Justin Timberlake Had to Push for 'SexyBack' to Be a Single: 'Everybody Told Me I Was Crazy'

Timberlake also revealed the musical references that inspired both him and Timbaland as they were crafting the song together in the studio. "If I give you the references, they won't make sense," he said. "I was listening to Bowie. And I was listening to 'Rebel Rebel,' and Tim was on a Talking Heads trip as well. That's why, he's basically doing his David Byrne.

"When I was writing that song, I wanted it to be ... I was listening to 'Rebel Rebel,' which essentially is about a cross-dresser, right?" he continued. "And so I was picturing guys, girls, all iterations of that, in a club, singing this to each other. And I said, 'This has to be so simple and a vibe and just, like, an attitude.' And I was like, 'What's the most audacious thing you could possibly say?' You know what I mean? And that was the first line of the song."

Ultimately, Timberlake's intuition about "SexyBack" paid off, with the song becoming his first solo No. 1 on the Hot 100, reigning atop the chart for seven weeks and eventually selling more than 17 million units worldwide.

Watch the superstar's full sit-down with Apple Music below.