Love songs gush over a special girl (“Nothing Else”), pledge selfless devotion (“Take It From Here”) and offer consolation to a partner who just lost her job (“Let’s Take a Ride”).
Steamy sexual come-ons appear throughout the project. Most start with ogling on the dance floor. “Rock Your Body” finds Timberlake urging a young woman, “Do that a–shakin’ thing . . . Better have you naked by the end of this song.” The duet with Janet Jackson “(And She Said) Take Me Now” finds the pair exchanging innuendoes. On “(Oh No) What You Got,” Timberlake’s dance partner starts “rubbing” and “feeling on” him, prompting the singer to say, “I can tell that you want to do more than just dance with me.” Similarly, “Right for Me” uses lusty slang to stroke a girl’s ego in hopes of hooking up. The hit “Like I Love You” parties with alcohol (“Take a few shots/Let it burn in your chest”) and makes thinly veiled references to sex. Among its erotic miscues, “Senorita” equates “real love” with physical intimacy. Several mild profanities creep in.
On recent ’N Sync discs, Timberlake and his pals threw in token odes to raging hormones. They’re the rule, not the exception on his solo project (tinged with Michael Jackson-esque vocal stylings). When he’s not pledging his love or scolding ex-girlfriends for dumping him, Justin’s on the prowl.