Britney Spears has released her first new music in nearly a year with longtime collaborator, Will.i.am, with “Mind Your Business.” The song marks Spears’ second song release since the dissolution of her 13-year conservatorship in 2021.
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Opening with Mind your business, bitch, a continuation of her signature “Gimme More” intro It’s Britney, bitch, Spears sings Where she at? Where she at? Where she at? Where she at? Where she at? / There she go, there she go, there she go, there she go, there she go /What she do? What she do? What she do? What she do? What she do? on the hip-hop leaning “Mind Your Business.” The lyrics are a direct response to all the paparazzi and the incessant curiosity around her life.
Throughout the track, will.i.am also takes some lyrics dishing Too much, watch you, watch you, watchin’ me, watchin’, watchin’ you, while both sing through Too much looky-looky, get up off mе, too much watchy, whoa / Hands up in the cookie jar, they watchin’ me, they watchin’ ya / They got eyes up in the sky, so pose for that camera / They follow me, follow me, follow me, follow, follow me.
“When you’re in the spotlight, a lot of times you just want to live your life,” said Will.i.am on the meaning of the song. “There are lyrics in the song that point to that. There is a thin line, and everyone deserves their version of privacy.”
“Mind Your Business” also marks the first reunion for the two since Spears appeared will.i.am’s “Scream & Shout,” released on his fourth studio album, #willpower in 2013. The two first collaborated in 2011 on “Big Fat Bass,” off Spears’ Femme Fatale album. Will.i.am also co-produced and co-wrote several tracks on Spears’ Femme Fatale follow-up, Britney Jean.
Will.i.am recently spoke about his relationship with Spears over the years and their recent collaboration. “I’ve been a fan, friend, and supporter of Britney throughout the years,” he said. “Supporter as far as a person that 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.”
He continued, “Music is therapy for lots of people. Dancing is therapy for lots of people. And when you have that connection with music and rhythm and song and melody and harmony, and you express yourself through that, it helps you with anything that you’re going through, and I see that every time I see her dance on her Instagram. I light up because I see how much she loves music. To collaborate with her now and then—when you’re in the studio and you’re making music, that’s the only thing that matters—so I see the same light, the same joy, the same love, and passion.”
In 2023, will.i.am released his most recent single, “The Formula,” with Lil Wayne and dropped his ninth album with Black Eyed Peas, Elevation, in 2022. He is currently working on a fifth solo album with Epic.
Spears released her last full-length studio album, Glory, in 2016 and has remained mostly out of music outside of her Las Vegas residency and other performances until the end of her conservatorship in 2021. Her 2022 duet with Elton John, “Hold Me Closer,” was Spears’ first new music since Glory and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard dance and electronic chart.
In addition to releasing “Mind Your Business,” Spears is also set to release her memoir, The Woman in Me, on October 24.
Photo by Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images
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