Pitchfork

Haven't heard "Straight to the Bank" for a while, have you? The first single from 50 Cent's forthcoming Curtis didn't have much beyond a sitar and "Inspector Gadget" mention to recommend it (didn't forget about Dre). The rapper known to fancier publications as Mr. Cent turned to the right people for latest cut "Ayo Technology", with Justin Timberlake's cyber-Prince falsetto plus Timbaland's mouth-percussion and rippling synyth arpeggios. If Timberlake gets the duff lines ("you're so new age"; "I'm tired of using technology"), Fiddy's "your hips, your thighs" feels like a male-centered reprise of Khia's more explicit 2002 hit, "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)".

The Joseph Kahn-directed video (probably NSFW) exploits all the usual rap-video clichés involving money and women, but it makes them a bit creepier considering the song is sort of about, um, masturbation. 50 Cent and Timberlake telekinetically manipulate all kinds of scantily clad women, forcing one into a chair and dressing up others in masks once used to turn on Bryan Adams. Only 50 Cent could take something as nice as a good wank and turn it into a way of assuming power over women. Besides, Madonna did bondage better.