Justified by Justin Timberlake

Justified, Justin Timberlake's first solo album, landed on Jive on November 5, 2002, written and recorded in a six-week sprint while NSYNC sat on the bench. The boy-band gloss is traded for R&B with a strut: the Neptunes and Timbaland handle most of the production, beats snapping and funk bubbling under Timberlake's light, agile voice, with Janet Jackson, Clipse and Bubba Sparxxx dropping by.

"Like I Love You" opened the account, then "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body" went top five in the US, the last of them topping the chart in Australia. Critics liked the grown-up turn even when they winced at some of the lyrics, and it won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album out of four nominations, Album of the Year included. It topped the charts in the UK, Ireland and Scotland and has sold more than 10 million copies.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.