Britney Spears Wiki

Welcome back! Celebrate ...Baby One More Time's 25th anniversary.

READ MORE

Britney Spears Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Britney Jean is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was released on November 29, 2013 by RCA Records, her first album with the label after merging with Jive Records. She first began recording in November 2012 and continued this into October of the next year.

Having assumed a role in its production, she collaborated with writers and producers including Sia Furler, David Guetta and will.i.am. She had described it as the most personal record of her catalog. However, her involvement and credits on the final album have been debated by both critics and fans.

Furthermore, the record features guest vocals from her sister Jamie Lynn, in addition to rappers T.I. and will.i.am.

Upon its release, "Britney Jean" received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised the album's lyrics, but were ambivalent towards its dated production.

It debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 107,000 copies.

In doing so, it became Britney's lowest charting album in the United States. The same happened in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number 34.

The album underperformed worldwide, only reaching the top 20 and top 30 in most countries. Work Bitch stayed on the charts for three months.

Background & Production[]

In 2012, while a judge on the second season of American music competition "The X Factor", Spears was recording with producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Songwriter Elijah Blake commented that Spears was "definitely trying to push the envelope" by "playing with new textures and stomping on new grounds and genres." Their collaborations were denied by her representative at the time. Several other confirmed producers included Mike WiLL Made-It, Danja, Ester Dean, Woodkid, and Dev Hynes, in addition to Soundz, RoccStar and Alex Da Kid.

Producer Hit-Boy worked with Spears to create a "global sound" fusing elements of hip-hop and pop. Hip-hop producer Scoop DeVille had also worked with Spears. Additionally, she had also recorded an unreleased song with rapper Wiz Khalifa. At this time, Pharrell Williams was rumored to be the album's possible executive producer. In an interview with Shape Magazine, Spears described wanting the album to have a hip-hop feel, saying, "the record is definitely going to be more hip-hop than pop this time around." She had also stated this about her prior two albums, before the directions were then later changed by her record label.

In May 2013, will.i.am became the executive producer of the project, with Anthony Preston serving as associate executive producer. The album's direction was then changed by them to become EDM and electropop based, and Spears' collaborations with the prior producers were not used. Will said the recording process differed from his past experiences working with other artists, elaborating that "[he and Spears] had these juicy sessions, where [they had] been bonding, building the trust and comfort." In July 2013, Spears acknowledged through Twitter that she "wrote such a special song" with Sia Furler which was later revealed to be her favorite track, the ballad "Perfume." The following month, she reportedly traveled to the United Kingdom to work with Naughty Boy and William Orbit. Naughty Boy was initially working on the record, saying he wanted to "do something a bit different", but later said he was unable to due to scheduling conflicts. Spears initially considered Britney Jean to be her most personal album. She stated that her experiences in recent years, including her break-up with ex-fiancé Jason Trawick, encouraged her to "dig deeper and write songs that everyone can relate to." Spears added that the production of the record was an "amazing experience" and claimed that her colleagues "helped [her] bring [her ideas] to life."

Composition[]

Rob Sheffield considered "Britney Jean" "a concept album about the loneliness of pop life."

The opening track "Alien" deems celebrity an isolating experience that Spears compares to feeling like an extraterrestrial over synth bleeps and electronic production.

The second track "Work Bitch" is an EDM-influenced song where Spears sings about what it takes to be rich, famous and successful, repeatedly encouraging listeners to "get to work, bitch."

The third track "Perfume" is a hip hop-influenced power ballad which Britney described as "incredibly special to me because it hits close to home, and I think the story is relatable to everyone. Everyone's been through an insecure moment in a relationship that's left them vulnerable and I think this song captures that."

The fourth track "It Should Be Easy" (featuring will.i.am) insists that love "shouldn't be complicated", with Britney imagining a bright and normal future with a man who's stolen her heart. It uses "robotized" vocals and EDM beats. The song was heavily criticized for its excessive use of Autotune.

