{"id":805666,"date":"2020-03-25T10:37:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T16:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=971938"},"modified":"2020-03-25T10:37:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T16:37:15","slug":"flashback-nsync-sing-about-the-joys-of-cybersex-on-digital-get-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/flashback-nsync-sing-about-the-joys-of-cybersex-on-digital-get-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Flashback: \u2018NSync Sing About the Joys of Cybersex on \u2018Digital Get Down\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Boy bands have always known their way around a good double entendre (see Backstreet Boys\u2019 \u201cGet Down\u201d or O-Town\u2019s \u201cLiquid Dreams\u201d) but when \u2018NSync released their sophomore album, No Strings Attached<\/em>,<\/a> in March of 2000, one song stood out for seemingly bucking the subtlety trend.<\/p>\n

Tucked away in the middle of the album, just after milquetoast Richard Marx ballad \u201cThis I Promise You\u201d and the defiant \u2014 if slightly generic \u2014 title track, the slick and skittering \u201cDigital Get Down\u201d was like an eruption of hormones and harmonies all at once, with three and a half minutes of big beats and grown-up innuendo.<\/p>\n

Co-written by the group\u2019s JC Chasez<\/a>, the futuristic, synth-driven track was a marked departure for the boy band, while its suggestive lyrics whipped critics and fans into a frenzy. Were the guys in \u2018NSync really singing about the joys of cybersex?<\/p>\n

\u201cI lose my mind just when you\u2019re speaking, I see you on the screen, I get to freaking,\u201d Chasez crooned over a pulsating beat and a liberal dose of pre\u2013T-Pain autotune. If listeners still weren\u2019t clear about what the song was about, the chorus left little to the imagination.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Digital, digital get down, just you and me<\/em>
(You may be) Twenty thousand miles away, but I can see ya<\/em>
And baby, baby, you can see me <\/em>
Digital, digital get down, just what we need<\/em>
We can get together naturally<\/em>
Or we can get together on the digital screen<\/em><\/p>\n

Critics immediately singled out the song for its \u201crisqu\u00e9 lyrics,\u201d with a TV Guide<\/em> reviewer writing<\/a>, \u201cDo they think the braces brigade in \u2018NSync\u2019s audience will recognize the R-rated oomph?\u201d<\/p>\n

A New York Times<\/em> review<\/a>, meanwhile, described No Strings Attached<\/em> as \u201cthe first boy-band album with a song about video cybersex \u2014 a clear indicator of post-pubescent consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2000, when \u201cdirect messages\u201d still meant talking to someone in a chat room or leaving a voicemail on their phone, \u201cDigital Get Down\u201d helped to usher in a new way of using technology. Could our computers \u2014 and a strategically-placed webcam \u2014 help ease the pain of long distance?<\/p>\n

The guys never elaborated on \u201cDigital Get Down\u201d in interviews promoting the album (Justin Timberlake<\/a> was asked about it once and admitted that \u201c[the lyrics] could be construed that way,\u201d before changing the subject), but it was clear that this was no regular love song. At one point on the track, Timberlake teases a cellular come-on:<\/p>\n

Can we get connected?<\/em>
I need some love and affection baby<\/em>
I\u2019ll call you on the phone<\/em>
I hope that I get through<\/em>
If you\u2019re in the mood and I\u2019m not home<\/em>
Here\u2019s what you do: leave a message<\/em>
You know the kind I like<\/em><\/p>\n

Long before people were writing how-to books about sexting<\/a>, Justin Timberlake was giving us a crash course in wireless foreplay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s funny is we joke that \u2018NSync invented Skype and FaceTime, but that\u2019s really true in a way,\u201d says John Andosca, one of the hosts of \u201cDigital Get Down,<\/a>\u201d a \u2018NSync fan podcast inspired by the song. \u201cBack in 2000, video calls weren\u2019t even a thing \u2014 heck, most people didn\u2019t really have cell phones yet, so the idea about being able to \u2018get down\u2019 with someone through a video screen as if they were right there, was like something out of a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be another three years before Skype was launched to market, and more than a decade before Google Hangouts became a thing. But for all the \u2018NSync trends best left in the 2000s \u2014 frosted tips, overly distressed denim, bad puns<\/a> \u2014 finding new ways to connect with those you love is something we can thank the guys for. Long before we were asked to \u201csocially distance\u201d ourselves from one another, five teen heartthrobs were showing everyone how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 20 years later,\u201d Andosca says, \u201cand the same technology they talked about [for] \u2018hooking up\u2019 with someone far away is now keeping people connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Popular on Rolling Stone <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boy bands have always known their way around a good double entendre (see Backstreet Boys\u2019 \u201cGet Down\u201d or O-Town\u2019s \u201cLiquid Dreams\u201d) but when \u2018NSync released their sophomore album, No Strings Attached, in March of 2000, one song stood out for seemingly bucking the subtlety trend. Tucked away in the middle of the album, just after milquetoast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-805666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-18 10:05:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}