One Friday night last April in the lounge at Los Angeles's Standard Hotel, the oh-so-chic clientele was buzzing about Justin Timberlake, the newly single pop star in their midst. Timberlake, 21, though, seemed oblivious to their star-struck stares. In a corner booth, he mingled with friends and talked excitedly about the solo album he had just begun work on. Throughout the night, a number of female patrons tried to get closer, and two even succeeded, squeezing in on either side of him. Timberlake responded politely to their flirtatious talk -- but that's all. So where, then, does he get his recent rap as a raging Lothario?

    "That's the thing I laugh at -- and sometimes I cry about it, too," Timberlake tells Us. "It's happened for at least six months now, this whole image of everybody portraying me as a playboy. That's not me. When I go out, I go out with my group of friends." He adds, "Any girl who approaches me in a club and tries to win me over, I'm not gonna go for it. If I see a girl [out] by herself two nights in a row, [she's] not exactly the kind of girl I want to take home to mom. That's the type of person I am."

    Timberlake is ready to clear up a lot of misconceptions. Since his breakup with Britney Spears, 20, last March, after a four-year romance, independence has been a running theme in his life. For years identified as either one-fifth of teen pop's hottest boy band 'NSync or Spears's boyfriend, the now solo singer is best known these days as, well, just Justin Timberlake (make that "J" to his friends). And that's fine by him. With his single "Like I Love You" already earning raves (leaked to an L.A. radio station, it became the No. 1 requested song) and the November 5 release of his debut solo album, Justified, hotly anticipated, industry insiders are buzzing that the ferociously talented, suddenly grown-up former teen idol -- the first 'NSyncer to put out his own record -- is on the brink of becoming pop's biggest male star since George Michael ditched Wham! in 1986. "He's definitely moving in an edgier direction, and a lot of fans are going to grow with him," says Seventeen music editor Laura Morgan, who has heard a number of Timberlake's new R&B and hip-hop-influenced tracks.

    It doesn't hurt that the performer -- scheduled to make his official solo bow on August 29 when he sings "Like I Love You" at the MTV Video Music Awards -- also has good looks (he's sprouted to a muscular six-foot-one) and charisma (he still calls elders ma'am and sir). "Everybody loves this cat," says Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, who produced a track for Justified. "I don't think there's a turnoff bone in his body." In fact, so charmed was P. Diddy by Timberlake -- who personally invited Diddy to work on his album -- that he recently added to Timberlake's new watch collection with a pricey diamond-laden Jacob design for his January 31 birthday. "I'm almost up to 10," says Timberlake of his stash. "All of them have diamonds."

Separation Anxiety

    Though he was always regarded as 'NSync's standout, the transition hasn't been easy. "Justin has always kind of pulled back [from stealing the spotlight] and tried to maintain that 'I am part of a group,'" says his mother, Lynn Harless, 47, her son's comanager (they talk several times a day). "It's taken a while for him to come to grips with, that it's OK, that he wasn't betraying anyone else." He still talks to at least one of the four other members -- Lance Bass, 23, J.C. Chasez, 26, Joey Fatone, 25, and Chris Kirkpatrick, 30 -- once a day. In fact, just minutes before his Us interview in New York, he spoke by phone with Kirkpatrick. "And you know what the last thing I said to him was? 'I love you,'" Timberlake says. "You know, those are my brothers."

    As for the other break in his life -- from Britney -- Timberlake refuses to address reports from sources that Spears cheated on him. "Something happened. Something very bad happened," is all he says. Johnny Wright, who manages both stars, elaborates: "He's handled it better than me. Knowing how much in love he was and having a bump in the road but still having to be focused on going into the studio, making deadlines, doing photo shoots, having interviews and keeping a straight face and being professional is tough when your insides are hurting." Adds Wright: "He's taken that pain and hurt and turned it into music. It became an energy for him."

    Says Timberlake, who cowrote all 12 tracks on his album: "The ideas and emotions that I felt, they were just different, and I had to find a way to say them." The album's midtempo track "Cry Me a River," which details the aftermath of a stormy love affair, certainly seems to be about a particular ex. "You know exactly what I'm thinking about," he says. "That's all I'll say about it." He pauses and reconsiders: "Songs come from ideas and feelings. They don't necessarily have to be something that specifically happened to you; sometimes they are. . . . I know what everybody's gonna think when they hear that song. I know why I wrote. That's all I can say."

