Justin
Rocks . you know his as the blue eyed curly-haired angel from
nsync. but he has alot more on his mind than just music. Here
, the thoughtful 19-year-old from tennessee talks about
charity , spirituality and why most of his girlfriends have
cheated on him. By Elizabeth Kuster.
Okay. Justin, the first thing
we want to ask you about is your charity - The justin
timberlake foundation. How'd you get the idea for it ?
The idea came from me growing up with a school that didn't
have a very good music program. If i hadn't begged my mom to
take me to things outside of school - like voice lessons - I
probably wouldn't be where I am today. So I gave money and
have been raising money to give to schools. I think kids
should learn about every different style and era of music ,
and have it be fun. Classes should include today's music too
-- something they're familiar with. When I've raised enough to
cover what each school needs , I want to oversee the
curriculum. I wanna stir up the grits a bit.
It's cool that you're so
personally involved. A lot of celebs attach their names to
charity and that's it.
well this is very important to me , for a couple of reasons.
One , I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me going outside of
school to do music. Two, columbine. I think it's dumb that
people were saying " those kids did that because they were
listening to Marilyn Manson music , blah blah blah". That's
shallow. but we do know that the kids who did it weren't the
most popular kids. every time you give kids an opportunity to
let out their energy in a positive way you're gonna ahev
a better outcome. I mean , say you get a couple of kids who
don't really fit in , and in their off time they go and form a
garage band. The next thing you know they're pearl jam or
blink 182. it could happen to anybody. it really could.
you seem to be so
comfortable with who you are. have you always been like that ?
well , i went through an insecure stage in middle school. I
was always questioning myself in anything and everything. A
lot of times , people think before they act , and i think that
sometimes they should act before they think. it's funny how
much we use our minds to second guess ourselves. when in
reality we should use our hearts and go for it.
so it sounds like you went
through an awkward stage in middle school. what about grade
school ?
I hated my hair. that was the thing everybody teased me about.
they called me brillo pad. I was always trying to ether
straighten the crap out of it or cut it all off. I couldn't
deal. In second grade I took like paper scissors and cut my
hair all uneven. I was like " I can't stand this snip snip ".
That's the only time i ever really got a spanking.
what made you go that far ?
I just wanted to be like everyone else. My hair , at least.
cause everybody was like " your hair! your hair! " it wasn't
like everybody said, " oh that's cool" - like now. Now i get
compliments on my hair because it's so different. But you know
, kids just make fun of each other. They're cruel. anything
that's different gets picked on. you had to look the look and
walk the walk.
and now that you're older
you want to be different - you want to be your own
person.
I'm just a very passionate person in everything I do. I
believe that whenever you do something you should put
everything into it; otherwise , it's really not worth it.
We've heard that you " put
everything into it " attitude has overwhelmed some of your
past girlfriends. is it true ?
every relationship I've been in , I've eventually overwhelmed
the girl because they just cant handle all the love. honestly.
that's always been eh dilemma.
well , how do you show a
girl love ?
there are all kinds of little things you can do.
So you tell them you love
them , you five them thing , you do things for them....
All of the above.
do you call them 24/7?
well ,I'm not annoying. I'll do things like put cards in their
drawers .... I mean their dresser drawers. and scavenger hunts
- --- I'll hide clues , and they follow them to a gift.
that's so sweet! is it true
that one of your girlfriends cheated on you ? she must have
been totally crazy!
most of the girls I've been with have cheated on me.
but you don't think that all
girl are like that. right ?
I'm trying not to. but i went through a period when I was
disgusted. I'd totally given myself to somebody , and she took
it for granted and I was like " what is anything worth?" I
kinda felt like it was all just a game. and I wasn't into
playing that game. So I just despised women for about half a
year.
did someone finally sit you
down and say " you gotta have hope" , or something ?
yeah. and you just get over it. You learn that the people you
were with just didn't love themselves enough to be honest with
you. that's really it. you have to known that it wasn't you.
it was them---they couldn't be honest with themselves. so they
couldn't be honest with you either.
You have so many female fans
who love you. Have you and the other nsync guys ever talked
about who'd labeled the heartthrob on the group?
No . I think we all have a good attitude about everything.
Everybody has a niche. and our differences are what make us a
group. If there was one less of us , It wouldn't be nsync. we
definitely feel blessed , but you have to know that if we were
sitting in a small club singing in front of fifty people we'd
still be happy.
In the last year , nsync has
gotten so big it's insane. what have you learned about
yourself through this superstardom thing ?
that when you're on tour , you get disillusioned. There are a
lot of yes-people out there who tell you what you want to hear
so they can get what they want out of you. i hate to sound
jaded , but Chris and the other guys are really the only
people i can always depend on to be honest with me.
Because you're all in the
same boat.
Exactly.
you singled Chris out. are
you and he a lot alike?
I have stuff in common with all of the guys. but Chris and I
have the same interests. we always take about sports , and we
have a lot of the same views on family and spirituality...
what about spirituality?
have you ever had any spirituality experiences?
well , i think miracles happen everyday. you know. I don't get
a chanced to go to church really anymore. so some people say
I'm not as involved in my spirituality as them. that's so not
true. i don't want people to think im blasting the church , im
just saying you can get the same experiences outside of
church. i read my bible. but i don't base my decisions on what
the bible says. I base my decisions on my experiences with
god. I saw this t-shirt the other day that said " im not
religious. i just love god" i thought that was a cool little
message. I don't want to get too deep in this conversation,
because my spirituality is mine and i really don't want to
make anybody feel something that they don't want to feel. but
my thing is , god is all around us --- in everything we say ,
everything we do , everything we feel. I really believe that.
and you believe in angels
too?
oh,sure.um....i'm telling you, you're gonna get me into this
conversation and people are going to be like ," he's a freak!"
but okay , i think angels could possibly be people who've
lived more lives than others. if that makes sense to you.
They've already figured out who they are. and so all they do
is give to other people. Haven't you ever had someone in your
life who never thought about themselves--- they just gave and
gave to other people?
yes , moms are that way.
I feel like women have lived more lives than men anyways.
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