Justin Timberlake buying up Sun and Stax?

FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
edited October 2005 in Strut Central
The capital city of soul and rock'n'roll, which launched the careers of stars including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Jerry Lee Lewis, has hit hard times. In its heyday Elvis was its king in his Graceland mansion. Yet today the stardust of Memphis is gone, replaced by high unemployment, crime and grinding poverty.Now an unlikely figure, the former boy band member Justin Timberlake, has emerged as its would-be saviour. He is negotiating to build a huge recording studio complex and to buy up two of the city's world-renowned record labels, Sun, which gave the planet Elvis and rock'n'roll, and Otis Redding's Stax.
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  • JLRJLR 3,835 Posts
    The capital city of soul and rock'n'roll, which launched the careers of stars including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Jerry Lee Lewis, has hit hard times. In its heyday Elvis was its king in his Graceland mansion. Yet today the stardust of Memphis is gone, replaced by high unemployment, crime and grinding poverty.

    Now an unlikely figure, the former boy band member Justin Timberlake, has emerged as its would-be saviour. He is negotiating to build a huge recording studio complex and to buy up two of the city's world-renowned record labels, Sun, which gave the planet Elvis and rock'n'roll, and Otis Redding's Stax.

    Dear Justin:

    If you are reading this, plaese DO NOT discuss this business with Reynaldo.

  • The capital city of soul and rock'n'roll, which launched the careers of stars including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Jerry Lee Lewis, has hit hard times. In its heyday Elvis was its king in his Graceland mansion. Yet today the stardust of Memphis is gone, replaced by high unemployment, crime and grinding poverty.

    Now an unlikely figure, the former boy band member Justin Timberlake, has emerged as its would-be saviour. He is negotiating to build a huge recording studio complex and to buy up two of the city's world-renowned record labels, Sun, which gave the planet Elvis and rock'n'roll, and Otis Redding's Stax.

    Dear Justin:

    If you are reading this, plaese DO NOT discuss this business with Reynaldo.

    hahahaha

  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts
    If Justin Trousersnake does this, the world better damn well implode with shame.

    I'm not having it. I'm NOT... FECKING.... HAVING IT !!!!

    You got that timberboy????

    Leave decent music alone timberdude, get the hell away from it.

  • If Justin Trousersnake does this, the world better damn well implode with shame.

    I'm not having it. I'm NOT... FECKING.... HAVING IT !!!!

    You got that timberboy????

    Leave decent music alone timberdude, get the hell away from it.


    I donno, as long as he has no creative say in this decision, i'd say ", bring it back" if he has say... NO. NO. NO.

  • Its better than the dumb shit celebraties usually do with their money.

  • I say go for it...He's not that bad compared to his peers. It just depends on what direction he goes in. If he continues to go in the neptunes/timbaland direction, cool. But, if he decides to release an nsync reunion album on one of these labels...

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I say go for it...He's not that bad compared to his peers. It just depends on what direction he goes in. If he continues to go in the neptunes/timbaland direction, cool. But, if he decides to release an nsync reunion album on one of these labels...

    He's just buying up the catalog. It's not like he's gonna pull all extant Stax releases from shelves and replace them with "improved" versions that feature his own vocals. As somebody said above, I'm impressed that he's using his money to do something like this.

  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    right, and no one else is stepping up to make the buy. so who gives a shit.

  • I say go for it...He's not that bad compared to his peers. It just depends on what direction he goes in. If he continues to go in the neptunes/timbaland direction, cool. But, if he decides to release an nsync reunion album on one of these labels...

    He's just buying up the catalog. It's not like he's gonna pull all extant Stax releases from shelves and replace them with "improved" versions that feature his own vocals. As somebody said above, I'm impressed that he's using his money to do something like this.

    fuck the neptunes direction...I wouldnt ever wanna see some bullshit he is involved with on a stax imprint...even if he "is alright"...I will still have my south Memphis and Union Ave. snipers ready for any improprieties:

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    I's a shame that somebody is going to take their hard earned money and invest in the legacy and future of one of America's greatest treasure troves of art and talent.



    Seriously, yall need to get off it. This is motherfucking 2005.

    The first thing that I thought of was a photo that used to hang on Bob Dickey's wall at 9th Street Records years ago which showed a dump truck filled with 45s and LPs on the way to the dump, right before one of the Stax buildings was going to be demolished. It pained my heart then as it does now. However, if a dude is going to step up and say "Hey, here's my millions of dollars to put back into the music of my hometown" then let him do it. I think it's a wonderful idea and I commend dude for putting his money where his mouth is. Don't forget, Justin is from Memphis. And who else is going to do it? Dap-Tones dudes? I don't think so. Who else is qualified for such a move. Justin is. So let him live.