Other Loves?

    Timberlake does, however, address the romance rumors that have been spinning since the split. For the record, he insists, he is not involved with dancer Jenna Dewan, 21. "I'm single." He also shoots down reports that he's had public makeout sessions with Janet Jackson and Christina Aguilera. "Make out in a club? I didn't even do that when I was with Britney," he says. "Why would I do it with somebody I just met? From what I hear, I've been with [Jackson]; I've heard stories about Christina. Think about it logically: If I didn't do it with somebody I had been with for four years, why would I do it with somebody I don't know well?"

    One thing is clear: If he is romantically involved with anyone, he would have a hard time squeezing it in. A famous workaholic, Timberlake has a tough schedule that keeps him from his homes in Orlando, Florida, Memphis, Tennessee, and L.A. (he just bought an $8 million, five-bedroom mansion 4.4 miles from Spears's house, which they used to share). He cranked out the album in a six-week spurt last spring; he'll embark on a world tour in 2003. He'll travel, no doubt, on a private plane (he rarely has flown commercially since September 11). In addition to safety concerns, "It's really hard for him to go into airports," says Trace Ayala, 21, his best friend "since birth" (their moms are best friends). "Even the people behind the counters get freaked out."

    Still, Timberlake is in no way about to rest on his reputation. He works slavishly in the studio, dances up to five hours a day (which accounts for his lean physique; he hasn't hit a gym in two months) and eats a vegetable-heavy diet. His goal? Career dominance. His role model? Michael Jordan. "You think of Jordan back in the '90s; he never failed," he says. "He never shows weakness. The look in his eye was the eye of the tiger. I grew up watching those eyes win six championships." Ayala sees that same intensity in his pal. "If you want to know the truth, he normally ends up being the best at anything he does," he says, noting Timberlake's recent domination in video games on his Xbox.

Growing Up

    That perfectionist streak was evident even when Timberlake was a child growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. By his mother's count, Timberlake has around 400 pairs of shoes -- all spotless. "From the time he was a baby, if his shoes had a mark he would just go ballistic," she says. "He would not stand for anything to be dirty. Not his hands. Not his clothes." Harless continues, "He has always been that way. He wants what he wants, and he doesn't care if it's different. From the day he was born he had an independent spirit. He didn't want to be held. He just wanted you to leave him alone and let him be."

    Also evident early on was his musical talent (his father, Randall, 42, played with a bluegrass band; by age 2, Justin was already singing) and his knack for charming the ladies. "Little girls always loved Justin," says Harless, who divorced Timberlake's father when Justin was 3 (Justin's dad, who has two children from a second marriage, lives within five miles of Harless). "When he was growing up, he was the only boy on our street." Adds Harless, "If anybody had a fight with their boyfriends they would call to talk to him. The girls want his perspective because he's the sensitive guy."

    At 11, he was cast on the Mickey Mouse Club, along with Spears, Aguilera, and future 'NSyncer Chasez. But music remained a priority: Within a year, he was playing guitar and later picked up piano. In 1995, Justin, then 14, joined 'NSync. Their 1998 debut album sold 10 million copies; the follow-up, No Strings Attached, 11 million. Their third album, Celebrity, sold more than 5 million, but won 'NSync its best reviews ever, thanks, in large part, to first-time songwriting and production contributions from Timberlake on 10 of the 13 songs. "I think that he has the strongest work ethic," says Wright. "Whereas normally the youngest person is the one who always just wants to get something over with so he can go play basketball, and he was the first one to [arrive] and the last one to leave."

What Next?

    As Timberlake enters uncharted territory, he admits he's nervous about the public's reaction. But he needn't worry: "He's one of the great ones, without a doubt," says P. Diddy. "[In the studio] he would knock stuff out in, like, 15 minutes, perfect pitch and everything." So, the question remains: Can he relax? Maybe. An expert basketball player, he recently took up golf and is spending time decorating his new house. "We don't have much on the walls, but we're getting there," says Harless. As for a future mate, "He looks for somebody who's sensitive, witty and who has a lot of character and integrity," says his mom. For now, though, Timberlake is just fine, thank you -- solo or not. "I dreamed about this [life] since I was a little boy," he says. "I never thought it would be like this.

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