From The Vault: Madonna – ‘4 Minutes (ft. Justin Timberlake)’

Published: Sunday 2nd Apr 2017 by Joe

Two of Pop’s brightest stars are to thank for this week’s From The Vault pick. Today we take you back to 2008 with Madonna and Justin Timberlake‘s ‘4 Minutes.’

After dabbling in Disco with 2005’s ‘Confessions On A Dancefloor,’ the Pop queen decided – yet again – to steer her sound down Urban avenue.

Rather than re-treading old terrain, she enlisted the super-producer Timbaland alongside Timberlake and Pharrell Williams to craft her eleventh album ‘Hard Candy.’

‘4 Minutes,’ which was Grammy nominated, was served up as its lead single.

The bass-heavy effort peaked at #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Canada’s Hot 100. It also claimed the top spot of charts in many European countries such as the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

Christened “conceptualistic” by M herself, the video – directed by Jonas & François – sees the stars trying to escape a dark force that was bent on destroying everything around them. As is expected under such circumstances, the pair dance up a storm along the way and showcase a copious amount of chemistry.

Nominated for “Best Dancing In A Video” at the 2008 VMAs, the clip lost to the Pussycat Dolls’ ‘When I Grow Up.’ Understandable.

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Reactions to the song and video were mixed back in 08 and remain so now.

It didn’t mature into the classic all parties likely thought it would be, but its production is still intact and truly effective to this day.

Still we’d like to know, almost a decade later, what do YOU make of this collaboration?

Your thoughts?

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  1. __ April 2, 2017

    Global SMASH!

    When will Janet or Mariah in their 50’s?

    • HIGHBROWThis April 2, 2017

      Janet would never do something corny like this so there’s no need to compare the two. While Madonna calls upon Nicki, Janet calls upon J. Cole while Kendrick calls upon Janet. The difference between H&m and Chanel is quality. Learn it. Indeed this is when Madonna started desperately latching on to anyone younger than her. Madonna occasionally even ripped a few pages out of Britney Spears’ book too. Another tactic Madonna uses to stay relevant.

  2. Monica April 2, 2017

    Great video and madonna looked exceptional

  3. JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

    The start of Madonna´s not so amazing albums and the start of her constant search for collaborations with the hot young artists of the moment for most of her singles. She has not stopped since then. I rewatched her Halftime Show not long ago and despite being what I consider the one that opened a new time for that show and despite looking amazing (and being the most successful along with Gaga´s), it kind of felt blah to me for a simple reason: the absolutely irrelevant and basic guest songs and guest artists. Certain things don´t pass the test of time. Some songs and artists feel bleak in just 5 years. It is the case of her guests in the middle of that performance.

  4. DanYiel Iman April 2, 2017

    She’s not an artist I think of when I wanna hear talent..??‍♂️

  5. Mariah Carey April 2, 2017

    I said it back then and I’ll say it now. 4 minutes was… interesting ?

  6. Stephy April 2, 2017

    The only thing great about this song was the beat. The rest was trash.

  7. Jason April 2, 2017

    I still play this album, and I’ve never been a huge Madonna fan. I think she should teams with them again. There’s great stuff on “Hard Candy”.

    • Starxavi April 2, 2017

      I agree. Hard Candy had some bops on there for sure. I was actually really into this era.

  8. Coolness April 3, 2017

    Great production and she and Justin had solid chemistry together.

  9. Terrance J April 3, 2017

    I loved this album then, and still do now. 4 Minutes, She’s Not Me, Give It to Me, Miles Away, the whole damn album.

  10. Jam Tuesday those dayz April 3, 2017

    Amazing song

  11. LanaFan April 8, 2017

    If I remember correctly , this song SMASHED records. I remember the day it came out. This was my entrance song at my senior pep rally. I led my class in to this song! Then they played Kanye’s Power(Not a Kanye fan). S*** was lit! Hard Candy was dope, Kanye was on the album and it was still dope.

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