    Plus I can't hate on dude anyway. He's already transcended his boy band persona and put out a damn good R&B record with "Justified." And before I start hearing about "How can you compare that Neptunes shit to Stax" let me just say that you guys need to stop living in the past (a past you weren't even part of) and wake the fuck up. This is 2005. Thing change, especially music. That's what keeps it exciting and fresh.


  • jdeezjdeez 638 Posts
    he's really not that bad of a dude, all things considered. one of my boy's is his choreographer, and another friend was picked up to dj his justified tour.

    he genuinely tries to learn what he doesn't already know.



  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    I's a shame that somebody is going to take their hard earned money and invest in the legacy and future of one of America's greatest treasure troves of art and talent.



    Seriously, yall need to get off it. This is motherfucking 2005.

    The first thing that I thought of was a photo that used to hang on Bob Dickey's wall at 9th Street Records years ago which showed a dump truck filled with 45s and LPs on the way to the dump, right before one of the Stax buildings was going to be demolished. It pained my heart then as it does now. However, if a dude is going to step up and say "Hey, here's my millions of dollars to put back into the music of my hometown" then let him do it. I think it's a wonderful idea and I commend dude for putting his money where his mouth is. Don't forget, Justin is from Memphis. And who else is going to do it? Dap-Tones dudes? I don't think so. Who else is qualified for such a move. Justin is. So let him live.

    Plus I can't hate on dude anyway. He's already transcended his boy band persona and put out a damn good R&B record with "Justified." And before I start hearing about "How can you compare that Neptunes shit to Stax" let me just say that you guys need to stop living in the past (a past you weren't even part of) and wake the fuck up. This is 2005. Thing change, especially music. That's what keeps it exciting and fresh.

    WORD THE FUCK UP!

  • TREWTREW 2,037 Posts
    ex boy band or not, jt can sing. haters.

    hope he reissues some early 70s stax joints that you never see.

  • dCastillodCastillo 1,963 Posts
    I's a shame that somebody is going to take their hard earned money and invest in the legacy and future of one of America's greatest treasure troves of art and talent.



    Seriously, yall need to get off it. This is motherfucking 2005.

    The first thing that I thought of was a photo that used to hang on Bob Dickey's wall at 9th Street Records years ago which showed a dump truck filled with 45s and LPs on the way to the dump, right before one of the Stax buildings was going to be demolished. It pained my heart then as it does now. However, if a dude is going to step up and say "Hey, here's my millions of dollars to put back into the music of my hometown" then let him do it. I think it's a wonderful idea and I commend dude for putting his money where his mouth is. Don't forget, Justin is from Memphis. And who else is going to do it? Dap-Tones dudes? I don't think so. Who else is qualified for such a move. Justin is. So let him live.

    Plus I can't hate on dude anyway. He's already transcended his boy band persona and put out a damn good R&B record with "Justified." And before I start hearing about "How can you compare that Neptunes shit to Stax" let me just say that you guys need to stop living in the past (a past you weren't even part of) and wake the fuck up. This is 2005. Thing change, especially music. That's what keeps it exciting and fresh.


    seriously.

    I'm glad that somebody in the financial position to make sure this stuff is preserved is actually stepping up.


  • 33thirdcom33thirdcom 2,049 Posts
    This is most likely a brilliant move... If he onws that catalog, he may be in it to make amint off of smapling fees etc. There is alot of heat there and with his position in the industry right now he might be able to transition the acquisition into real money real quick... No hate here, I wish I had the ability to do what he doing.

  • I wish I had the ability to do what he doing.

  • And before I start hearing about "How can you compare that Neptunes shit to Stax" let me just say that you guys need to stop living in the past (a past you weren't even part of) and wake the fuck up. This is 2005. Thing change, especially music. That's what keeps it exciting and fresh.



    File under:

    I really like black music, but only as a distant speck in my rearview mirror.


    There is a lot of really great black music being made today. And--believe it or not--an infinitesimally small percentage of it is actually being made by Justin Timberlake.

  • This is most likely a brilliant move... If he onws that catalog, he may be in it to make amint off of smapling fees etc. There is alot of heat there and with his position in the industry right now he might be able to transition the acquisition into real money real quick... No hate here, I wish I had the ability to do what he doing.

    either that or give reasonable rates to Pharrell and Chad.

  • whatever...it just seems very suspect to me. Y'all dont live here, this town was built on indiependent studios and grass roots level music, it is what made the music revered from this town so great and revolutionary...I just dont see his buying up Stax and Sun as "revitalizing" Memphis, this is the equvilent of Starbucks coming and running the little coffee shops outta business(yes I know they arent labels anymore, but the metaphor still applies). Only real estate agents and JT and his interets will make money. Y'all are against gentrification of ya'lls neighborhoods, right? Well this is artistic gentrification in my eyes this stage in the game... until more info and plans are made available...just sounds like a bad idea so far.

    as far as living in the past...again, whatever, I listen to old music, because it kicks the shit outta new stuff..I fucking hate that, "get with the times man" argument about music...modern RnB writing, singing, production sounds like utter shit to these ears...I mean, we live in a time where a bum note can be corrected by a button.....fuck this is a tired ass argument and I am staying out of this thread...

