There’s a new Trolls movie coming out in the fall. It’s called Trolls Band Together and apparently Branch used to be in a boyband called BroZone and I guess the story is that BroZone will reunite.
None of this means anything to me since I’ve never seen a minute of any Trolls movie but the reason this is newsworthy is because Justin Timberlake plays Branch and he too was in a boyband and now apparently he’ll be reuniting with his *NSYNC bandmates JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick who will all have cameos in the movie and they’re releasing a new song, their first since 2001 and “Girlfriend”. Now there are rumours that there may even be a reunion concert.
No doubt there will be a lot of people who care a lot about this. There’s a reason why New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys and the Jonas Brothers can still sell shows – there are some things that we can never outgrow. Especially when it comes to the pop groups we listened to in our formative years. The excitement, then, is understandable.
But there’s another reason to be excited. And the reason I’m excited is the same reason I’m cackling. But Justin Timberlake getting back together with *NSYNC?! Come on. Do you think this would be happening if JT in 2023 was JT in 2013? Would he even consider reuniting with his bandmates if he was poppin’ now the way he was poppin’ back then?
There has been a DECLINE.
And it’s not just that it’s been years since he’s put out good music, it’s also his image, his popularity. Some people will never forgive him for Janet Jackson. Some people will never forgive him for Britney Spears. Some people will never forgive him for Prince. Some people have never been for him in the first place. It always should have been JC. Justice for JC Chasez!
So maybe this is a justice of sorts. Because there was a version of Justin Timberlake who was too big, too high on his own ego, too all about himself, too ME! ME! ME!, to ever deign to get back to his boyband roots. His whole sh-t was about making it as a solo artist and, for sure, for a while there he was a big deal. But now? It would seem now that JT might need *NSYNC to get his solo work back on track.
Justin getting the band back together, and possibly doing a one-off show with *NSYNC, is a bid for goodwill. It’s an image reset. It’s leveraging that fanbase, tapping into the nostalgia, so as to powder over the stank of unpopularity that’s been lingering around him over the last few years. And, conveniently, just as we’re approaching the release of Britney’s memoir. Over 20 years later, still the same JT f-ckery. If he wasn’t her boyfriend, really, let’s be honest, would he have become what he became? An *NSYNC reunion less than a month after her book comes out? Coincidence or conspiracy?
