At the time, Prince sat down with Guitar World Magazine and was asked about the trend of live musicians using technology to duet with someone who had passed away ... think Natalie Cole's version of "Unforgettable" she did with her dad.

Here's what Prince said at the time ...

Guitar World: "With digital editing, it is now possible to create a situation where you could jam with any artist from the past. Would you ever consider doing something like that?"

Prince: "Certainly not. That's the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ["Free As a Bird"], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave... that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control."

So, when Timberlake used Prince's voice and image to create a duet -- seems like JT did exactly what Prince didn't want.

There's more ...

Sinbad, the comedian, went off on social media about the drama between JT and Prince that started back in 2006 when Timberlake dropped "Sexy Back."

At the time, Prince joked that sexy never left ... and Timberlake responded with a diss verse in "Give It To Me" in which he said to Prince, "Don't hate on me just because you didn't come up with it."

Timberlake later pulled a stunt where he lowered the mic for Prince to mock his height at the Golden Globes.

Sinbad called Timberlake a "punk ass" for the performance -- and seems to want Timberlake to apologize.

Don't hold your breath ...