"Don't Hold the Wall" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). It was written and produced by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional writing from James Fauntleroy. Musically, it is a R&B song that contains tribal chants, "oozing" vocal samples, tribal drums, rainsticks, "spacious drums", and a "pseudo-Indian" beat. Lyrically, the song sees Timberlake in pursuit of a woman in a club.
Timberlake started writing and recording for his third studio album in the "late part of May, first week in June" and concluded in July 2012.[1] The project was produced in a span of 20 days.[2] In August 2012, producer Jim Beanz reported that Timberlake started work on his new music project.[3] However, at that time, shortly after the announcement, Timberlake's publicist revealed that there were no current plans for a new Timberlake album, affirming instead that Timberlake was working with Timbaland on songs for his upcoming project Shock Value III.[3] Although, originally planned for release in October 2012, its date was postponed because of the singer's wedding with actress Jessica Biel.[1] Timberlake's manager, Johnny Wright, stated that although the project involved artists who are primarily Timberlake's friends, it was tough keeping it a secret, making them use codenames for the project.[1] It was released on March 15, 2013, under the title The 20/20 Experience.[4]
Written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and James Fauntleroy, "Don't Hold the Wall" was produced by Timbaland, Timberlake, and Harmon. Timberlake arranged and produced his vocals, which were recorded at Larrabee Studios in North Hollywood, California. Harmon provided keyboards for it, while Elliott Ives played the guitar. Chris Godbey, with assistance from Alejandro Baima, engineered it, and Jimmy Douglass mixed it with Godbey and Timberlake at Larrabee Studios.[5]
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Don't Hold the Wall" is a R&B song with a length of seven minutes and ten seconds.[6] According to Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle the song "rides a hypnotic, sensual groove".[7] The song contains tribal chants and "oozing" vocal samples.[8] Tribal drums,[9] rainsticks,[8] "spacious drums"[8] and a "pseudo-Indian" beat[10] are also present.
"Don't Hold the Wall" begins a "gorgeous sounding" The Beach Boys-like chorus, according to David Meller of MusicOMH.[11] Jean Bentley of Hollywood.com compared the a cappella introduction of the song to that of Timberlake's former boy band, 'NSYNC.[12] The song then shifts into a mix of hip-hop, Bollywood and Bhangra music.[11] Four minutes and twenty seconds into the song, "Don't Hold the Wall" transcends "darker, more muscular structure", according to Billboard's Jason Lipshutz.[8] The song concludes with drum and bass loops and vocoder backing vocals.[11]
Lyrically, the song sees Timberlake in pursuit of a woman in a club, "something he's undoubtedly had little trouble doing over the years".[13] Timberlake commands the object of his affection to "give in" to her "physical impulses".[8] Timbaland chants, "Dance... Don't hold the wall", in a voice that sounds "as if it is coming through a broken phone receiver", according to Allan Raible of ABC News.[10] According to Lipshutz, Timbaland's production on the song is "the star" of The 20/20 Experience.[8] He wrote that "there are so many things happening" in the song that it takes five listens just to "process them".[8]
Reception and commercial performance
Sarah Dean of The Huffington Post called "Don't Hold the Wall" one of the "strongest songs" on The 20/20 Experience. She cited the song as being the "Chop Me Up" of FutureSex/LoveSounds and the "Rock Your Body" of Justified "funked up" for The 20/20 Experience.[13] Allan Raible of ABC News called the song a "sparse, hand-clap jam" that does not warrant its seven-minute length, even with its "marginally interesting breakdown".[10]
Following the release of The 20/20 Experience, due to strong digital downloads, the song appeared on the charts in South Korea and the United States. For the week dated March 17, 2013, the song debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number 34.[14] It also debuted at number 4 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart,[15] and at number 37 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[16]
Lawsuit
On March 31, 2016, Canadian avant-garde circus troupe Cirque de Soleil filed a lawsuit against Timberlake claiming that Timbaland sampled one of their compositions, "Steel Dream" from Quidam (1997), without permission.[17] The suit, filed in a New York federal court,[18] seeks a minimum of $800,000 in damages, with Sony Music Entertainment, co-writers Harmon and Fauntleroy, Universal Music, and Warner Music Group named as defendants.[17] On September 7, 2016, Cirque de Soleil went to court and files documents in the case explaining they reached a deal with Timberlake to dismiss the case, having asked the court 60 days for the defendants to finalize the deal before dismissal.[19]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience.[5]
Locations
Vocals recorded and mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California
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