Posts Tagged ‘Justin Timberlake’

Earlier this year, Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch, Lupe Fiasco, Santigold and others banded together to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness about the global clean-water crisis. Now Justin Timberlake has pitched in to support the effort.

The singer is set to provide a personal introduction to “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” the 90-minute documentary about the celebrities’ climb that will air on  March 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Masterminded by Grammy-nominated musician Kenna, the team took a six-day, 50-mile trek to the peak of the tallest mountain in Africa.

“It was a combination of the mental and the psychological aspects of the mountain, of the slow-but-steady pace that you had to go up it, and that sometimes made your brain just want to explode, because you just wanted to get there so badly,” Biel told reporters Wednesday. “But then you’d get this rush of inspiration of ‘I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for something bigger than me, for people who don’t have a voice, for people that need water around the world,’ and then you’d power through.”

In addition to raising awareness about the clean-water crisis, the “Summit on the Summit” raises funds for P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Water for People’s PlayPumps Technology. During the broadcast, viewers will be able to text SEND to 90999 to donate $10 to the U.N. Foundation on behalf of “Summit on the Summit.” Each donation will send 1,000 liters of clean water to people in need.

“We have a long history of educating its audience to raise awareness on issues that are important to them,” said Dave Sirulnick, Executive Vice President, News and Docs. “More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. By airing this documentary, we hope to mobilize a new generation of young people who may not be aware of this global cause and take action to get involved in helping find solutions to the water crisis.”

At his latest William Rast fashion show, Justin Timberlake admitted there is a “blatant correlation” between music and fashion — however, for the time being, Timberlake is more focused on the clothes and less worried about putting out new music.

He hasn’t put out a solo album since 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, but he said he isn’t going to force the tunes out. “You know, music is … music exploration, I find that when it comes up … it comes up like a freight train,” he said. “So when it does, I definitely won’t run from it.”

However, the bottom line is that Timberlake has no plans to release his own new music anytime soon. In addition to his fashion empire, he’s also busy promoting acts on his Tennman label, like Esmée Denters and Free Sol. “Right now I’m enjoying working with new artists, working with some of the acts that I have signed to my little label, which I just started,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Timberlake and business partner Trace Ayala will be concentrating on growing their successful William Rast brand. “I know, for me, with the label is just keep expanding,” Ayala said. “We just signed an eyewear deal, so we’re working on eyewear. It’s really growing fast.”

“Just give a little flavor here and there to go a little deeper and build a collection where we hope to go,” Timberlake continued. “We want to have our own furniture. We want to design interiors on cars. We want to go as far as we can with this brand.”

Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Wyclef Jean, Bono, The Edge and Jay-Z will lead the all-star lineup of performers for Friday night’s “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” telethon. More than 100 stars have signed on to help raise funds for the networks-sponsored show, which will benefit the victims of last week’s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake on the impoverished island.

Several one-of-a-kind collaborations will highlight the event, including a hookup between U2’s Bono and The Edge with Jay-Z and Rihanna in London and a jam featuring Kid Rock, Keith Urban and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; like all the night’s performances, the collabos will be available for download on iTunes for 99 cents the next day.

Also appearing in New York with Wyclef and Springsteen will be Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira and Sting, while the Los Angeles show will feature performances from Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Timberlake, Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift.

Jean, a native of Haiti, George Clooney and CNN’s Anderson Cooper will appear on the show, which will be broadcast from New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti and feature more than 100 of the biggest names in film, television and music providing testimonials and answering phones. The two-hour program will air commercial-free across ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, VH1 and CMT on Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The special will also air on PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, Centric, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, Epix, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health and Planet Green, as well as Canada’s CTV, CBC Television, Global Television and MuchMusic. It will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, and National Geographic available in 640 million homes worldwide. “Hope for Haiti” will be the first U.S.-based telethon airing in China. Facebook and Twitter are the official social media partners who will help to drive donations and tune-in to the telethon.

All donations will directly benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Wyclef’s Yele Haiti Foundation. Facebook and MySpace have signed on as official social-media partners to help steer viewers to the telethon and drive donations.

Additionally, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and United Nations World Food Programme have joined the list of relief organizations that will benefit from the show, with proceeds to be split evenly among each organization’s individual Haiti relief funds. “Hope For Haiti Now” will be the most widely distributed telethon in history, internationally and across media platforms, including live streaming globally on sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV.

On the red carpet at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards, George Clooney revealed how the global fundraiser came together. “You guys started it,” the actor said. “The first call I made was to Judy McGrath. She said, ‘Yes, everybody will do it, everybody’s in’ and that they were thinking of doing it too. They got the ball rolling and we got every single network after that. So congratulations to you!”

