Pretty Girls (Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea song)

"Pretty Girls"
Single by Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea
Released	May 4, 2015 (2015-05-04)[1]
Format	Digital download
Length	2:43[2]
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Amethyst Kelly Jason Pebworth George Astasio Jon Shave Maegan Cottone Perrie Edwards Jesy Nelson Leigh-Anne Pinnock Jade Thirlwall[3]
Producer(s)	The Invisible Men[1]
Britney Spears singles chronology
"Perfume" (2013) "Pretty Girls" (2015)
Iggy Azalea singles chronology "Trouble" (2015) "Pretty Girls" (2015)

"Pretty Girls" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It will be released on May 4, 2015.

The song was produced by the Anglo-American trio The Invisible Men (Jason Pebworth, George Astasio and Jon Shave), who also contributed with songwriting credits along with Azalea, Maegan Cottone and the members of British girl group Little Mix.

Background and release

On September 9, 2014, during an interview with Extra at The Intimate Britney Spears Collection launch in New York City, Spears revealed she had "very slowly but progressively" started working on a new album. When asked who she would like to collaborate with, Spears said, "I love Katy Perry – I'd love to do something with her. Or Iggy [Azalea]."^[4] Rumors quickly began to spread that a collaboration between the two artists was already in the works, with the rapper teasing she had just done a "secret collaboration" with "somebody I've had my eye", adding, "Another pop queen that I'm excited about."^[5]

On December 14, 2014, Azalea told Kiss 108 backstage at their Jingle Ball that their collaborative song would premiere in 2015, "We have a song, which is going to be her first single, coming out next year. I still haven't really got to have a conversation with her, so I'm hoping New Year's will be the time I can get her in a corner." Asked how the collaboration came about, Azalea added, "She said she would like to work with me in an interview and they reached out. We recorded a few different things and then one of those just ended up being, I think, undeniably great. Hopefully I think everybody will get to hear it at the beginning of next year."^[6] In February, Azalea tweeted there were "epic plans underway" for the song, after fans speculation that she might had been dropped from it, responding with "This couldn't be further from the truth. Get ready."^[7]

For her Billboard magazine cover story, published online on March 12, 2015, it was reported that despite Spears being back in the recording studio as far back as September 2014, working on a forthcoming duet with Azalea, among other tracks, a proper full-length album would not be coming soon. "I'm gonna do [a new album] slowly but surely [...] I'm gonna try to do my best to do an amazing album, but it's not my full priority right now," Spears told Billboard.^[8]

On March 18, 2015, during an interview with The Associated Press at SXSW Music Festival, Azalea confirmed the title of the track, reporting that it would most likely be the first single off her upcoming second album that she was currently recording.^[9][10] On the following week, in Spears's cover story with People magazine, it was announced that her collaboration with Azalea would be released on May 5.^[11][12]

On March 29, 2015, on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, Azalea confirmed "Pretty Girls" would be featured on Spears's upcoming album during an interview with MTV News and also explained the song's evolution mentioning its final version being a true duet with her also joining Spears on the chorus instead of a typical rap guest appearance.^[13] "We collaborated so many months ago now, it's been a longtime in the making, figuring out whose album it's going to be on. It's going to be on hers and I'm super excited for it," Azalea told Access Hollywood.^[14]

"You definitely need a partner to sing (it with)," Azalea told USA Today in an interview published on April 26, 2015, "It's just a lot of fun. It's a classic, girly (song) you want to scream to each other when you're getting ready," while revealing the song would be out on May 4, 2015. Although the collaboration was finished in the fall of 2014, Azalea didn't meet Spears in person until January 2015, when she invited Spears to her house for lunch.^[1] On April 30, 2015, the single artwork, an illustration of the artists in an outer space background alluding to the 80s cult classic film Earth Girls Are Easy, was unveiled online.^[15]

Music video

Development

While being interviewed by Access Hollywood on March 29, 2015, at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Azalea revealed she would also be co-directing the track's music video, adding that Spears has also contributed in the creative process.^[16] Spears had previously mentioned preparing for a video shoot in the previous week, during a video for People magazine while in vacation.^[11] This will be Azalea's third time co-directing a video officially, after "Black Widow" (2014) and "Trouble" (2015).^[14]

Azalea revealed she looked to actress Geena Davis when modeling her style for the music video.

