37 Ways the World Was Different the Last Time Justin Timberlake Released New Solo Material

Seven years is, surprisingly, a very long time.

Pacific Coast News

Where were you in 2006? 

It was only seven years ago, but the iPhone didn't even exist. We were getting stoned our mom's basement listening to Amy Winehouse on an 'iPod,' back when every third person had Amy Winehouse's hairdo or possibly her tattoos, and Gnarls Barkley was the hot new group on everyone's lips. It was a more naive time, pre-FourSquare but post-Napster, and early in the reign of YouTube. Hurricane Katrina was only one year distant as was Kanye's chart-topping "Gold Digger."
 
Justin's FutureSex/LoveSounds was huge, outperforming expectations and becoming one of the year's best R&B records. It also resuscitated his career after the Janet Jackson "costume malfunction" that put Timberlake on the outs with people who thought he left Jackson to take the wrap. And he did it by making simply undeniable music, surpassing his solo debut and completely shaking the boy band stigma.
Now, Timberlake will release his first new solo material in seven years—starting with a new song featuring Jay-Z and Beyonce. A new album is on the way, too. But here's how things were different the last time we dropped a set of fresh tracks.

Music

Lil Wayne only had one child.

Kanye West had yet to have an MTV award show outburst.

Jay-Z was still retired.

Clipse and Pharrell were on the cover of Complex.

"Grillz," "Laffy Taffy," and "Ridin'" were the biggest rap hits of the year.

Nas was still married to Kelis.

Drake had only released one mixtape.

Chief Keef was 11 years old.

Sports

Neither Manning brother had a Super Bowl ring.

Kobe Bryant only had 3 championship rings.

New Jersey and Seattle still had NBA teams.

Italy beat France to win their fourth World Cup title.

Movies

Lindsay Lohan was making $7 million a movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was the highest-grossing movie of the year.

Heath Ledger was still alive.

Not a single 3D movie was released in the same year.

Fashion

The Jordan XXIs were out.

A Bathing Ape reached peak popularity.

Thom Browne was the recipient of the 2006 CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year.

Ugg boots were still everywhere.

Tech

The most popular phone was the RAZR.

Wii and PS3 didn't exist.

Facebook was worth $1 billion. It's worth over $100 billion now.

Twitter was three months old.

The one billionth song was purchased from iTunes that year.

Pluto hadn't been a planet for two weeks.

Google Street View didn't exist.

Politics

George W. Bush was president of the United States.

The average gas price was $2.59.

Hillary Clinton was still a New York state senator.

Plan B was made available over-the-counter.

TV

The Wire was still on air.

The O.C. was still on air.

Mad Men didn't exist yet.

Steve Irwin had been dead for one week.

24 and The Office were big winners at the Emmys.

Analog televison signals still existed.

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