Don't Hold the Wall

"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.

"Don't Hold the Wall" debuted at number 34 on South Korea's Gaon chart. In the United States, it peaked at number 4 and 37 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, respectively. On March 31, 2016, Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil filed a lawsuit against Timberlake claiming that Timbaland sampled one of their compositions, "Steel Dream" from Quidam (1997), without permission.

In September 2006, Timberlake released his second studio album FutureSex/LoveSounds. Critically and commercially acclaimed, the album spawned six singles, including the worldwide hits "SexyBack", "My Love" and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".^[1] After wrapping up a worldwide concert tour in support of the album in 2007, Timberlake took a break from his music career to focus on acting.^[2][3] In 2010, Timberlake's manager, Johnny Wright, began conversations with the singer about working on new music. The two had general decisions about ways to release new music, because according to Wright, "a lot of the physical record sellers were gone, by the time we've got music again we need to think about different ways to deliver it".^[4]

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.^[4] Around the "late part of May, first week in June" 2012, Timberlake asked Wright to dinner and revealed to him that he had spent the last couple of nights in the studio with Timbaland working on new material. Wright was shocked at the revelation, telling Billboard magazine that he "wasn't prepared for that."^[4] The two immediately began marketing plans for how the album should be promoted and when it should be released. Ultimately, they agreed "to do this in a shorter period of time, so let's put the single out and [release the album] seven or eight weeks after that—make it a short window, and because we have such a short window, we have to make a big impact."^[4]

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.^[4] 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.^[4] It was released on March 15, 2013, under the title The 20/20 Experience.^[5]

According to Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle, "Don't Hold the Wall" "rides a hypnotic, sensual groove",^[7] featuring tribal chants and "oozing" vocal samples.^[8] Tribal drums,^[9] rainsticks,^[8] "spacious drums"^[8] and a "pseudo-Indian" beat^[10] are also present. It was written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and James Fauntleroy, and 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, while Elliott Ives played guitar. Chris Godbey, with assistance from Alejandro Baima, engineered it, and Jimmy Douglass mixed it with Godbey and Timberlake at Larrabee Studios.^[11]

"Don't Hold the Wall" begins a "gorgeous sounding" the Beach Boys-like chorus, according to David Meller of MusicOMH.^[6] Jean Bentley of Hollywood.com compared the a cappella introduction to that of Timberlake's former boy band, NSYNC.^[12] It then shifts into a mix of hip-hop, Bollywood and Bhangra music.^[6] Four minutes and twenty seconds in, "Don't Hold the Wall" transcends "darker, more muscular structure", according to Billboard's Jason Lipshutz.^[8] It concludes with drum and bass loops and vocoder backing vocals.^[6] 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] As noted by Lipshutz, Timbaland's production on it is "the star" of The 20/20 Experience.^[8] He wrote that "there are so many things happening" in it that it takes five listens just to "process them".^[8]

Writing for ABC News, Allan Raible called it 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, it appeared on the charts in South Korea and the United States. For the week dated March 17, 2013, it debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number 34.^[13] It also debuted at number 4 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and number 37 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[14][15]

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.^[16] The suit, filed in a New York federal court,^[17] seeks a minimum of $800,000 (£560,000) in copyright infringement damages,^[18][19] with Sony Music Entertainment, co-writers Harmon and Fauntleroy, Universal Music, and Warner Music Group named as defendants.^[16] American brewing company Anheuser-Busch is also named after using it in a beer advertisement.^[18]

Credits were adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience.^[11]

Locations

• Vocals recorded and mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California

Personnel