for disliking the latter. I could see if JT hired only white band members and act-
ually paraded himself as the Heir Apparent and Chosen One. Instead, he's been deferential to his
Black American forebears and hires Black American musicians who eat well because of him. Like I
said: it doesn't make any sense to criticize him for essentially being a white guy who likes Black art.
And, it doesn't make any sense to criticize him for playing all of his hits in a truncated fashion when
Prince's own half-time show was the same!

EmmaMcG said:

BlackCat1985 said:

NOPE! Janet has took the most hits from this every freaking year since then! While Justin is barely mentioned. So now it's his turn! Did you really think people were gonna let this skate by... [Edited 2/5/18 13:42pm]

Janet Jackson only has herself to blame for the position she's in now. Do you honestly think that if her wardrobe malfunction never happened she'd still have a prosperous music career? Female popstars don't last into old age unless they're really special. And the only special thing about Janet is that she's Michael's sister.

Really?

namepeace said:

EmmaMcG said:

BlackCat1985 said: Janet Jackson only has herself to blame for the position she's in now. Do you honestly think that if her wardrobe malfunction never happened she'd still have a prosperous music career? Female popstars don't last into old age unless they're really special. And the only special thing about Janet is that she's Michael's sister.

Really?

That comment about Janet. I am so shocked right now, Janet is a legend herself! How dare you downgrading the lady to "just Michael's sister." How arrogant are you? She is a legend and I am pretty sure, she too, inspired a lot of musicians. Michael wasn't the only talented Jackson.

[Edited 2/6/18 15:29pm]

StrangeButTrue said:

If Prince had lip synced Doves Cry, did Little Red Corvette lip syncing with Madonna, covered Milli Vanilli and Kajagoogoo, and closed with A Song of The Heart before taking selfies with space aliens it would still have been more entertaining than the Timberlake performance.

He really wasn't good. I was already disappointed in the beginning, his new Song is just aweful. And he really looked like a stick when he danced. Way too stiff. And the tribute, I didn't find it that bad, but it could've been better, but I expected it to be horrible.

Out of all the SB Halftime Shows, this was by far the worst. And think about it, he only beat one act, and that was the Black Eyed Pease for performing the worst SB halftime show.

Yes, Prince performed his greatest hits, but he didn't lip synch, and he gave one stellar show. It got ranked the the best super bowl half time show the second time for a reason.

[Edited 2/6/18 15:38pm]

ThatWhiteDude said:

EmmaMcG said:

ThatWhiteDude said:

That comment about Janet. I am so shocked right now, Janet is a legend herself! How dare you downgrading the lady to "just Michael's sister." How arrogant are you? She is a legend and I am pretty sure, she too, inspired a lot of musicians. Michael wasn't the only talented Jackson.

[Edited 2/6/18 15:29pm]

Without Michael you'd never have heard of Janet. She owes her success to her family name. I'm not saying she didn't have any good songs in her own right, but if she wasn't a Jackson nobody would care.

That is totally untrue, because she has enough talent to be relevant even without that family name. You're just some MJ dick rider.

[Edited 2/6/18 16:01pm]

CynicKill said:

laurarichardson said:

Explain yourself. Prince knew how to work a mic stand. I have no idea what Justin was trying to do.

[Edited 2/5/18 8:15am]

What I mean is hasn't Prince eaten a mic or two while performing with that damn stand?

I was impressed with the mircobatics that Justin displayed at the superbowl.

I'm almost certain Prince would've been impressed too.

Wasn't it a trick stand? I thought it looked like it was attached to the stage, so he didn't actually have to control the bottom of the stand, just direct the upper end (which would be much easier if you didn't have to worry about the bottom).

EmmaMcG said:

peedub said:

it is beyond incomprehensible to me that anyone over the age of 30 still has anything, good or bad, to say about any of this...for fuck's sake...put your 'us' magazine down and go do something you love.

I don't get it.. Seems JT has suffered from the Janet & Prince backlash, one would think folks would be happy,, ijs

Wow. Some of these comments make me ashamed to be an old Prince fan. Been a fan since the early 80's and I have nothing bad to say about JT. He's had a fine career and has grown with each record. Not bad on the keys or guitar either. It's pop music. It is good for what it is. I view him the same way I view Bruno Mars , D'angelo, Santigold, or Portugal the Man, or any other pop act. If the songs are good great. If they can put on a decent live show (JT can) even better. If they have one foot planted firmly in the classics, even better still. Why hate on these guys? Why make it a black or white issue? Why beat up on every new act that comes down the pike from The Weekend and Kendrik to JT or Sam Smith ? Everyone knows JT is no Prince or MJ. No one ever said he was.

[Edited 2/6/18 19:40pm]