"The Other Side" is a song by American singers

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she began making music in the early 2010s, releasing two extended plays before signing with the hip ...

and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

. It was released on February 26, 2020, as the lead single from the ''

Trolls World Tour ''Trolls World Tour'' (often named as ''Trolls 2: World Tour'') is a 2020 American computer-animated musical comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls created by ...

'' companion soundtrack, '' Trolls World Tour (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''. Timberlake voices the character "Branch" in the film. The song was written by SZA, Timberlake,

Ludwig Göransson Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor and record producer. He has scored films such as ''Fruitvale Station'', the ''Rocky'' franchise entries ''Creed'' and ''Creed II'', ''Venom'', and '' Ten ...

, Max Martin,

Frank Iero Frank Anthony Iero, Jr. (, born October 31, 1981) is an American musician who is the rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist of the rock band My Chemical Romance and post-hardcore band Leathermouth. He is also the guitarist in the metal band L.S ...

and

Sarah Aarons Sarah Paige Aarons (born 4 October 1994, previously known as Paige IV and sometimes simply as Sarah) is a songwriter from Bentleigh, Melbourne, Australia. Now based in Los Angeles, Aarons is signed to Sony ATV Publishing. She co-wrote "Stay" by ...

, while production was handled by Timberlake and Göransson.

Background and promotion

In February 2017, it was confirmed that Timberlake would be voicing the character Branch once again for a continuation of the ''Trolls'' series. On August 19, 2019, SZA stated in an interview with Kerwin Frost that she had recently hit the studio with Timberlake. Timberlake confirmed the collaboration in October 2019, although not yet disclosing any details on what project it was intended for. On January 20, 2020, SZA took to her social media to post pictures of her in different costumes and settings, which would later turn out to be part of the video shoot. About the collaboration with Timberlake, the singer explained that she was "thrilled to be invited to participate in this project with Justin". On February 21, 2020, Timberlake posted a short video of himself talking about the song and providing the release date on Instagram.

Composition

Amanda Gordon of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' described the song as "a deeply infectious, groovy song peppered with the kinds of handclaps and funky keyboard riffs designed to make you move". Furthermore, Jack Giroux of ''Grit'', described the song as "a joyful slice of poppy funkiness".

Music video

The music video was released on February 26, 2020 and shows the artists dancing and grooving around in different settings. Critics drew comparisons to "

Hype Williams Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adel ...

' 1990s fish-eye-lensed clips for Missy Elliott, Diddy, Mase and others".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Other Side 2020 singles 2020 songs SZA songs Justin Timberlake songs Songs written by SZA Songs written by Justin Timberlake Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Ludwig Göransson Songs written by Sarah Aarons Song recordings produced by Justin Timberlake Song recordings produced by Max Martin Songs written for animated films RCA Records singles Trolls (franchise) American disco songs