Parents, meet the track that you’ll be listening to on repeat for the next eight months. Justin Timberlake, who revealed we “Can’t Stop The Feeling” with the first Trolls movie soundtrack, teamed up with SZA for “The Other Side,” the lead single from the Trolls World Tour soundtrack. The sequel to the 2016 surprise hit is out on April 17, but Justin and SZA couldn’t wait that long to share their new song. First dropping the track on Feb. 26, Justin and SZA shared the video hours later, and it’s just as sparkly as the world of Trolls. SZA, dressed in a silver outfit that shines like the giant disco-ball she rides on in the video, shines brighter than a diamond. She goes through a few colorful outfit changes, while Justin keeps it simple in black.
Though, SZA probably should have opted for a pair of comfortable shoes because she takes a surprise tumble at the end! IT’s okay – she laughed off the fall. Clearly, she was having too much fun to feel bad about nearly faceplanting. And yes — the video is fun. The whole visual feels like a joyous throwback to ’90s hip-hop/R&B. The fish-eye lens. Dancing down a hallway. The elaborate outfits. If Missy Elliott or Will Smith or Puff Daddy-era Diddy were to show up, it wouldn’t be entirely out of left-field.
“I was so thrilled to be invited to participate in this project with Justin,” said SZA in a statement. “The creative process of working with him and the team was filled with such excitement. It’s an energy you can feel in both the song and music video. I can’t wait for people to check it out.”
“It has been such a fun process writing and executive producing for this project,” added Justin in that statement. “Being able to bring together different creatives from various disciplines and genres has been the most rewarding part. Creating something that serves the movie while still being able to exist apart from it has been a fun challenge that was made even more exciting by working with the other amazing artists that helped us put this together.”
Now that “The Other Side” is out and about, will it perform as well as Justin’s previous song from a Trolls movie? “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” from the first Trolls movie, gave Justin his first No. 1 single in over a decade. Following the success of “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” Justin released Man of the Woods. While it debuted on the top of the US Billboard 200 – giving Justin his fourth No. 1 album – and the singles “Filthy” and “Say Something” reached the Top 10, the album came and went rather quickly. It received mixed reviews, with Rolling Stone said that “Man of the Woods is easily the least cohesive listen from the man who gave us a post-millennial robo-Thriller (2002’s Justified), an EDM-anticipating collection of extended art-pop (2006’s Futuresex/Lovesounds) and two discs of impossibly bloated yet stylistically confident grooves (2013’s 20/20 Experience).” Despite those harsh words, “Can’t Stop The Feeling” reminded everyone why they fell in love with JT in the first place and continues to make fans to this day.
Since “Cant’ Stop The Feeling,” the only major development in Justin’s life has been the scandal involving him and Alisha Wainwright. Justin was seen holding hands with his Palmer costar while in New Orleans. The scandal led some to question whether or not he was cheating on Jessica Biel, his wife and mother of his son, Silas. 4. Though sources told HollywoodLife that there was nothing beyond this moment of friendly contact between coworkers, Justin felt he had to address the incident. Since coming out on ‘the other side’ of that scandal, Jessica and Justin’s love seems stronger than ever.