Justin Timberlake lost on "Star Search" in 1992, when he was 11 years old. He’s been on a winning streak ever since. The lean and lithe singer from Tennessee first made his mark on ’The New Mickey Mouse Club’ (1993-1995), where he hooked up with onetime girlfriend Britney

justinSpears, and then in the megaplatinum pop group ’N Sync. That ascent has only continued during his solo career, which began with the quadruple-platinum "Justified" (2002) and is still rocking bodies with his new "Futuresex/Lovesounds." The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of more than 684,000 - 245,000 more than "Justified," which hit No. 2 for its debut.

"I don’t place all of my enthusiasm, so to speak, into just album sales," says the 25-year-old Timberlake, who with ’N Sync set a first-week sales record of 2.4 million copies for "No Strings Attached" (2000), but he admits that "no one puts a record out to say, ’I hope it goes straight to No. 2.’ I think everyone wants to be No. 1.

"But I don’t feel myself being competitive with the rest of the industry," he continues. "It is a business, but it’s my art. The latter half of that is more important to me. I’m just happy with the way the record came out. I think, once I realised that success in the world of the music business is not as important as the personal success of what you feel you’ve created, that helped me a lot."

With cutting-edge club beats and old-school soul melodies, plus hits such as "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body," "Justified" helped Timberlake shed his image as a teen-pop star and lure a broader - in other words, more adult - audience, though he claims that the latter consideration "wasn’t something that I thought about."

But he had definite ideas in November 2005 when, after a lengthy break spent acting, globe-trotting with his girlfriend of three years, actress Cameron Diaz, and working his golf game to a reported two handicap, he and producer Timbaland convened in the latter’s Virginia Beach recording studio to craft Timberlake’s next musical move.

"I was conscious of the fact that I wanted to do something semi-different from ’Justified,"’ says Timberlake, who in the interim had logged parts in the films "Edison Force" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2006), "Southland Tales" (2006) and the upcoming "Black Snake Moan." "When we first met I said to (Timbaland) that ’This has to sound like nothing that we’ve ever heard before. We have to find a niche in the studio that says, "OK, not only are the songs equally as good as the ones on ’Justified,’ but we have to grab people by the collar as far as the production and the sound of it."’

"I definitely feel like, in taking our time and really being conscious of trying to create something that just sounded fresh, we did get, I don’t want to say a new sound, but just something that sounded fresh."

Timberlake doesn’t miss a chance to praise his main collaborator, whose voluminous credits also include the late Aaliyah, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Jamie Foxx, Ludacris and Busta Rhymes, for his sonic accomplishments on "Futuresex/Lovesounds."

"He’s so innovative, I think that he took to the challenge very well," the singer says, "and he definitely wasn’t intimidated by it."

At the same time, however, Timberlake did not merely sit back and allow the producer to shape the album.

justin1"Timbaland’s always done his tracks - I never stepped on his toes before," says Timberlake, who co-wrote all 12 songs and co-produced all but "Losing My Way," which was helmed by Rick Rubin. "But writing and producing this record was definitely more free. I would tinker with ideas on his drum machines, and it was just more open and free. If there was a guitar part, I would lay it down.

"We felt like we were baking a cake, adding these elements, giving it more ear candy," he says. "It was great."

Canadian singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado, who worked with Timbaland on her latest album, wound up recording some songs with Timberlake that may come out at a future date. She saw Timberlake and Timbaland working on "Futuresex/Lovesounds."

"There was just this real great vibe between them," Furtado recalls in a separate interview. "You could tell that they were being very creative and really excited about what they were doing. They knew that they were into something hot."

Timberlake certainly came out of the box with some heat. The album’s first single, "Sexyback," shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on iTunes, while even its creator admits that its title has become "the most worn-out phrase of 2006."

"I did coin the phrase," Timberlake says. "I don’t think sexy ever really left, but I definitely didn’t know it was going to start what it started. It just sounded like a nice opening to the song."

As the title indicates, however, sex is a dominant theme on the album, including songs such as "Sexy Ladies," "My Love," "Love Stoned" and the title track.

"Why not?" Timberlake cracks. "It worked for ’Sex in the City."’

More seriously, the singer/songwriter says that the emphasis on sex simply evolved along the way.

"It really isn’t something that was conscious," he says. "After creating the music I definitely felt it was appropriate to have ("sex") in the title - but it’s only one-fourth of the title, as far as I’m concerned.

"I thought we were bringing fun back to music," he says. "We had so much fun in the studio making the music - that’s what I feel translates. It’s kind of hard not to feel that when you listen to it. So if that’s what bringing sexy back is, then, so be it."

Timberlake also figures that "Futuresex/Lovesounds" will confirm to all concerned that he’s serious about being a solo artist - which may be bad news for anyone hoping for an ’N Sync reunion. There were plans for the group to record again after "Justified" ran its course, but Timberlake withdrew.

"I think what we did doesn’t work anymore," he says.

But the friendships remain, he adds. Timberlake has been supportive of bandmate Lance Bass, who came out as gay this year, and is working with J.C. Chasez, another "New Mickey Mouse Club" alumnus, on his second solo album.

Timberlake doesn’t rule out ’N Sync working together again, but says, "I don’t see it in the near future" - due mostly to his desire to stay on his own path.

"I was the youngest one in the group - I was 14 when we signed our deal," he says. "I think, as I started to learn more about music, "I decided I wanted to do something that really met my creative urge. So this was just something inside me that said, ’If you don’t do this now, you might never do it.’ "I knew that it wouldn’t work any other way," Timberlake says. "This is the venue for me."