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    I would very much like to see a You Got Served-style dance-off between Timbertoes and DCastillo for ownership of the Smithstonian reels. I don't see JT's Skittles steez trumping the bystander-kicking power of DC, but one never knows.

    "I take my [trucker] hat and I turn it around and it's like a switch that goes on...I feel like another person...I feel like a machine."



    "You gettin' scared now, right?"

  • whatever...it just seems very suspect to me. Y'all dont live here, this town was built on indiependent studios and grass roots level music, it is what made the music revered from this town so great and revolutionary...I just dont see his buying up Stax and Sun as "revitalizing" Memphis, this is the equvilent of Starbucks coming and running the little coffee shops outta business(yes I know they arent labels anymore, but the metaphor still applies). Only real estate agents and JT and his interets will make money. Y'all are against gentrification of ya'lls neighborhoods, right? Well this is artistic gentrification in my eyes this stage in the game... until more info and plans are made available...just sounds like a bad idea so far.

    as far as living in the past...again, whatever, I listen to old music, because it kicks the shit outta new stuff..I fucking hate that, "get with the times man" argument about music...modern RnB writing, singing, production sounds like utter shit to these ears...I mean, we live in a time where a bum note can be corrected by a button.....fuck this is a tired ass argument and I am staying out of this thread...

    Agree to disagree about the music. But seriously who would you recommend do this? Or would you prefer it to go the way of the dinosaur? I don't see a better alternative, and I don't think this is a bad one to begin with.

    This sounds parallel to the argument that records shouldn't be reissued because they ruin the value of the originals.

  • whatever...it just seems very suspect to me. Y'all dont live here, this town was built on indiependent studios and grass roots level music, it is what made the music revered from this town so great and revolutionary...I just dont see his buying up Stax and Sun as "revitalizing" Memphis, this is the equvilent of Starbucks coming and running the little coffee shops outta business(yes I know they arent labels anymore, but the metaphor still applies). Only real estate agents and JT and his interets will make money. Y'all are against gentrification of ya'lls neighborhoods, right? Well this is artistic gentrification in my eyes this stage in the game... until more info and plans are made available...just sounds like a bad idea so far.

    as far as living in the past...again, whatever, I listen to old music, because it kicks the shit outta new stuff..I fucking hate that, "get with the times man" argument about music...modern RnB writing, singing, production sounds like utter shit to these ears...I mean, we live in a time where a bum note can be corrected by a button.....fuck this is a tired ass argument and I am staying out of this thread...

    Agree to disagree about the music. But seriously who would you recommend do this? Or would you prefer it to go the way of the dinosaur? I don't see a better alternative, and I don't think this is a bad one to begin with.

    This sounds parallel to the argument that records shouldn't be reissued because they ruin the value of the originals.

    Aren't the Stax and Sun catalogues currently in reissue? What's Timbertoes gonna do that ain't already being done????

  • dCastillodCastillo 1,963 Posts
    I would very much like to see a You Got Served-style dance-off between Timbertoes and DCastillo for ownership of the Smithstonian reels. I don't see JT's Skittles steez trumping the bystander-kicking power of DC, but one never knows.

    "I take my [trucker] hat and I turn it around and it's like a switch that goes on...I feel like another person...I feel like a machine."



    "You gettin' scared now, right?"

    That was over the top.

    Those Smithstonian reels would be mine, and I would reissue it for all, and then I would have shoes made out of the tapes, so I can walk down the street saying, "what you know bout this heat?"

    Hookup, I understand your viewpoint, but I think it's too early in the game to project on just what he's going to do, good or bad. I'm just glad to hear that somebody cares, whether the intent is naive or not.

  • whatever...it just seems very suspect to me. Y'all dont live here, this town was built on indiependent studios and grass roots level music, it is what made the music revered from this town so great and revolutionary...I just dont see his buying up Stax and Sun as "revitalizing" Memphis, this is the equvilent of Starbucks coming and running the little coffee shops outta business(yes I know they arent labels anymore, but the metaphor still applies). Only real estate agents and JT and his interets will make money. Y'all are against gentrification of ya'lls neighborhoods, right? Well this is artistic gentrification in my eyes this stage in the game... until more info and plans are made available...just sounds like a bad idea so far.

    as far as living in the past...again, whatever, I listen to old music, because it kicks the shit outta new stuff..I fucking hate that, "get with the times man" argument about music...modern RnB writing, singing, production sounds like utter shit to these ears...I mean, we live in a time where a bum note can be corrected by a button.....fuck this is a tired ass argument and I am staying out of this thread...

