Britney Spears is back and she wants you to “Mind Your Business.”
Over a decade after she and will.i.am released their hit single “Scream & Shout,” the pair have reunited for another dance-pop banger that arrived at midnight on Friday.
“Mind Your Business” is all techno and dance-pop distortion, as Spears relentlessly takes aim at the paparazzi: “They follow me, follow me, follow me / Follow, follow me / Uptown, downtown / Everywhere I turn around / Hollywood, London / Snap, snap is the sound.” Later, she threatens to “send the dogs out” if the meddlers don’t get up out my face.”
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“Mind Your Business” marks the second track Spears has released since being released from her 13-year conservatorship in late 2021. The first, the Elton John collaboration “Hold Me Closer,” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release last August.
Will.i.am first teased the new single on Monday night with a seconds-long clip that featured Spears singing her iconic tag “It’s Britney, bitch.” Though the song was expected for release on Tuesday, the Black Eyes Peas founder later shared on Instagram that it would arrive at the end of the week, writing that Spears is “one of the most fearless, strongest, kindest, purest people I’ve met in my life…I always loved working with you and I always will.”
During an interview with CBS Mornings this week, will.i.am further reflected on the significance of working with Spears on more music, sharing that he’s “a supporter [of Spears] as far as a person who goes out and listens to her music, a supporter as far as somebody that’s there to help champion her through her times when she was fighting for her liberation. She is an amazing person.”
“To collaborate with her now and then, when you’re in the studio, when you’re making music, that’s the only thing that matters,” he continued. “I see the same light, the same joy, the same love and passion… When you’re in the spotlight, a lot of times you just want to live your life.”
“Scream & Shout”—which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and has racked up over 1 billion views on YouTube since its release in 2012—has endured as a Spears classic in part because of her experimentation with an affected British accent. Quirky as that decision was, it illustrated the star’s genius for generating unbelievably catchy pop music moments. Before that, she and will.i.am had collaborated on her Femme Fatale song “Big Fat Bass” in 2011, and he would also go on to executive produce her 2013 album Britney Jean and feature on her song “It Should Be Easy.”
Along with returning to the music zone this summer, Spears is also gearing up for the release of her hotly anticipated debut memoir, The Woman in Me, in October. It’s all coming up Britney, bitch.
