"Tunnel Vision" is a song by American singer Justin Timberlake from his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). The track was released on June 14, 2013, as the album's third and final single, through RCA Records. Timberlake wrote and produced the song alongside Timbaland and J-Roc, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy. It was also recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios, based in North Hollywood, California. The song is a mid-tempo R&B song with EDM influence and instrumentation featuring Timbaland's signature ad-libs, record-scratching, heavy drums, melodic bass, orchestration an
"Tunnel Vision" is a song by American singer Justin Timberlake from his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). The track was released on June 14, 2013, as the album's third and final single, through RCA Records. Timberlake wrote and produced the song alongside Timbaland and J-Roc, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy. It was also recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios, based in North Hollywood, California. The song is a mid-tempo R&B song with EDM influence and instrumentation featuring Timbaland's signature ad-libs, record-scratching, heavy drums, melodic bass, orchestration an
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"Tunnel Vision" is a song by American singer Justin Timberlake from his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). The track was released on June 14, 2013, as the album's third and final single, through RCA Records. Timberlake wrote and produced the song alongside Timbaland and J-Roc, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy. It was also recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios, based in North Hollywood, California. The song is a mid-tempo R&B song with EDM influence and instrumentation featuring Timbaland's signature ad-libs, record-scratching, heavy drums, melodic bass, orchestration and synthesizer. Its lyrics proclaim Timberlake's tunnel vision for his love interest, with several voyeuristic references.
"Tunnel Vision" received generally positive reviews from music critics, most of whom praised Timbaland's production and cited it as a highlight of The 20/20 Experience. After the album's release, the song charted in South Korea and the United States due to strong digital sales. It debuted on the singles chart in South Korea at number 27, selling 6,670 digital copies in its first week. "Tunnel Vision" peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number eight on the UK R&B Singles Chart.
The accompanying music video for "Tunnel Vision", directed by Jonathan Craven, Simon McLoughlin, and Jeff Nicholas, premiered on July 3 on Timberlake's Vevo channel. In the seven-minute video, Timberlake and Timbaland watch nude women and dance. Critics labeled the video NSFW and compared it to the video for Robin Thicke's 2013 single, "Blurred Lines". Banned initially on YouTube, it was later posted with the condition that viewers disclose their age. The song was part of the set list for Timberlake's 2013 Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour with rapper Jay-Z and his fifth solo tour, The 20/20 Experience World Tour (2013–2015).
Background
In September 2006, Timberlake released his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which was a commercial success and received generally positive reviews from most music critics. The album spawned six singles, including the international hits "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". After wrapping up a worldwide concert tour to support the album in 2007, Timberlake took a break from his music career to focus on acting, with occasional guest appearances on several singles by Madonna, T.I., Jamie Foxx, , and Esmée Denters.
Composition
"Tunnel Vision" was written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and James Fauntleroy, and produced by Timbaland, Timberlake, and Harmon. It is a mid-tempo R&B song with an EDM influence. Billboard's Jason Lipshutz noted that it has an instrumentation that features "fizzing beats abetted by the producer's [Timbaland] signature ad-libs and vocal record-scratches", while according to Sobhi Youssef of Sputnikmusic the song is built on "still-existing chops with a drum heavy, syncopated backbone amidst frenetically shifting bass melodies, sweeping orchestrations, and vacuous synths that all coalesce into a fuzzed out boom-bap." Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork called the synthesizer "sinister" and, according to Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson, it has Middle Eastern tones. Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle called the beats and vocal loops on "Tunnel Vision" reminiscent of Timbaland's past work with the late American singer Aaliyah. According to Sarah Dean of The Huffington Post, its beat resembles that on 50 Cent's 2007 single "Ayo Technology" (also featuring Timberlake).
Timberlake's music manager Johnny Wright approached him in 2010, discussing possibility of going back to his music career and the difficulties of releasing his future material, because according to Wright, "a lot of the physical record sellers were gone, by the time they've got music again they needed to think about different ways to deliver it". Wright proposed a promotion based on an application or releasing a new song every month. Timberlake, however, was not interested in returning to music; instead, he continued to focus on his film career. Around the "late part of May, first week in June" 2012, Timberlake invited Wright to dinner and revealed that he had spent the last couple of nights in the studio with Timbaland working on new material. Wright was shocked by the revelation, and the two immediately began planning how to promote and release the album. Ultimately, they agreed on a shorter period, seven or eight weeks, between the singles and the album. Wright told Billboard that "such a short window" demanded "a big impact".
In August 2012, producer Jim Beanz reported that Timberlake had started work on his new music project. Shortly after the announcement, Timberlake's publicist denied plans for a new album, stating Timberlake was instead working on Timbaland's upcoming project Shock Value III. Wright stated that although the project involved artists who are primarily Timberlake's friends, it was tough to keep it a secret, so they used codenames. Originally planned for release in October 2012, Timberlake's project was postponed because of his wedding to actress Jessica Biel. Timberlake revealed the track listing for The 20/20 Experience on February 6, 2013; "Tunnel Vision" was revealed as the fifth track. The album was released on March 15, 2013, via RCA Records.
"Tunnel Vision" features "thrilling" evolutions in production and arrangement complementing Timberlake's vocals, and the song's unusual, abrupt changes unite it throughout. It borrows the "dark alley" rhythm of The 20/20 Experience's third track, "Don't Hold the Wall"; Timberlake sings in his lower register, with an "exciting" upward arpeggio. Timbaland uses the singer's voice as a "flexible instrument to enhance his tech savvy soundscape", constructing "layers of production elements into towers of sonic force". Lauren Martin of Fact called the song the start of Timbaland's "Bollywood influenced 'Indian Flute' era" and a tease; Timberlake's voice is redis