    Agree to disagree about the music. But seriously who would you recommend do this? Or would you prefer it to go the way of the dinosaur? I don't see a better alternative, and I don't think this is a bad one to begin with.

    This sounds parallel to the argument that records shouldn't be reissued because they ruin the value of the originals.

    Aren't the Stax and Sun catalogues currently in reissue? What's Timbertoes gonna do that ain't already being done????

    The good folks at Concord Jazz are now the holders of the Stax/Volt boulder... as for what's not being done... can you think of some hot ass stax titles that aren't in reissue? I sure can. As for what is being done... Concord's last big new music project was....













    wait for it....
















    Barry Manilow's comeback of a few years ago.




    Respectfully, I'll take Timberlake.







    What is it that yall can't deal with about this? The dude's last album was real decent. I doubt you Larry or Eric ever listened to it in its entirety... would you rather a major corporation take control? Perhaps a big publishing house? Someone who doesn't even care about the content of the music?

  • DJPrestigeDJPrestige 1,710 Posts

    Dear Justin:

    If you are reading this, plaese DO NOT discuss this business with Reynaldo.
    lol

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Y'all dont live here, this town was built on indiependent studios and grass roots level music, it is what made the music revered from this town so great and revolutionary...I just dont see his buying up Stax and Sun as "revitalizing" Memphis, this is the equvilent of Starbucks coming and running the little coffee shops outta business(yes I know they arent labels anymore, but the metaphor still applies). Only real estate agents and JT and his interets will make money. Y'all are against gentrification of ya'lls neighborhoods, right? Well this is artistic gentrification in my eyes this stage in the game... until more info and plans are made available...just sounds like a bad idea so far.

    I don't see how this is applicable AT ALL

    Dude is a native, and an individual, not some hulking corporate behemoth

    As has been said, this is probably the ideal way for things to go down

  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    I's a shame that somebody is going to take their hard earned money and invest in the legacy and future of one of America's greatest treasure troves of art and talent.



    Seriously, yall need to get off it. This is motherfucking 2005.

    The first thing that I thought of was a photo that used to hang on Bob Dickey's wall at 9th Street Records years ago which showed a dump truck filled with 45s and LPs on the way to the dump, right before one of the Stax buildings was going to be demolished. It pained my heart then as it does now. However, if a dude is going to step up and say "Hey, here's my millions of dollars to put back into the music of my hometown" then let him do it. I think it's a wonderful idea and I commend dude for putting his money where his mouth is. Don't forget, Justin is from Memphis. And who else is going to do it? Dap-Tones dudes? I don't think so. Who else is qualified for such a move. Justin is. So let him live.

    Plus I can't hate on dude anyway. He's already transcended his boy band persona and put out a damn good R&B record with "Justified." And before I start hearing about "How can you compare that Neptunes shit to Stax" let me just say that you guys need to stop living in the past (a past you weren't even part of) and wake the fuck up. This is 2005. Thing change, especially music. That's what keeps it exciting and fresh.


    I'll stop reading here.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts

    Plus I can't hate on dude anyway. He's already transcended his boy band persona and put out a damn good R&B record with "Justified."

    Speak on it. Anybody that tries to deny Justin's evolution and the fact that he has put out some quality music is just hatting.

  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts
    Now, I dont really know, but I wanna rant regardless.........

    Has he really ever done his own thing, or just followed what the commercial fatcats told him to do based on their perspective of the market and who they think a good target audience whould be.

    Does he really give a fuck about said labels or is it more a case of him trying to gain some credibility from everyone, as the 'serious artist' he wishes he was?

    I mean, try to analyse the pure shitness of some of his lines:

    "I just wanna love ya baby....... yeah yeah yeeeeeah"

    Its classic britney, christina, and any other poptart of the commercial moment, rolled into one easy-to-digest teenage bite sized piece of crap. Its a working formula. Its "Hey, heres yet another slightly different arrangement of of the same lyrics and format that have earned millions of dollars in the past 5 years... lets do it again - people are idiots, they wont notice."

    Now, I do admit, I am stereotyping the trousersnake here and I do know very little about his current state of affairs, but fuck, he can't really have changed all that much....

    Who would you rather have buy up sun and stax, trouserboy, or say.. stevie wonder, or egon....

    Okay, rant over. Now please correct me.

  • SIRUSSIRUS 2,554 Posts
    people are acting like timberlake is doing some humanitarian deed.it's all about $$$$,if didn't do this somebody else would have.
    "why did justin sellout janet + go to tha grammys?"
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