Before the telethon airs, Clooney wanted to remind young people that there are many ways to help the people of Haiti.

“I would say, ‘Get involved, whatever you do,’ ” the Oscar-winner said. “This is about compassion. There are times in our lives when people are really without help and in real danger, and this is one of those times. So whatever they can do — give money to one of the organizations that they like the best.”

Between guesting on Jay-Z’s “Run This Town,” appearing in Kanye West’s “Paranoid” video and being photographed while out on the town, Rihanna has certainly been in the headlines recently. And as she continues work on her next LP, some of her collaborators have been talking about their work with her — most recently, Justin Timberlake and British producers Chase & Status.

“The stuff we’ve come up with in the studio, it’s the next step for her. It’s a little more grown-up. It’s got some edge to it,” Timberlake said in an interview during E!’s red-carpet show prior to Sunday’s Emmy Awards. The two previously collaborated on “Rehab,” from Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad LP.

The songstress has also enlisted U.K. dance producers Chase & Status, who talked about her professionalism and sense of direction with the BBC. “On one track she came up with some cool melodies and cool ideas, the kind of vibe she wanted. This album for her is just about what she likes and what she’s into and what she wants,” said Saul Milton, a.k.a. Chase.

The duo have spent “two sessions, three or four weeks in total” working with the singer, and Milton noted that Rihanna is very direct about what she likes — and what she doesn’t.

“When she doesn’t like something she’ll let you know. When she likes something she’ll let you know as well,” Milton said. “If she’s not into the vibe she’ll be like, ‘Nope, I don’t think it’s for me.’ Or if something is a bit too bolshie , she’s like, ‘That’s not what I’m trying to push right now.’

“We just spent a lot of time with the writers and with her and she’s just a really cool girl, down to earth.”

Milton also recalled how he found out that Rihanna was interested in working with the duo.

“I actually got a call from Rihanna at 6 a.m. one day, before we even met up, saying how she loves the tracks and that she can’t wait to work with us,” he said, adding, “That was a big realization that it’s happening!”

At press time, a spokesperson for Rihanna had not responded to reporters requests for confirmation and more information.

Kings of Leon have recruited Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams and Mark Ronson to give their Only By the Night the dance floor treatment with an upcoming remix LP, Billboard reports. No album name or release date has been announced, but the brothers Followill have also secured remixes from Kenna, Lykke Li and Linkin Park so far. Additionally, the former Rolling Stone cover stars are planning a live DVD from their July performance at London’s O2 Arena.

As Rock Daily previously reported, Timberlake said earlier in the year that the Kings of Leon’s Only By the Night was a constant on his iPod, so it’ll be interesting to hear JT’s FutureSex spin on one of the tracks. The Kings of Leon also tell Billboard that they’ve been working on new songs during their sound checks, with the eight to 10 tracks they’ve developed thus far comparable to bands like Radiohead, Thin Lizzy and the Band. Caleb Followill will also appear as a guest judge on an episode of Iron Chef this autumn (see photo, below).

Almost a year after its release, Only By the Night continues to be a force, climbing back up to the Number Five position on the Top 200 this week and grabbing platinum status. Back in September 2008, the album debuted at Number Four, so that’s a testament of the lasting appeal of hits like “Sex on Fire,” “Use Somebody” and “Notion.” Back in April, reporters ventured down to the Followill compound in Nashville for his cover story, bringing back photos, a tour of their pads and much more.

Listen to any Justin Timberlake song or look at any of his videos, and it is clear that the singer has been heavily influenced by Michael Jackson, who passed away on Thursday. Not only has Timberlake been influenced by him, but he has also had the honor of performing with him.

Timberlake reflected on the times — like when Jackson performed with ‘NSYNC at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards — he shared with the pop legend.

“The thing about Michael is the memories,” he told reporters. “I’m lucky enough to have memories — actually, physically — with him onstage and off.”

Timberlake went on to describe the outpouring of emotion for Jackson from friends and fans a “testament to how big a deal it is, obviously, because he’s created so many cultural photos in people’s minds with his music that he was and always will be the king of pop.

“To create the things that he created with his music is untouchable. He opened the minds of the world to be able to do that through his music… a feat not accomplished by many people, maybe only a handful of people. I don’t think anyone ever did it like him.

He went on to echo a statement he made late last week about Jackson, saying, “He opened the minds of people about music. He opened the minds of people about culture. Even if it was this much in your conscious, he helped with segregation. His music did that and not a lot of people can say that. Michael was the baddest!”