Justin Timberlake Channels Kurt Cobain
You've already been warned that JT is bringing sexy back. But you should know he's bringing grunge back too.
During his recent string of club shows, including that star-studded post-VMA gig at Roseland, Timberlake performs a little "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
You can watch him mosh about with a guitar at last month's House Of Blues show here.
YouTube has another clip (from Starland Ballroom) with atrocious sound, and one viewer comment:
Kurt Cobain would be very happy to know that his spirit is still alive and well! ^__^Would he? Justin tells MTV News, "I'm sure Kurt Cobain rolls over twice (in his grave) every time I play it... but screw it."
Posted at 2:54 PM
Tags: Nirvana
Gay.
Justin Timberlake is gay.
That's about the gayest thing I've ever seen.
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HA. accoustic guitar, electric guitar SOLO. again, HA.
I love Justin Timberlake. He's sooooo fucking gay it's cute.
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i'll second the 'Gay'
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what an idiot, that guy.
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He can't be rolling in his grave... there is no proper grave is there? I know he was cremated but I think Courtney scattered his ashes on a beach somewhere... I think it was a novel idea but JT should probably stick to his day job (and obviously he knows it)!
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Smells like Teen Beat
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I kind of like the fact that he knows he's butchering it. There's something endearing about that.
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Smells like TeenBack
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I'll bet half his audience didn't even know what he was playing.
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I'll bet half his audience didn't even know what he was playing.
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For a significantly better Nirvana cover, check out the newly-released Polyphonic Spree version of "Lithium." Well worth the 99 cents on iTunes.
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spekaing of nirvana covers, i saw a great youtube clip of Sinead O'Conner doing "All Apologies" that was out of this world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVHr_my7YEo
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Off topic, but has anyone see Mike Judge's new movie "Idiocracy" (formerly called 3001)? And is it any good?
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What's worse is that he's playing it wrong anyway.....which is hard to do with a Nirvana song in the first place.
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Look, why are you so angry about this? There has to be something deeper going on here; no-one can get this angry because a musician decides to cover a song. Has Stereogum always been this filled with rage? Look back at the comments over the past few days. People going hysterical over the tiniest of things. Ooh, Justin Timberlake is in a photo shoot, ooh, the Arctic Monkeys are popular. What's going on here?
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Jason's right. Kurt Cobain loved covering songs. He let Weird Al spoof him. He would find it funny. You should be thankful that somewhere inside JT is a Nirvana fan. ;)
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""I'm sure Kurt Cobain rolls over twice (in his grave) every time I play it... but screw it."
That's awesome. The fact that it makes you Stereogum pussies mad is an added bonus.
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I'm just waiting for the latest Courtney Love angle to come up...
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I try to keep an open mind, but that's seriously some of the lamest shit I've ever seen.
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""I'm sure Kurt Cobain rolls over twice (in his grave) every time I play it... but screw it."
That's awesome. The fact that it makes you Stereogum pussies mad is an added bonus.
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Don't be a douchebag, Alv
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Don't be a douchebag, Alv
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Maybe this is one of those times where I have trouble interpreting tone over the internet, but no one seems mad. A minority called it lame, but that's more dismissive than angry.
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Not to sound rockist, but at least Timberlake can play an instrument.
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he's a gay midget with whiskers who tries to be black.
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...whilst Courtney rolls naked in the dollar bills.
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I don't like justing timberlake nor did I click on any of the links. But I do know that it is awesome.
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i'm going to start a band called douchebag pussies
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What's funny is how subversive this actually is. I very much think it is in the spirit of Kurt Cobain, and I mean that sincerely. I mean, what's more rebellious in this day and age than pissing off the hipster douches who somehow think they own a song any more than the rest of the world. Good for him.
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Hipster Douches! Now that's a good name for a band......
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nickkleb (2 days ago)
Kurt Cobain would be very happy to know that his spirit is still alive and well! ^__^
(reply to this)
mark as spam
stevenperry42 (5 minutes ago)
you are the stupidest person alive.
(reply to this)
got your back, kurt.
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Is Justin Timberlake really not allowed to like Kurt Cobain? If he's not, who took that right away from him? I mean, honestly, is it that awful if it sparks the youngsters of America to buy more Nirvana records??
I'm sure the psycho elitists who are freaking out right now will move onto something more elite than Nirvana anyways (by the way, wasn't Nirvana responisble for "killing grunge" anyways because they got popular?? maybe I was mistaken).
I'm with Jason, over the past few days the comments have been incredibly hateful and unnecessary.
Take a breather, kids. If you really don't like it that much, jump in and fix the music industry. Please, be my guest.
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stereogum: ORLY, JT?
JT: YARLY!
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"I'll bet half his audience didn't even know what he was playing."
Heck, I'd bet half of Kurt Cobain's audience wouldn't even know what he was "playing." The song was completely indecipherable. If he'd done the performance with that freaky vocal effect on "Sexy Back," he might actually sound like he was on heroin...
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since when is Nirvana considered any better than justin timberlake's top 40?
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since when does a healthy dose of making fun of people = mad/ angry/ pussy/ douchebag. why do people who hate the "stereogum pussies" even come on this website and blog - you are just putting more money in their pockets! so on behalf of the stereogum pussies, keep hating, it pays the conEd.
for the record: i think JT is just about as gay as you can get, and I laughed out loud when i first heard sexyback, but now if i'm in a club and it comes on, i dance - its kinda catchy actually. in a gay way of course.
"if we couldn't laugh (at each other) we would all go insane."
