[4][5] The production of the album was handled by Timberlake, The Neptunes, Timbaland, Danja, J-Roc, Eric Hudson, and Rob Knox.

In a radio interview in May 2016 Timberlake first confirmed working on a new album but without a date set for release yet, "I think where I grew up in America has a lot of influence – Growing up in Tennessee – very central of the country – Memphis is known as the birthplace of rock & roll, but also the home of the blues, but Nashville's right down the street so there's a lot of country music.

"[8] Timberlake worked with producers Timbaland, Danja, the Neptunes, and Max Martin,[9] and in following interviews he stated, "It sounds more like where I've come from than any other music I've ever made...

[11] Rolling Stone physical magazine reported that the album would feature a collaboration with singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.

[13][14] Timberlake headlined the Super Bowl LII halftime show at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 4, 2018.

[19] With the announcement of "Filthy", Variety confirmed guest appearances by Stapleton, The Neptunes and Alicia Keys on the album.

[22] In February, Timberlake opened a pop-up shop in New York City with limited edition merchandise featuring a total of 16 different brand collaborations, each paired with a song, centered on the concept "country meets streetwear.

[25] "Morning Light", featuring American singer Alicia Keys, was soundtrack of the Brazilian telenovela O Tempo não Para, exhibited by Rede Globo.

Although not included on the album, Timberlake released the single, "SoulMate" to coincide with the summer leg of The Man of the Woods Tour.

If I’m being totally honest about it I was extremely hurt being caught up in the middle of it, but at the same time I had a shitload of money stolen, you know, from me by somebody else when I was in the group.

I had already gone through legal troubles, and I kind of felt like, you know what, I’m at this point where I feel like I have so much ahead of me, I just don't want to be in the middle of the record label and somebody that, you know, I consider a friend.

[30] In an interview with Complex, producer Danja spoke of the recording sessions for Man of the Woods, "We didn't have any conversations about the current state of music and that's what we always do.

"[31] Timberlake's wife, Jessica Biel and his son Silas, have uncredited vocals on a number of songs on the album.

Stapleton also has writing credits on other songs on the album, including the Alicia Keys-featuring "Morning Light" and "The Hard Stuff" as well as guitar on the lead-single "Filthy".

"[38] Rolling Stone described most of the album's first half is "cosmopolitan future-funk,"[39] while Variety stated the music is funk-soul.

[2] Ahead of the album release, Timberlake hosted a listening session with music industry insiders and members of the press.

[41] In Rolling Stone, Christopher R. Weingarten gave the album a positive review, saying "parts of Man of the Woods are his most exploratory music in years.

"[39] In Variety, Chris Willman expressed "there are plenty of reasons to like Man of the Woods, not least that it's got a good beat and you can dance to it," and concluded "It's the utterly weird boldness of Timberlake figuratively dragging Pharrell and Danja into the middle of a frosty field that makes the album memorable.

"[53] Jamieson Cox of Pitchfork rated the album 3.8/10 and called it "a huge misstep for the pop star" as well as "warm, indulgent, inert, and vacuous".

I think I would’ve rolled it out a little bit differently and the other accompanying elements would’ve been different.“[54] Man of the Woods debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 293,000 album-equivalent units, making it the biggest first week of the year at the time,[55] and gave Timberlake his fourth consecutive number-one album in the country.

[57] During its second chart week, Man of the Woods dropped one spot to number two on the Billboard 200, selling 74,000 total units.

[59] It fell out of the top ten to number eleven, selling 28,000 total units in its fourth chart week.

[60] In March 2018, Man of the Woods was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 album-equivalent units in the US.