Bobby Brown is revealing his honest thoughts about Britney Spears’ cover of his hit song “My Prerogative.”
“Britney Spears butchered ‘[My] Prerogative,’” Brown, 56, said on the Wednesday, April 16, episode of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast hosted by former NFL tight end turned podcaster Shannon Sharpe.
Brown initially released “My Prerogative” in 1988 as the second single from his album, Don’t Be Cruel. The track was a huge success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Spears, 43, released her version of the song in 2004 as a bonus track on her first greatest hits album.
According to Brown, he only allowed the cover because of Spears’ global stardom at the time.
“Teddy Riley produced it. But that was a butchering … I couldn’t take it,” he said. “I cleared it only because it was Britney Spears and I was thinking, ‘Teddy Riley’s doing it too.’ But I felt it was a butchering.”
While Riley did indeed produce Brown’s 1988 version of “My Prerogative,” he didn’t actually produce Spears’ version. Swedish production duo Bloodshy & Avant produced the most recent version after working with Spears on her hit song “Toxic.” (Brown and Riley are, however, credited as songwriters on Spears’ version, having cowritten the original song.)
Brown said that he doesn’t think any tracks that have sampled his work have really done “justice” to his songs, and he’s now more cautious about signing off on samples and covers.
“Yes, I gotta hear it. You gotta hear it. You don’t know what these kids will say these days,” he explained. “These kids will say some s*** you don’t want your songs associated with. You gotta listen to it.”
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Unlike Brown’s version, Spears’ rendition of “My Prerogative” failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100 and received mixed reviews.
Spears hasn’t released a new studio album since 2016’s Glory, and her last music credit was a feature on the song “Mind Your Business” with will.i.am released in July 2023.
While the singer has taken a hiatus from music, she released a best-selling memoir, The Woman in Me, in October 2023.
In August 2024, it was reported that Universal Pictures had won the rights to adapt Spears’ tell-all book. Wicked director Jon M. Chu is attached to direct with veteran producer Marc Platt on board to produce, according to multiple reports.
Spears teased the movie adaptation of her autobiography via X at the time, writing: “Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned 🌹🎥.”
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