Suit & Tie
"Suit & Tie" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake from his third studio album The 20/20 Experience (2013). It features a verse from American rapper Jay-Z. It was written and produced by Timberlake, Tim "Timbaland" Mosley and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. It features compositional samples from the 1972 song "Sho' Nuff" by Sly, Slick and Wicked, which members are credited as co-writers to "Suit & Tie". The song was premiered on YouTube on January 13, 2013, and was released on January 15 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album. It serves as Timberlake's highly anticipated musical comeback following a six-year hiatus, during which time he pursued an acting career and developed his skills as a record producer and songwriter for other artists.
This article is about the Justin Timberlake song. For the attire, see Suit."Suit & Tie"
January 15, 2013
June 2012
Larrabee Studios
(North Hollywood)
- 5:26 (album version)
- 4:29 (radio edit)
- Timberlake
- Tim "Timbaland" Mosley
- Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon
- James Fauntleroy
- Shawn Carter
- John Wilson
- Charles Still
- Terry Stubbs Rosheed
- Timbaland
- J-Roc
- Timberlake
Musically, "Suit & Tie" is a mid-tempo R&B song, that incorporates a "slow-drawl" consisting of slowed down synths and "slightly out of time" drum claps, similar to the chopped and screwed remixing style. Lyrically, the song is an ode to the joys of "being handsome and well-dressed". Upon release the song was met with positive reviews from critics who praised both the song and Timberlake from representing R&B in a way that many contemporary songs cannot. Commercially "Suit & Tie" was a success selling 315,000 first-week downloads in the US, surpassing the 250,000 debut of "SexyBack" in 2006 and becoming Timberlake's highest sales week for a download at the time—until the release of "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in 2016. The song went on to peak at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song also charted within the top five of both the UK and Canadian charts, peaking at three in both regions respectively. As of 2018, it has sold 3.3 million downloads in the US.[1]
An accompanying music video for "Suit & Tie" was shot on January 25, 2013 and was directed by David Fincher, with whom Timberlake had previously worked with in The Social Network. To promote the song, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed "Suit & Tie" at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013.[2] They performed the song again during Timberlake's hosting of Saturday Night Live on March 9, 2013.[3] The music video was released on Timberlake's Vevo page on Valentine's Day 2013. It won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2014 ceremony.
Writing and inspiration[edit]
"Suit & Tie" was written by Timberlake, Timbaland, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and James Fauntleroy.[10] According to Timberlake: "The inspiration for this really came out of the blue and to be honest, I didn't expect anything out of it. I just went into the studio and started playing around with some sounds and songs. It was probably the best time I've had in my career... Just creating with no rules and/or end goal in mind and really enjoying the process."[11]
Composition[edit]
"Suit & Tie" is a mid-tempo R&B song, with a length of five minutes and 26 seconds (5:26).[12] The song, written in the key of D major, begins with a "slow-drawl" intro consisting of slowed down synths and "slightly out of time" drum claps, reminiscent of the Chopped and Screwed style of DJing.[13][14] A distorted Timbaland growls "awoo", before he and Timberlake sing: "I be on my suit and tie shit". After a brief pause the song then settles into a "rolling, laidback" groove that contains finger clicks and old-school horn blasts that add a layer of sophistication to the track.[13][15] Timbaland's "shiny collection" of percussion congeals on the track.[11] Jay-Z's appearance is a single verse which appears roughly two thirds of the way into the track.
The song features heavily usage of music samples from Sly, Slick and Wicked's 1972 recording "Sho' Nuff", produced by James Brown.[16] The sound effect used in the beat is also similar to that of the track "Ya Mama" by The Pharcyde. The song also follows similar musical patterns of the 1986 song "Guinnevere" by Valerie Dore off of her LP, The Legend.
"Suit & Tie" is a sleek dance number with several start-stop components arranged in a way similar to his debut single "Like I Love You" (2002).[11] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News wrote that the song is in the "classic" style of Curtis Mayfield, yet "isn't in any way conventionally retro".[15] The song "floats along" like a song from The Whispers, but according to Melinda Newman of HitFix, Timbaland's production manages to pay homage without sounding dated.[17] The song then goes into a hypnotic, engaging outro before a great, cold ending.[17] Lyrically, the song is an ode to the joys of "being handsome and well-dressed".[18]
Chart performance[edit]
A few hours after its release, "Suit & Tie" reached the top position on the U.S. iTunes Store.[23] The song debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 based on two days of airplay in the week ending January 26, 2013.[24]
"Suit & Tie" also debuted at number 14 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart with 6,045 plays, the highest detections total by a new entry in the chart's history. Only Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift debuted higher at number 12 with "Dreamlover" (1993) and "Shake It Off" (2014), respectively; additionally, Swift's "Bad Blood" debuted at number 13.[25] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 3.[26] As of June 2013, "Suit & Tie" has sold 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[27]
The following week, "Suit & Tie" jumped to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 with 315,000 first-week downloads sold.[28] It was Timberlake's highest sales week for a download, surpassing the 250,000 debut of "SexyBack" in 2006,[29] but later bested by "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in 2016 with 379,000.[30] "Suit & Tie" then fell to number 13 for two weeks, but returned to the top 10 on the week of February 10, 2013[31] after Timberlake performed it at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The song reached a new peak at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on its eleventh week due to the album release.[32] The single has reached the number one position on Billboard's Rhythmic Airplay Chart in its April 13, 2013 issue.[33] As of March 2014, the single has sold 3,044,000 downloads in the United States.[34] As of 2018, the song has accumulated 4.6 million units in the country, combining sales (3.3 million downloads) and equivalent streams.[1][35]
In 2013, "Suit & Tie" was ranked as the 20th most popular song of the year on the Billboard Hot 100.[36]
Music video[edit]
Background and release[edit]
In 2010, American filmmaker David Fincher directed the drama film The Social Network. In it, Timberlake played Sean Parker and starred together with actors Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. Later, the film went on to get a nomination for Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards.[37] On February 1, 2013, it was revealed that Fincher is set to direct the video for "Suit & Tie", Timberlake's comeback single. Prior to becoming an Oscar-nominated director, Fincher frequently directed music videos for artists, such as Madonna ("Express Yourself" and "Vogue"), Aerosmith ("Janie's Got a Gun"), George Michael ("Freedom! '90") and A Perfect Circle ("Judith"). His last directed music video was from 2005 when he directed the music video for the song "Only" by Nine Inch Nails.[37]
The music video for "Suit & Tie" was shot in Los Angeles on January 25, 2013.[38] It was filmed by cinematographer Matthew Libatique with Red Epic equipment. June Ambrose, costume designer and celebrity stylist, outfitted Jay-Z in Tom Ford for the video. The music video was released on Timberlake's Vevo page on Valentine's Day 2013.[39] Entirely black and white, it alternates between footage of the song's production in the present day, the artists performing at a bar and at the Hollywood Bowl, and silhouette choreography on a "water set", backed by skypanels.[40]
The music video on YouTube has received over 185 million views as of April 2024.[41]
Accolades[edit]
"Suit & Tie" won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.[42] It received two nominations at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Collaboration and Best Direction, winning the latter.[43] Rolling Stone named it the third best video of 2013.[44] Pitchfork Media also ranked it among the best music videos of 2013[45] and half-of-the-decade.[46]
Engineering and mixing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience, RCA Records.[51]