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“Carry Out”

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Release Date

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Reviewer

Adam R. Holz

Album Review

I could review Timbaland’s latest mid-tempo R&B dance hit with just three words: obsessed with sex. But in the interest of providing just a bit more context and something more readable, I’ll add this: It’s obsessed with a fantasy about having sex with an attractive fast-food waitress. Or maybe waitresses, plural, if the video is any indication.

As this track’s title suggests, “Carry Out” is a double entendre-laden come-on from Timbaland and guest singer Justin Timberlake. You can pick just about any marketing phrase connected with fast food, and these two guys have figured out a way to sexualize it as they proposition some anonymous hot girl(s) at a restaurant.

“I have you open all night like IHOP.”

“I just can’t get enough, I got to drive through.”

“Have it your way, foreplay.”

“I can tell the way you like it, baby, super-size.”

“Take my order, ’cause your body like a carry out.”

If those demeaning, objectifying lyrics weren’t bad enough, the video (predictably) pushes the sexual imagery further. We see an old-school, drive-in burger joint where the waitresses zoom out on roller skates—looking like they just got out of a Victoria’s Secret photo shoot and ready to give the boys whatever they want. There’s lots of sensual cupcake eating, too, just for good measure.

Here’s how Timbaland described the song in a YouTube video interview about his latest album, Shock Value II. “It’s a reintroduction of me and [Justin] doing what we normally do, [which] is makin’ the people dance. And it’s the whole energy of what we bring to the table. And I think that song shows the chemistry that we both have and why we work together so great.”

I’m going to give Timbaland credit here for being half right: It is what he and JT “normally do.”

But “great”? Nah.

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Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.