Bobby Brown isn’t holding back when it comes to his thoughts on Britney Spears’ 2004 cover of his classic hit “My Prerogative.” During a candid appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, the R&B icon called Spears’ rendition “a butchering,” despite having cleared the track for use at the time.
“Britney Spears butchered ‘My Prerogative,’” Brown said bluntly when Sharpe asked him about the best use of samples or covers from his catalog. “I don’t think they really did justice to any of the samples that they have done to my songs.” Brown went on to mention that he had only approved the cover because of the big names attached: “Teddy Riley produced it, but that was a butchering I..I couldn’t take.”
Released as the lead single from Spears’ Greatest Hits: My Prerogative compilation, the track reimagined Brown’s 1988 anthem with a modern R&B twist — complete with synthesizers, heavy drums, and a sultry spoken-word intro. Spears flipped the lyrics to reflect a female perspective, adding lines like, “People can take everything away from you / But they can never take away your truth.”
Still, Brown felt the remake missed the mark. He admitted the experience taught him a tough lesson about protecting his work: “I gotta hear it —in order for it to be cleared—, because you don’t know what these kids will say these days. These kids say some shit that… you don’t want your song associated with it.”
Though Spears’ version became a pop culture moment in its own right, it clearly didn’t sit well with the song’s original creator — and Brown is now making it clear that not all reimagining versions are welcome.
Take in both tracks below and leave your thoughts in the section after the jump.
Source: Variety.
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