"Don't Hold the Wall" is a song by American singer Justin Timberlake from his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). Timberlake wrote and produced the song alongside Timbaland and J-Roc, with James Fauntleroy providing additional songwriting. The song became available as the album's third track on March 15, 2013, when it was released by RCA Records. An R&B song, "Don't Hold the Wall" has tribal chants, "oozing" vocal samples, tribal drums, rainsticks, "spacious drums", and a "pseudo-Indian" beat.

"Don't Hold the Wall" received mixed reviews from music critics. In North America, it peaked at number 4 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 and number 37 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Asia, it debuted at number 34 on the Gaon Chart in South Korea. On March 31, 2016, Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil filed a lawsuit against Timberlake, claiming that Timbaland sampled one of their compositions, "Steel Dream" from Quidam (1997), without permission.

Background In September 2006, Timberlake released his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which was a commercial success and received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album spawned six singles, including the US number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". After wrapping up a worldwide concert tour to support the album in 2007, Timberlake took a break from his music career to focus on acting, with occasional guest appearances on several singles by Madonna, T.I., Jamie Foxx, Timbaland, and Esmée Denters.

Timberlake's music manager Johnny Wright approached him in 2010, discussing possibility of going back to his music career and the difficulties of releasing his future material, because according to Wright, "a lot of the physical record sellers were gone, by the time they've got music again they needed to think about different ways to deliver it". Wright proposed a promotion based on an application or releasing a new song every month. Timberlake, however, was not interested in returning to music; instead, he continued to focus on his film career. Around the "late part of May, first week in June" 2012, Timberlake invited Wright to dinner and revealed that he had spent the last couple of nights in the studio with Timbaland working on new material. Wright was shocked by the revelation, and the two immediately began planning how to promote and release the album. Ultimately, they agreed on a shorter period, seven or eight weeks, between the singles and the album. Wright told Billboard that "such a short window" demanded "a big impact".

In August 2012, producer Jim Beanz reported that Timberlake had started work on his new music project. Shortly after the announcement, Timberlake's publicist denied plans for a new album, stating Timberlake was instead working on Timbaland's upcoming project Shock Value III. Wright stated that although the project involved artists who are primarily Timberlake's friends, it was tough to keep it a secret, so they used codenames. Originally planned for release in October 2012, Timberlake's project was postponed because of his wedding to actress Jessica Biel. Timberlake revealed the track listing for The 20/20 Experience on February 6, 2013; "Don't Hold the Wall" was revealed as the third track. The album was released on March 15, 2013, by RCA Records.

Composition

"Don't Hold the Wall" was written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and James Fauntleroy, and produced by Timbaland, Timberlake, and Harmon. According to Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle, it "rides a hypnotic, sensual groove", featuring tribal chants and "oozing" vocal samples. Tribal drums, rainsticks, "spacious drums" and a "pseudo-Indian" beat are also present.

"Don't Hold the Wall" begins a "gorgeous sounding" the Beach Boys-like chorus, according to David Meller of MusicOMH. Jean Bentley of Hollywood.com compared the a cappella introduction to that of Timberlake's former boy band, NSYNC. It then shifts into a mix of hip-hop, Bollywood and Bhangra music. Four minutes and twenty seconds in, "Don't Hold the Wall" transcends "darker, more muscular structure", according to Billboards Jason Lipshutz. It concludes with drum and bass loops and vocoder backing vocals. Timberlake commands the object of his affection to "give in" to her "physical impulses". Timbaland chants, "Dance... Don't hold the wall", in a voice that sounds "as if it is coming through a broken phone receiver", according to Allan Raible of ABC News. As noted by Lipshutz, Timbaland's production on it is "the star" of The 20/20 Experience. He wrote that "there are so many things happening" in it that it takes five listens just to "process them".

Reception Consequence Sarah H. Grant wrote that "Don't Hold the Wall" and "Tunnel Vision" were the album's highlights, similar to Timberlake's best work with NSYNC. In a less-enthusiastic review, Fact magazine's Lauren Martin described it and "Tunnel Vision" as "two rousing, if mildly deja vu inducing, efforts". Writing for ABC News, Allan Raible called it a "sparse, hand-clap jam" that does not warrant its seven-minute length, even with its "marginally interesting breakdown". Following the release of The 20/20 Experience, it appeared on the charts in South Korea and the United States. For the week dated March 17, 2013, it debuted on the South Korean Gaon International Chart at number thirty-four. It also debuted at number four on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 and number thirty-seven on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Lawsuit On March 31, 2016, Canadian avant-garde circus troupe Cirque du Soleil filed a lawsuit against Timberlake claiming that Timbaland sampled one of their compositions, "Steel Dream" from Quidam (1997), without permission. The suit, filed in a New York federal court, sought a minimum of $800,000 (£560,000) in copyright infringement damages, with Sony Music Entertainment, co-writers Harmon and Fauntleroy, Universal Music, and Warner Music Group named as defendants. American brewing company Anheuser-Busch was also named after using it in a beer advertisement. In September 2016, Cirque du Soleil notified the court that they and the defendants had tentatively agreed to a confidential settlement.

Credits and personnel Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience.

Locations Vocals recorded and mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California

Personnel

Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley – producer, songwriter Justin Timberlake – Mixer, producer, songwriter, vocal producer, vocal arranger Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon – keyboards, producer, songwriter James Fauntleroy – songwriter Chris Godbey – engineer, mixer Jimmy Douglass – mixer Alejandro Baima – assistant engineer Elliot Ives – guitar

Charts + Chart performance for "Don't Hold the Wall" Chart (2013) Peakposition South Korea (Gaon) 24

References