Justin Timberlake’s comeback single "Selfish" has some unexpected competition courtesy of Britney Spears' fans.
Through an entirely fan-driven initiative, Spears’ most devoted followers opted to make the pop singer’s track of the same name climb the charts to compete with Timberlake.
Timberlake’s “Selfish” arrived on Friday ahead of his forthcoming sixth studio album, Everything I Thought It Was. The track marks his first release six years after his last album, 2018’s Man of the Woods.
Meanwhile, Spears’ “Selfish” is taken off of the deluxe edition of her 2011 album, Femme Fatale. The Ester Dean-penned electro-pop banger was never promoted as a single, given a music video, nor was it performed on Spears’ Femme Fatale Tour.
Although there’s no clear motive behind the effort, it’s possible that Spears’ fans might be driven by the explosive revelations she made in her memoir, The Woman in Me, released last year.
Spears shared that she became pregnant during her high-profile relationship with the NSYNC singer and opted to have an abortion when Timberlake said they were “too young” to have a child together.
The Britney Army’s campaign already has proven successful. 13 years after its release, Spears’ version of “Selfish” reached the number one spot on the U.S. iTunes chart on Friday.
The song seems to be taking on a life of its own, as it's being played on the radio and at nightclubs based on social media posts. The movement is a testament to the power of Britney fans in the wake of the singer’s announcement that she intends to “never” return to the music industry.
Reports that Spears was staging a musical comeback with the help of pop titans Charli XCX and Julia Michaels began to circulate earlier this month. Spears immediately debunked the rumors on her Instagram account, writing, “Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!”
Spears continued, “When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people !!! For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me … I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!!”
It will still take another week to see whether Spears’ “Selfish” makes a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It’s also unclear whether or not the sudden resurgence of Femme Fatale deep cut will make Britney reconsider her retirement.
Other songs vying for the top spot include Ice Spice’s “Think U The Shit (Fart),” Megan Thee Stallion’s controversial “Hiss,” and possibly Nicki Minaj’s response track, “Big Foot.”
However, Timberlake performed "Selfish" on Saturday Night Live, and the publicity of the performance could give him a slight advantage over the aforementioned on the charts.
Regardless of who reigns victorious, the unexpected showdown between the famous exes will definitely keep music stans on their toes until then.