The album's fifth track "Tik Tik Boom" finds Britney begging a lover to make her "tik, tik, tik, tik, boom" over trap beats. It was described as a "club banger" and "the closest the album comes to bringing Blackout 2.0 to life", featuring a "sex-drenched" appearance from rapper T.I.

"Body Ache" follows, with its lyrical theme about dancing hard in a club over shrieking sirens and EDM beats, while the song "Til It's Gone" gives value to the stability of a good relationship, albeit after it dissolves, and uses electronic and EDM sounds.

With the eighth track "Passenger", which uses EDM impulses before imploding into "brooding" pop-rock, Britney emotes about finding happiness after being willing to cede control.

The song "Chillin' With You" features Britney's younger sister Jamie Lynn and discusses grasping at happiness over a lush trap, EDM and pop sound.

The album's closing track on the standard edition, "Don't Cry", opens with a Spaghetti Western-esque whistle, and finds Britney refusing to give in to post-relationship grief. Some critics labelled it "her best vocal performance on the album."

Release & Artwork[]

In October 2012, Britney mentioned the possibility of making a sequel to her fifth studio album "Blackout", tweeting:

"I heard Happy Birthday Blackout was trending earlier... thank u all for loving the album as much as I do. Blackout 2.0?"

In May 2013, record producer Danja (who collaborated with Britney on material during its production) commented that he "[doesn't] know when the next [Blackout] is going to be, but [he believes] there’s going to be another one."

On August 20, 2013, she re-launched her website with a countdown ending on September 17, 2013. It was originally speculated to be the release date of her then-unannounced lead single.

On September 17, 2013, Britney announced on "Good Morning America" that her album would be released on December 3, 2013 in the United States, a day after her 32nd birthday.

On October 15, 2013, during an appearance on Capital London, she announced that the record would be titled Britney Jean, a nickname used affectionately by her family and friends.

On October 24, 2013, along with an open letter to her fans, Britney unveiled the album artwork.

The black-and-white image depicts a close-up image of Britney with the term "Britney Jean" colored in blue lettering inside a pink heart near the bottom of the cover.

A report from ABC News Radio likened the usage of Spears' middle name in the album's title to being inspired by Janet Jackson's eighth studio album "Damita Jo", saying, "taking a page from Janet Jackson's 2004 album, Damita Jo, Britney Spears has combined her first and middle names -- Britney Jean -- to come up with the title."

A writer for The Huffington Post later suggested that the cover's neon-style typography was possibly inspired by the cover of Miley Cyrus' fourth studio album, Bangerz. However, Britney Jean marks the third album artwork from RCA Records to use a neon-style typography design, along with "Bangerz" and Kings of Leon's "Mechanical Bull".

Byron Flitsch of MTV News shared a similar sentiment, adding that the artwork was reminiscent of Britney's fourth and seventh records, In the Zone and Femme Fatale.

On November 4, 2013, the album was made available for pre-order through the iTunes Store.

The same day, a colorized version of the cover was unveiled as the primary visual for the standard version, with the original cover becoming the primary visual for the deluxe version.

Britney revealed the track listing for the album on November 12, 2013, which she implied was earlier than she had planned after hackers "[tried] to ruin [her] surprises."

The record is marked with a Parental Advisory label, affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to identify explicit content.

On November 25, 2013, "Britney Jean" was made available for streaming in full through the iTunes Store and iTunes Radio.

Track Listing[]

Standard version
No.TitleLength
1."Alien"3:56
2."Work Bitch"4:08
3."Perfume"4:00
4."It Should Be Easy"3:26
5."Tik Tik Boom"2:57
6."Body Ache"3:25
7."Til It's Gone"3:42
8."Passenger"3:40
9."Chillin' With You"3:39
10."Don't Cry"3:14
Total length:36:06
Deluxe version
No.TitleLength
11."Brightest Morning Star"3:00
12."Hold On Tight"3:27
13."Now That I Found You"4:16
14."Perfume (The Dreaming Mix)"4:02
Total length:50:48
Japan version
No.TitleLength
15."Work Bitch (The Jane Doze Remix)"2:59
16."Work Bitch (7th Heaven Club Mix)"4:27
Total length:58:34