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I'll take "Moist Vagina" any day over a "SexyBack"
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id like to see him try and play that in seattle
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Seriously he only chose that song because it's so damn easy to play at guitar
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LOL
I think.
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@ Barry... Idiocracy was good. Definitely go see it!
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I think people "hate" it because Justin Timberlake is so lame; he's so whitebread and dorky. (sidenote: "Sexy Back" is kind of a bad song, not because it's pop, but because it's too weird/wannabe futuristic for its own good).
Anyhoo, I don't idolize Cobain or anything, but I think Nirvana was a great band. Seeing this vid makes me laugh, sorta, but also kind of cringe.
At least Timberlake has a sense of his butchery, though. What I hated was when this guy sang it on Rock Star: Supernova, and afterward, he said something like "for a lot of people in my generation, this song was an anthem." That guy was reading waaaay too much into the song. Also, he was wearing a skull cap. Also, the band had like, 7 people.
Basically, the song has become overhyped, but it still stings to see the "wrong" people attempting to cover it, I suppose.
I realize I'm rambling and incoherent, but I guess it matches my feelings on the matter[s].
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I wouldn't mind seeing it. Every other sucky band has covered it, let him give it a try too
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Great article about Kurt.
http://jwinch.blogspot.com/2006/09/as-each-year-passes-more-and-more.html
Must read for fans. And ya JT sucks
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This Nirvana Cover is no surprise. He wants to show everyone that he could do something else besides Cameron Diaz and the Mickey Mouse club. The Truth is, JT sucks. Just listen to his lyrics. He sucks. He has a bunch of producers from his label come up with a bunch of songs, and he puts his crappy lyrics over it. The name of his game is "I'll get the most catchiest beat ever and just sing and dance to it, and I'll be rich!" There is no substance in his music whatsoever, or most popular music nowadays anyway. You would think that they would use their fame to send a meaningful message in their music, but no message equals $exyback!
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SMELLS LIKE 'TEEN FAG' IS YOU ASK ME.....
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Justin Timberlake needs to be drugged and shot
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Fuck Justin Timberlake!!!!!!
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When did gay=bad... let's be PC please. By the way, Justin Timberlake (along with Usher) probably put on some of the most entertaining performances in show business... I enjoy their music.
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OMG.... This is so pathetic it's no longer funny..
That's abuot the lamest thing I've ever seen... Justin timberlake covers smells like teen spirit... somebody kill me.. NO! somebody kill him!.. well if kurt hadden killed himself then, he sure would after hearing this... You cant do that justin... boy, you have no idea..
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justin timberlake is such a fag. he's pretty much making un of kurt cobain and what he was all about.he needs to get his glittery muscle shirt on and go sing with all those other losers in nsync!
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justin timberlake is such a fag. he's pretty much making fun of kurt cobain and what he was all about.he needs to get his glittery muscle shirt on and go sing with all those other losers in nsync!
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COBAIN WAS A TALENTLESS HACK RESPONSIBLE FOR RUINING THE MUSIC BUSINESS BY MAKING IT OKAY TO
BE UGLY WREITE CRAP SONGS SING OUT OF KEY AND OFF PITCH AND PLAY WITH THE ABILITY OF A THREE YEAR OLD GIRL. FUCK THAT HACK
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Ok, "Voiceofrock", would you rather the whole music industry be MORE totally fake bullshit than it already is now? Nirvana was a great band, and if you're so much more "talented" than Kurt was, if you have the ability to write mindblowing songs like he did, then go right ahead. I'd like to see you fucking try. So unless you or your band is making it, why don't you do me a favor and keep your damn mouth shut.
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Kurt Cobain, first of all, was more than friendly with queer people, and would not approve of anyone using gay or fag in a negative way. Read anything he's written and you'll realize he hated sexism, racism, and homophobia and would not like to count bigots among his friends. [The linear notes for Incesticide, for example, illustrate this pretty clearly.]
While you're at it check out other music that Kurt Cobain might like like Joy Divison, The Magnetic Fields, or Throbbing Gristle.
Learn?
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who the F are you people to say what kurt cobain would think and not? shut up losers. kurt cobain is way too cool for timberlake. taaaaaaaacky.
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HE WAS FUCKING CREMATED AND HIS ASHES WERE SPREAD OVER WISHA RIVER WAKE UP JUSTIN I HATE U AND SO DOES KURT PROBABLY
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Justin is a fag. Google Justin Timberlake is a fag and you get 177,000 responses. Homo gets about the same. For every one person who says it, 100 think it. Bottom line: he's a poop drillin' pansy.
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what a dick, deserves to die using other peoples songs with know respect for the author.
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watching his lame show on HBO, 9/3/07. Man, this guy is so seriously week. Yes, he can sing and dance. And he can rip off grooves from Prince, moves from MJ. What he and his crew can't seem to do is write one half decent song. Really, it's embarrasing. "Rock your Body"?? For anyone that ever heard MJ's "Off the wall" album, JT is a sad joke. Sorry, that's the deal.....
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OMG! I HATE THAT ASS (JT) I HOPE HE GOES TO HELL FOR THIS! Man, poor Kurt, people screwin' up his work. Kurt was the best singer EVER! R.I.P Kurt...
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I hate justin timberlake with every cell in my body. everything he does screams faggotry and mainstream "music" is a disgrace to humanity.
Sexyback was a pathetic excuse for a song, as are all his other high-pitch-2-year-old-girl mimicry songs,
Kurt was a true musician and i pray his zombie comes and makes an example of JT.
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