No Strings Attached also featured frequent nods to R&B’s past and present, including a revamped version of Johnny Kemp’s 1988 hit “Just Got Paid” that *NSYNC worked on with New Jack Swing trailblazers Teddy Riley and Aaron Hall. But for the time being, *NSYNC was still working toward a funkier new direction with Rami Yacoub and Max Martin, the ascendant Swedish pop genius behind their self-titled debut, on “It’s Gonna Be Me,” the sophomore album’s biggest single. Within the next three years, the teen pop arms race for street cred would culminate in a Christina Aguilera lead single featuring Redman. The album, released 3 months into the new millennium, was a turning point for turn-of-the-century pop.īefore No Strings Attached, none of the major teen pop albums of the era had featured guest rappers or name producers from the R&B world, and virtually every one that came after did. And it was the sound of No Strings Attached that set it apart. But the idea that *NSYNC wanted creative control, to choose their musical direction and not simply sing the songs a Svengali figure had assigned them, was the point. The main impetus for the title of No Strings Attached was the group’s break with former manager Lou Pearlman, the controversial architect of the ‘90s boy band explosion who was eventually found guilty of money laundering in 2008, and died in prison in 2016. 'It's *NSYNC's World, We Just Live in It': An Oral History of 'No Strings Attached' Selling a…

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