On April 9, 2015, Spears and Azalea were spotted shooting scenes for the music video around the streets of Studio City, Los Angeles, after Spears shared lyrics of the track and a behind-the-scenes snapshot on her Twitter account.^[17] Spears shared a picture from the video shoot captioning it with lyrics of the song on her social media accounts, "Girls roll [up], windows roll [down], [eyes] on us, jaws on the ground."^[17][18] In the ’80s-inspired visuals seen on the candid images, Spears wore a leopard print crop top, ripped jeans, and pumps with matching sunglasses, triangle-shaped earrings, and pink lipstick, while Azalea was wearing matching jean jacket and shorts with a crimped hairstyle, while posing together in a bright red convertible and with Spears also driving around in a yellow Jeep.^[19][20] Azalea then shared a selfie from the set on her Instagram account along with a hashtag of the track title.^[21] Later that day, Azalea was also seen swapping into a second outfit, a green top, jet black studded leggings and electric blue heels.^[22] They were pictured again on the second day of production of the video shoot on April 10, 2015, with Spears wearing a repeat outfit from the day before but with a shorter hairdo sporting a voluminous curly bob, and Azalea changing into a sleeveless tie-dye number. Spears filmed a car wash scene with male backup dancers completing a dance routine. That same day, a snippet of the unreleased track went viral on Twitter after a fan, who was near the set, recorded and uploaded a clip online.^[23]

During an interview with USA Today, Azalea talked about the concept of the music video, mentioning Spears's signature dance scenes, "I think Britney's identity is really embedded in being a dancer, and that's something she really wanted to do as well. So there's a lot of dancing in the video, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily centered around that." When asked about the '80s-inspired visuals seen on the candids from the video shoot, she explained that it would have a narrative and stated that Britney wanted to do a video where she got to dress up and play a character. Azalea revealed she looked to actress Geena Davis when modeling her style, describing her as "the ultimate '80s pin-up hot, cool type of girl" that Britney also liked.^[24] Spears added, "I had called my manager and had some ideas about doing a Valley girl-type video. It was really kind of funny, because I had just watched Clueless on TV, and was like, 'It would be so fun to do something like that.' Then I saw Iggy's video, and I thought, 'Oh my God, to work with her would be heaven sent.'" They brainstormed the concept for the video, which will be released on May 11, 2015, and was co-directed by Azalea and Cameron Duddy, deciding on a send-up of 1988 sci-fi comedy Earth Girls Are Easy, which starred Davis. "I do a makeover for her and we go to a club. The best part about it was just us coming together with the clothes and doing the '80s haircuts. We were all about being characters, so it was kind of funny for us. We weren't taking ourselves so seriously," Spears said.^[1]

Azalea also stated Spears encouraged her to help co-direct the video, saying, "She told me that "Fancy" was one of her favourite videos of the last five years and that her kids loved it and the thing that she was drawn to was the fact everyone looked like they were having so much fun in it. She told me she wants to feel that too so she asked me for my ideas and that gave me the opportunity to grab the reins of creative control."^[25]

Live performances

On April 22, 2015, after much speculation, Billboard and Dick Clark Productions confirmed Spears and Azalea would be performing the track for the first time on television at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 17, adding "in what will surely go down as one of the biggest pop moments of the year so far."^[26]

References

External links

• Garibaldi, Christina (March 25, 2015). "8 Things You Need To Know About Britney Spears And Iggy Azalea’s ‘Pretty Girls’ Collaboration". MTV.