Critical Reception
In The New York Times review of the album, critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote: "...'My Love', a sumptuous collaboration with the rapper T.I. It starts with a 90-second 'prelude', a clattering rhythm track with a bit of rapping and snippets of melody. Then the real thing hits: sleek synthesizer chords punctuated by tiny bursts of silence." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that the track "mixes Timberlake's proud beatboxing talent with colossal, futuristic synth swirls and a cartoonish, maniacal giggle that's looped ad infinitum a la the crying baby from Aaliyah's 'Are You That Somebody?'". Matthew Gasteier of Prefix magazine noted that the song "is probably the standout triumph here, with stuttering synths and a fade-in-fade-out shimmering beat that may be the best ever from Timbaland". Lauren Murphy of entertainment.ie stated that the single is "undeniably fluid and features some of the niftiest slo-mo effects around". Jonah Weiner of Blender magazine cited the song as the "standout" song from the album and wrote that the single "...straddles the album's up-tempo FutureSex and balladeering LoveSounds halves — one coos about puppy love over the other's stroboscopic, salivating beat, and both trade devotionals on the chorus".
"My Love" was criticized for some of the lyrics and sounds that were featured. Sanneh reported that Timberlake "exhales his clumsy pickup lines" with the lyrics "If I told you you were beautiful / Would you date me on the regular?". Murphy contemplated that the song is "ultimately ruined" by a "bizarre Crazy Frog-meets-Laughing-Policeman underlay". Emily Vaughan of North by Northwestern commented that Timberlake claims to have gone around the world twice in "My Love" and "Damn Girl" and that he is also "running out of creative ways to say he would like you to go to bed with him". Vaughan, however, was positive towards "My Love", stating that the song, along with "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around", sounded considerably different from the rest of the album.
The song was picked by Pitchfork Media as their number one song of 2006. Timberlake performed "My Love" and "SexyBack" as a medley for the opening of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, and again for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006, which he also hosted. He also performed the song on Saturday Night Live (SNL). Timberlake, alongside Robyn Troup and T.I., performed the song live at the 49th Grammy Awards. At the awards ceremony, "My Love" won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The song was covered by Irish band The Coronas, and by British group Klaxons on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge and was included in the B-side of their song "It's Not Over Yet", which was released in June 2007.
Read more about this topic: My Love (Justin Timberlake Song)
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