Unreleased & Unused Songs[]

  • "10 Seconds"- Written by Blood Orange.
  • "Bella Vita" - Written by Myah Marie, Melanie Fontana & Kenneth Koby.
  • "Cologne" - Written by Sia, Bloodshy, Vincent Pontare & Magnus Lidehall.
  • "Casually" - Written by Myah Marie, Jon Asher & John Lock.
  • "Hate That About You" - Written by Myah Marie, Jon Asher & Valentine Rieff.
  • "I Came To Dance" - Unreleased collaboration with Sean Paul. Confirmed to be recorded by songwriter Eden XO.
  • "Lover Boy"- Written by Myah Marie & Guy Sigsworth.
  • "Lightheaded" - Written by Sia, Bloodshy, Vincent Pontare, Greg Kurstin & Magnus Lidehall.
  • "Mind Your Business" - Written by Britney Spears, Will.I.Am & Yonatan Goldstein . A 2013 version possibly exists.
  • "No Ordinary Girl" - Written by Makeba Riddick & Jonas Jerberg.
  • "Police" - Unreleased collaboration with Wiz Khalifa. Written by Cameron Thomaz, Jean Baptiste, and will.i.am.
  • "Shake Your Body Down" - Written by Makeba Riddick & Jonas Jerberg.
  • "Siren" - Written by Myah Marie.
  • "We Can Do Anything" - Written by Sia, Bloodshy, Vincent Pontare & Magnus Lidehall.

Unknown songs[]

  • 1st Unknown Outtake - Recorded with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins for the original version of the album.
  • 2nd Unknown Outtake - Recorded for the original version of the album; confirmed by Elijah Blake who worked with Spears.
  • 3rd Unknown Outtake - Recorded for the original version of the album; confirmed by Hit-Boy to have a hip-hop sound.

Singles[]

Work BitchPerfume

  • Work Bitch

"Work Bitch" was released as the lead single from "Britney Jean" on September 15, 2013, a day earlier than expected after a low-quality version was leaked.

A writer for MuuMuse described the track as a "massive return to form" and "exciting way to kick off a brand new era."

It debuted and peaked at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with 174,000 first-week downloads and charted moderately on singles charts internationally.

On October 1, 2013, an accompanying music video was premiered, where Spears is depicted as a dominatrix-like character.

It received general acclaim from critics, with particular praise directed towards her dancing. However, Spears commented that she felt forced into maintaining her provocative image, elaborating that she "cut out half the video because I am a mother and because, you know, I have children, and it’s just hard to play sexy mom while you’re being a pop star as well."

  • Perfume

"Perfume" was released as the album's second and final single on November 3, 2013. It received generally favorable reviews from critics and was compared to her song "Everytime" from her fourth studio album, "In the Zone".

The track debuted and peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100.

CD Booklet[]

Controversy and Revelations[]

Upon its release, the album was speculated to not fully be recorded by Spears, and some of the producers confirmed this to be true. It's thought that she was not happy with the album's generic EDM and electropop direction, and the songs were then recorded by backing vocalist Myah Marie attempting to imitate Spears' voice. Her team was met with disdain from fans, who have questioned this decision. The only songs fully performed by Spears on the album are “Don’t Cry” and “Perfume”, although "Tik Tik Boom" is almost entirely her vocals. While promoting it, she once said “I don’t know what happened with the album”. Myah Marie has not publicly admitted this, but it was rumored that she tweeted about fully singing "Passenger" but later deleted it. It's thought that Spears had no control over the final album after will.i.am and Anthony Preston became executive producers.

Fans have targeted Myah's vocals being used throughout the album:
(0% = Full Britney — 100% = Full Myah)

(The only debated track is Tik Tik Boom, which is almost entirely performed by Spears)

A critic considered the marketing as "personal" as “intentionally misleading”, questioning her name being added to the writing credits of every song by her label, and considered its production “frequently cheap” with songs that will “age quickly and poorly.”

