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Tag: Britney Spears Femme Fatale

  • Britney Spears Not So Coincidentally Releases “Scary” to Streaming Platforms Ahead of Kevin Federline’s “Tell-All”

    While Britney Spears may not have released an album since 2016 (which means she’s going mano a mano with Rihanna in terms of retreating from music for almost a decade now), it doesn’t mean she’s lacking for material to keep unleashing onto the masses. Which is why, every now and again, her “team” will put out some proverbial “from the vault” tracks. As they did on October 16th with an official streaming platform release of “Scary,” which originally only appeared on the Japanese deluxe edition of Femme Fatale. And, despite the eyebrow-raising about Spears’ overall “withdrawal” from participating in the songwriting or music production process of that record, it does bear noting that she actually did write the lyrics to “Scary” (along with Fraser T Smith and Kasia Livingston).

    In truth, the lyrics have Spears’ stamp all over it. Not just in terms of the “parlance” at play, but because it could also be said that Spears, at one point in her life, might have applied the following verse to Kevin Federline: “Baby, I don’t know/How I’m gonna survive/This fatal attraction/It’s gonna eat me alive/I’m not supposed to want ya/But I do like I die/It’s turned me into a monster/Like I’m Jekyll and Hyde.”

    To be sure, it was a “fatal attraction” for Spears, whose more than somewhat impetuous decision to marry Federline after roughly five months of dating (the two had been together for three months prior to announcing their engagement in July of 2004, then got married in September of that year) has resulted in a lifetime of hell in exchange for just under three years of marriage. A marriage that, according to Spears, Federline spent most of abandoning her in favor of late nights out on the town while she stayed home tending to their newborns, with Sean and Jayden born just one year apart (the former in September 2005 and the latter in September 2006).

    So, in truth, the only “monster”/“Jekyll and Hyde” behavior was coming from Federline, who seemed to turn on Spears just when she needed a trustworthy and reliable companion the most. Instead, Federline has proven that he will bite the hand that feeds him over and over again, having opted to release a “tell-all” memoir called, cringily enough, You Thought You Knew. The implication being that the public thought they knew the full extent of Spears’ “shenanigans,” both back when they were married and in subsequent years when it came to her being around their children.

    Naturally, the release of such a book has probably been a long time coming, yet only took this long because Federline is finally off Spears’ payroll (indeed, the timing of its release is no coincidence at all on that front). Besides, this is the same person who released videos that were taken unbeknownst to Spears by her own sons when they were each eleven and twelve. Videos meant to imply she’s a “crazy” and “unhinged” mother. And no, they don’t make her look very “flattering,” but it’s certainly not out of the realm of “parenting behavior” to scold one’s children for things like going into a store without shoes on (yes, ironic when considering that Spears herself had a “no shoes on at the gas station” phase). Even so, the media took the bait, reporting on the videos just after Spears had gotten out of her conservatorship (at the end of 2021; Federline posted the videos in August of 2022). And also just after she had married Sam Asghari.

    The callous action prompted Nicki Minaj to state on her Queen Radio podcast, “Do you understand what kind of a clown you have to be to be a whole grown fucking man, and as soon as you see somebody happy and getting married and moving on and being free and feeling good in their own skin, to do the very thing that you know is going to attempt to ‘break them down,’ going to the media… You know, only cowards use the media against a famous person who they once loved, they procreated with, um, they’re being taken care of by. Using the person’s fame as this constant ‘gotcha’ moment… How dare you?” Minaj then added of Jayden and Sean’s involvement, “They’re kids, they don’t know how detrimental this is. But you know, cocksucker. Leave her the fuck alone” (a sentiment she has since repeated in the wake of Federline releasing his book of lies).

    Alas, Federline cannot seem to do that. Not only releasing his “tell-all,” which includes accounts of Spears taking cocaine while breastfeeding (as if) and having an affair with a woman (okay, sure), but also going on any and every outlet that will take him to do interviews about it. Yes, it’s all very “scary” indeed. With Spears having no recourse but to actually comment on the whole thing, posting a statement on her Instagram that read, “What’s scary [that’s right, scary] is he’s convincing. It literally blows my mind the moments he stops before he cries. Are you fucking serious?” Unfortunately, yes, Federline seems to think he is. And while Spears might have been overexaggerating when she added, “I know his book will sell loads more than mine” (for there’s no way Federline would be capable of selling over two million copies of his schlock), it’s natural for her to fear that. Because both Federline and her own family have conditioned her to feel such fear for decades. And maybe, at the time when “Scary” was written, this fear was part of what she was tapping into—in addition to tapping into being scared by her own amorous feelings for another (once upon a time, K-Fed).

    As she repeats “so scary” around the one-minute, twenty-three-second mark, use of the theremin instrument is designed to play up the “spook” factor (and yes, theremins are also used in the background of movies or TV shows to denote the cliché sound associated with aliens [side note: Spears also has a song called “Alien”—wherein a version of the theremin sound is employed at the beginning]). It’s the same sound also used in Megan Thee Stallion’s own song called “Scary” (released on her 2022 album, Traumazine). And, to be sure, there ought to be a mashup of these two tracks.

    In another moment of eeriness, Spears sings, “You’re taking over my mind.” Although intended to speak from the perspective of someone who can’t stop thinking about the object of their affection, it instead reminds the listener of the effective “mind control” those behind Spears’ conservatorship had over her. Constantly manipulating her with the threat of limiting access to her children. So no wonder she also adds the following verses to “Scary”: “I wanna take over your body like like like it’s freaky Friday” (amazingly, Lindsay Lohan didn’t glom onto that phrase by posting it somewhere, desperate as she is to call out her “enduring relevance” in pop culture) and “I wanna take you to a dark place/Make you, make you, make you do it my way.” Again, these lyrics might be meant as “sexual” within the context of the song, but when taken out of it, they seem to be echoing Spears’ not-so-subconscious urge to engage in some payback at that time. Wanting to take possession of others the way they had taken possession of her, all in a bid to break free.

    So, sure, some can try to say that the release of “Scary” to streaming is timed for Halloween/“spooky season.” But the only thing that’s really spooky for Britney this season is the constant reanimation of what should have remained a spectral part of her past: Kevin Federline.

    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Justin Timberlake’s “Selfish” Reinforces “Romantic” Ideas of Toxic Masculinity When It Comes to Jealousy

    Justin Timberlake’s “Selfish” Reinforces “Romantic” Ideas of Toxic Masculinity When It Comes to Jealousy


    Sometimes when a man does such a number on you, you still can’t help but want to be in his good graces even after all the horrible shit he pulled. This explains why Britney Spears took leave of her senses on January 29th when she stated, “I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry. I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’ It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together I laugh so hard??? Ps ‘Sanctified’ is wow too.” This caption accompanied a video clip from Timberlake’s January 25th appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, with “Sanctified” also referencing his January 27th appearance on Saturday Night Live (because, yes, he’s really been whoring himself out to promote his upcoming album and tour). This caption has merely added to the news cycle surrounding Timberlake’s “Selfish” as it relates largely to Britney. For her fans not only saw fit to make a 2011 bonus track of the same name beat out Justin’s “Selfish” on the charts, but now, Britney is further inserting herself into the Justin dialogue with this apology. 

    It’s almost as if she’s masterminding one of the greatest trolls of the twenty-first century by continuously “horning in on” his current spotlight time. And since Timberlake does so love the spotlight, it’s worth focusing on the content of “Selfish,” the song that Britney thinks is “soo good.” Those with a knowledge of their musical history might have already detected the thematic overtones of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” but Timberlake confirmed it during an interview with Zane Lowe when he said that while coming up with inspiration for the track, he sang Donny Hathaway’s cover of Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.” He noted, “We were talking about the song itself and just breaking down the idea that, like, you just don’t hear that from men often that they would express that, an emotion that makes them vulnerable.” That certainly didn’t seem to be the case in 2002, when Timberlake dropped “Cry Me A River” and foisted his “vulnerability” onto everyone. Nonetheless, he added, “You know, and growing up the way I grew up, like, you’re kind of taught not to do that.” What you are taught, apparently, is to tarnish women’s reputations with the effortless doling out of the “whore” brand. Or, as Britney put it (before apologizing), “In the news media, I was described as a harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy,” also adding, “I don’t think Justin realized the power he had in shaming me. I don’t think he understands to this day.”

    But, based on the reactions to and the promotional blitzkrieg surrounding “Selfish,” it appears as though Timberlake’s “golden boy” status is in no danger. And probably never really was. For, as we should all be very familiar with by now, women’s voices have a tendency to get lost in the shuffle after enough time has passed. Less than six months (The Woman in Me was released in October, 2023) is, evidently, enough time to pass for people to “forget” all about Timberlake’s history of being a putain. Even Spears herself. Who has perhaps fallen prey to her own millennial ways by swooning over a song that reiterates all the worst tropes that 00s-era rom-coms reinforce. First and foremost being that: “Jealousy is just a sign that he cares.” 

    And yes, all throughout the song Timberlake excuses away any toxic behavior with the caveat presented in the chorus: “So if I get jealous, I can’t help it/I want every bit of you, I guess I’m selfish/It’s bad for my mental, but I can’t fight it/ When you’re out lookin’ like you do, but you can’t hide it, no.” Thus, not only does Timberlake self-exonerate any fucked-up displays of anger or puerile resentment he might engage in (while also admitting it’s mentally unhealthy behavior), he also chalks it up to being mostly about how hot this girl is. Doesn’t seem to have much to do with her personality. This is further accentuated when he reverts to “(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You” parlance via the lines, “Put you in a frame, ooh, baby, who could blame you?/Glad your mama madе you/Makin’ me insane, you cannot be еxplained, ooh/You must be an angel.” Surely he can’t be talking about Jessica Biel. In fact, one imagines Spears continues to be the subconscious “blueprint” for his lyrical “muse.” And who can blame him after the success of “Cry Me A River”? A track Timberlake had no problem shading Britney with yet again for his mid-December performance at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, where he prefaced the song with the dig, “No disrespect.”

    But it wasn’t just that song that Spears inspired, for who can forget the cringeworthy talking head moment he gave when describing his “process” for writing “Gone,” one of the last *NSYNC singles (that was also supposed to feature, erm, Michael Jackson). He explains with a totally straight face, “I got the idea for ‘Gone’ when, um, obviously I wrote that back when me and Britney were a couple, and, um, she went to the hair salon and said she was gonna be back in a couple hours, got there, decided to get a manicure, pedicure and wasn’t back for, like, five. And that’s what stemmed the idea for that song.” Imagine being that needy. No wonder Spears wanted to stay out of the house a little bit longer. 

    That sort of clinging, possessive personality exhibited by Timberlake is also ostensibly alive and well today, if we’re to go by the “Selfish” lyrics, “And I don’t want any other guys/Takin’ my place, girl/I got too much pride/I know I may be wrong/But I don’t wanna be right.” That much has been made obvious time and time again in his comportment toward Spears. 

    Talking as though he’s inside the mind of Mark (Andrew Lincoln) in Love Actually, Timberlake additionally has the gall to sing, “But they don’t know what you want/And baby, I would never tell/If they knew what I know/They would never let you go/So guess what?/I ain’t ever lettin’ you go.” Like Mark showing up to Juliet’s (Keira Knightley) door with a slew of mawkish “cue cards,” as it were, it’s one of those things that’s supposed to seem “really sweet” but is actually quite horrifying and could easily be soundtracked over a scene in Enough (another 00s movie about “possessing” someone). Instead, Timberlake, again saying something absurd with a straight face, told Lowe in the same abovementioned Apple interview, “It just felt like a really honest song, the lyrics just started to come out honestly.” What a circuitous and faux-profound assessment. One that Spears has appeared to fall for hook, line and sinker.

    To boot, the language Spears uses to describe that—“I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish’”—almost feels overtly coded. Like she really just wants to say, “I am in love with Justin Timberlake.” And maybe she still is. Maybe some lovefools never really get over that “one” person. Regardless of how shittily they treated you. After all, Spears did once say (in MTV’s Diary), “I would love to be with him forever. I would.” Some of us, on the other hand, are no longer charmed by his retro lyrics posing as the “kind” words of a “loving” and “devoted” significant other. Not when, in truth, they fortify all the usual toxic male stereotypes under the guise of conveying “sensitivity.”



    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Justin Timberlake Didn’t Think Through His Latest Single’s Title, Or: Britney Spears’ Fanbase Shows Which Singer’s “Selfish” Is Boss

    Justin Timberlake Didn’t Think Through His Latest Single’s Title, Or: Britney Spears’ Fanbase Shows Which Singer’s “Selfish” Is Boss

    At one of the many uncomfortable points in Justin Timberlake’s first solo single (without the crutch of adding any features or being the feature) in almost six years, he sings, “You’re the owner of my heart/And all my scars/Baby, you’ve got such a hold on me.” In many respects, that line easily applies to Britney Spears. Like Taylor Swift and Kanye West (or Ye, if you must), the two seem condemned to be forever linked in the pop culture sphere. Of late, that’s been mostly Spears’ doing, as she’s finally seen fit to tell her side of the story that’s primarily “belonged” to Justin since their breakup in 2002. This came in the form of her bestselling memoir, The Woman in Me, in which she not only tongue-in-cheekly mocks Timberlake for his late 90s/early 00s predilection for attempting a blaccent, but also exposes him for cajoling her into getting an abortion. Worse still, an at-home abortion so that no media outlet could ever find out that she was pregnant with his child. For that would have really fucked with his “wholesome” boy band image (though, if he had been in the Backstreet Boys, it might have only helped his image). So would being outed for his tendency to cheat on Spears throughout their relationship, a reality she also chose to keep to herself (even when certain gossip rags didn’t) until The Woman in Me. 

    Unfortunately for Timberlake, he seemed to be orchestrating a “comeback” right as Spears reminded everyone, in the most official capacity yet, of what a douche he is. This has been proven not only in his dealings with Spears (who he kept bringing up and besmirching repeatedly years after the breakup, including on a horrific SNL sketch from 2009 called “Immigrant Tale”), but with, just as infamously, Janet Jackson, who took all the flak for the 2004 “Nipplegate” snafu at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Funnily enough, many have speculated that Timberlake “planned” the incident as a means to upstage Spears after her lesbianic kiss with Madonna at the 2003 VMAs just months earlier. If that was, in some form or another, truly the case, then both parties definitely got more than they bargained for. It also appeared as though Timberlake wanted to emulate and one-up Spears when she did a duet with Michael Jackson (specifically, “The Way You Make Me Feel”) for a 2001 special called Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration. Timberlake and Janet Jackson cavorted around the stage following each other in a similar fashion, and it might have stayed as respectable and well-received as what Spears and Michael Jackson did were it not for that “unexpected” finale.

    The irony of Timberlake singing, “No disrespect, I don’t mean no harm” and “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song” right before Jackson’s nipple was exposed was almost too on the nose (or nipple) as well. Timberlake’s statement in the aftermath also didn’t align entirely with the one Janet made, which was: “The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended—including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL.” Timberlake, instead, used the term “wardrobe malfunction” rather than admitting that a planned costume reveal had gone awry. It was just one of his many selfish behaviors in the 00s. Which women like Spears and Jackson bore the brunt of because that decade was a period that favored dragging female celebrities through the mud for even the slightest hint of sex positivity. That made Jackson an even easier target because this was exactly the type of sexuality that society used against a woman to make her feel shame. In any other place (save for the Middle East), the exposure of a breast on TV would be nothing to write home about. In the puritanical U.S. and, worse still, on the NFL’s watch, it was. And Timberlake used that to his advantage in order to sidestep any real culpability. Even though it was he who seemed to rip the garment off a little too overzealously. 

    However, as usual, Timberlake displayed a pattern for setting women’s reputations on fire and then walking away looking like the better person somehow. Spears’ fans are no longer content to let that pattern stand and they showed as much the day that Timberlake’s poorly-named single, “Selfish,” was released on January 25th. And no, it’s not just poorly-named because it speaks to the heart of Timberlake’s actions up until the point where he was held publicly accountable for them in 2021 (after both Framing Britney Spears and Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson were released, delivering a one-two punch in terms of showing how complicit Timberlake was in each woman’s tarring and feathering in the media), “forced” by the deluge of internet trolling to issue a public apology (and a flaccid one at that). It’s also poorly-named because Timberlake (and his team of handlers) didn’t seem to take note that Spears, too, has a song titled that. And, although it’s but a bonus track from 2011’s Femme Fatale, that hasn’t stopped fans from getting it to trend and place at number one on the iTunes charts above Timberlake’s own “Selfish.” Ah, how embarrassing. To know that the sins you committed against someone who never spoke the truth about you until now are going to haunt you in some very unexpected ways going forward. Including this latest little “prank,” if you will, from the Britney Army (the fanbase with the most hilarious and karmic sense of humor, it would seem). A legion that has presently put a spotlight on just how different a song called “Selfish” can be when coming from two contrasting personality types (and not just because Brit is a Sagittarius to Justin’s Aquarius).  

    Indeed, with this previously slept-on bonus track back in the spotlight, it proves itself to be worth the revisit (as do most of the other Femme Fatale bonus tracks, namely “He About To Lose Me” and “Scary”). Comparing the themes of each song, it’s clear that Spears is coming from a genuine (and genuinely unapologetic) place, admitting it’s time for her to have a selfish night of fun (a.k.a. be selfish in the boudoir), whereas Timberlake tries to cloak his selfishness in something like “love” and “altruism” with a chorus that goes, “If I get jealous/I can’t help it/I want every bit of you/I guess I’m selfish.” It’s in the vein of John Lennon saying, “I didn’t mean to hurt you/I’m sorry that I made you cry/Oh no, I didn’t want to hurt you/I’m just a jealous guy.” Not really useful after you’ve been emotionally and/or physically abused, but whatever. 

    Maybe that’s why Timberlake does his best to offset some of the chorus with a “softness” that makes him sound like he’s been listening to too much Taylor Swift. Because, as any Swiftie knows, Taylor is obsessed with “mark” imagery. So when JT declares, “Owner of my heart/Tattooed your mark” it sounds awfully familiar. And almost like he’s trying too hard to tap into his “feminine side” after so many decades spent relishing his misogyny. 

    Maybe Spears ought to have “S&M’d” him when she had the chance, perhaps only fully coming into her sexually dominant own after Timberlake had already done her wrong. And, speaking of “S&M,” that song majorly channels the overall vibe of Femme Fatale, released in March of 2011—just one month before Rihanna would drop the “S&M” remix with Britney on it (in fact, the song was originally written for Britney). Similar to the domineering vibes of “S&M,” Spears flexes on “Selfish,” “​​Okay, you think you got me where you want me/I’ma show you tonight (la, la, la)/That I’m a girl and you’re a boy/And tonight, you gon’ be my, be my man.” It sounds like just the sort of thing Timberlake, little boy that he was, needed to hear back when the two were together. Along with, “Tonight, I’m feelin’ sexual/Come on and play inside my love below/Strip down and give me my own private show [Britney loves talking about private shows]/I’m gonna be a little selfish, be a little selfish.” Instead, it’s fairly probable that Timberlake got to be the most sexually selfish between the two of them throughout their relationship. If for no other reason than the fact that he cheated multiple times. That’s pretty damn selfish (sexually and in general). 

    While Jessica Biel might like to believe this song was inspired by her, it’s apparent that Britney will remain his underlying (no sex position pun intended) forever muse (and, now, nemesis). Because if anyone’s the “Exaholic” (the name of an unreleased track from Spears’ Glory album), it’s Justin. Alas, his obsession with Britney post-breakup (this time unwittingly revealed by naming his song the same title as something she already did) has proven to backfire spectacularly (thanks to the fighting spirit of the Britney Army). Almost as spectacularly as naming his dog Brennan not long after Britney said that was her preferred baby name. With the revelation that Timberlake strong-armed her into aborting the child that might have been named that, well, shit, it’s just another bad look—no, another selfish look—to add to the pile.

    Genna Rivieccio

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