The Throwback Three at Three: Is 2009 really a throwback?

Akon leaped to fame in 2004 after he released his song "Locked Up" from his debut album "Trouble". His second album, "Konvicted" was released in 2006 and it secured him a Grammy nomination for his song "Smack That". Akon had another hit on his second album and it is called, "Don't Matter". This bop was written by Akon and Anthony "Tony Love" Lawson. The chorus of the song is from the 1979 Bob Marley and the Wailers song "Zimbabwe", so Marley received a songwriting credit on the track as well. Don't Matter climbed to number one after 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Say It Right" is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her third studio album, "Loose" that was released in 2006. Furtado wrote the lyrics to this smash hit and said, "It captures the feeling I had when I wrote it, and it taps into this other sphere." Timbaland and Nate Hills produced this bop and helped Furtado with the lyrics as well. The Eurythmics hit "Here Comes The Rain Again" influenced this track and Furtado adjusted her vocals to fit the song. It rosed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its 14th week on February 24, 2007.

Timberlake wrote this smash hit with his producers Timbaland and Nate Hills. This single is about a relationship that crumbles after cheating. Many believed that Timberlake wrote this about Britney Spears. Justin explained that the song was written for his best friend. At the Grammys in 2007, Timberlake said: "It's definitely a special song for me. It was one of those songs where the words kind of flowed out. It was based on an experience that one of my best friends went through. It's the first song I did with Tim on this record. I honestly feel that this is the best song that I've written so far." Timberlake performed this song on air, but it was not eligible for the awards that year. He won that following year in 2008 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The song was released in December 2006 and became number one two months later.