On November 13, 2021 via Instagram, the album's assistant executive producer Anthony Preston called out Spears' management for the quality of the album, claiming they didn't allow her to interact with anyone in the studio due to her conservatorship. Following the initial controversy, his career was halted and he never had credits with any other artist after the album's release.

In the caption, Preston wrote, "You told me they’d make me disappear because we were getting too close… they did. You told me they’d blame me for their own fuck ups and “mess you up with your work".

Promotion[]

Unlike her previous records (excluding her fifth album Blackout), Spears did not heavily promote "Britney Jean" and no promotional performances in support of the album took place.

However, she appeared on Good Morning America to announce her two-year residency show at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, titled "Britney: Piece of Me" on September 17, 2013.

She then traveled to the UK to appear on "Alan Carr: Chatty Man." She was also interviewed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Entertainment Tonight, and Surprise Surprise.

The album was additionally promoted through the documentary "I Am Britney Jean: Britney Spears' Road to Las Vegas", which premiered on E! on December 22, 2013. It covered the production and lead-up to the album's release and the launch of her residency "Britney: Piece of Me."

The original airing of the special in the United States was viewed by 0.706 million viewers, garnering above-average Sunday ratings for the network, while it was viewed by 0.63 million viewers in the United Kingdom.

On December 27, 2013, "Britney: Piece of Me" began, with tickets first made available on September 20, 2013.

Chart Performance[]

Prior to its release in the United States, "Britney Jean" was initially predicted to sell 150-200,000 copies, with Hits Daily Double crediting the underwhelming numbers to "her very light promo schedule with little or no TV around the release."

However, the day after its release, potential sales figures were lowered to 115-120,000 units.

The album debuted at number four with 107,000 units.

It is Spears' lowest sales and chart debut for a studio album. Previously, her debut album "...Baby One More Time" tallied her smallest start with 121,000.

In its second week, the album fell from number four to number 22 on the Billboard 200, making it her first album to only spend one week in the top ten.

In Europe, the album debuted at number 34 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 12,959 copies in its first week.

In doing so, it became Spears' lowest-charting album in the country, also dropping to number 87 the next week. In comparison, her previous lowest-charting album In the Zone peaked at number 13.

Internationally, Britney Jean underperformed, only reaching the top 20 or top 30 in most countries and failing to reach the top three in all countries.

Critical Reception[]

Upon its release, "Britney Jean" received generally mixed to negative reviews from music critics.

At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 50 (which indicates "mixed or average reviews") based on 20 reviews.

Jason Lipshutz from Billboard provided a favorable review, describing the project as a "transitional record [as] her first album released in her thirties" and felt it was reminiscent of her third studio album, Britney.

Nick Catucci of Entertainment Weekly shared a similar sentiment, stating that he "treasures" Britney for "[remaining] as enigmatic as the Disney-groomed, emotionally insulated teen who greeted us in the late '90s", and adding that its production "happily indulges the fantasies of endorphin-seeking EDM festival goers."

Writing for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield described it as a "concept album about the loneliness of pop life – with a high-profile broken engagement behind her, Brit gets personal and drops her most bummed-out music ever."

In contrast, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine provided a mixed review, criticizing its "dated production and vocals that hark back to the days when Brit was selling 10 million [records]."

Similarly, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph stated that the album "continues the striptease of Britney's career" and felt that its production prevented the record from coming across as a genuinely personal effort.

BJlogo
Discography
Artists Britney Spearswill.i.amJamie Lynn
Releases Britney Jean
Tracklist AlienWork BitchPerfumeIt Should Be EasyTik Tik BoomBody AcheTil It's GonePassengerChillin' with YouDon't CryBrightest Morning StarHold on TightNow That I Found You
Non-Album

I Came To DancePolice

Misc Scream & ShoutOoh La La
Other Eras
...Baby One More TimeOops!... I Did It AgainBritneyIn the ZoneBlackoutCircusFemme FataleBritney JeanGlory
Advertisement