Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)

"Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" was written by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and James Fauntleroy.[1] The song was produced by Timbaland, Timberlake and Harmon.[1] Timberlake arranged and produced his vocals, which were recorded at Larabee Studios in North Hollywood, California.[1] Harmon provided keyboards for the song, while Elliot Ives played the guitar.[1] The track was engineered by Chris Godbey, with assistance from Alejandro Baima,[1] and mixed by Jimmy Douglass, Godbey and Timberlake at Larabee Studios.[1]

"Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" is an electro-funk song with an approximate length of five minutes and fifteen seconds.[3] Time magazine writer Chris Bosman cited the song as being an "extra-smooth" combination of the funk, pop and R&B genres that shifts "unexpectedly from memorable moment to memorable moment".[4] Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush cited "Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" as a "strangely compelling" pop song, and noted similarities between the song and the "sonic ethos" of Timberlake's second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006).[2] 411mania's Jeremy Thomas described the song as a "clear club hit" that oozes sensuality,[5] while Paste Magazine's Holly Gleason cited it as an "epic dance track".[6] Bosman declared "Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" to be a "classic Timberlake" song, although he felt that it is a "watered down" version of "Don't Hold the Wall”, the third track on Timberlake's third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013).[4]

"Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" opens with Timberlake singing a cappella about animalistic carnal desire,[5] which Drowned in Sound writer Dave Hanratty noted to be a "note-perfect transition" from "Blue Ocean Floor", the closing track on The 20/20 Experience.[7] The song then progresses into a more "nightclub-friendly environs" that fuses typical hip hop beats[8] with a "syncopated backbone" of acidic funk and a guitar groove that Bosman found to be reminiscent of a stripped-down version of Daft Punk’s 2013 single “Get Lucky".[4] Timberlake's vocals are supported by handclaps, blips, beeps and animal sounds.[2]

Lyrically, Timberlake urges his lover "to get closer to your animal inside".[9] Thomas wrote that the song's lyrics are not subtle and noted that Timberlake has "never been about subtlety".[5]

Andrew Barker of Variety magazine wrote that "Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" opens the album effectively while being its "most winningly silly sexual imagery".[10] On the other side, In a review of The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2, Mesfin Fekadu of The Huffington Post stated that the album starts on the wrong note by using "Gimme What I Don't Know (I Want)" as its opener.[11] Idolator's Carl Williott wrote that the song is a "clunky jungle-as-sex metaphor" that should have been erased when Bruno Mars's 2013 single "Gorilla" was released.[12] Opposite, Melinda Newman of HitFix gave the song a grade A while describing it as a "sultry, sexy funky number" that introduces what is yet to come on the album.[13]

Chris Bosman of Time magazine cited “Gimme What I Don’t Know (I Want)” as one of the album's best tracks.[4] He, however, was critical of the song's extended outro, calling it an "awkward spoken word moment" that "slams the song’s already obvious metaphor of the bedroom as jungle into the beaten ground."[4] David Meller of MusicOMH wrote that "there’s nothing particularly striking" about the song, but that it's "competent enough".[8]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2.[1] Locations

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

Personnel

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics