"My Prerogative" is a song by American recording artist
Bobby Brown from his second solo studio album,
Don't Be Cruel. It was released on October 11, 1998 as
the second single from the album. After recording sessions for
the album were completed, Brown and producer Gene Griffin
travelled to New York City, since he felt something was
"missing" from the record. "My Prerogative" was written by
Brown as a response to the criticism he received for his
departure from New Edition. He explained the song was about
making decisions in your life and not caring about other
people's judgement. "My Prerogative" is often considered a new
jack swing anthem, and contains many elements from Teddy Riley
productions.
The song was positively received by critics and was
nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best R&B
Urban Contemporary Single. It was also commercially successful,
reaching number one in
Billboard's Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
charts. "My Prerogative" also reached top ten positions in many
countries, such as Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and
the United Kingdom. The music video for the song features Brown
performing the song on stage with his band and dancers. The
song is also performed at most of his concerts, usually as the
last song of the set list. On the February 4, 1989 performance
at Madison Square Garden, he was joined on stage by many
popular rap artists and producers of the time.
"My Prerogative" has been covered and sampled by a number of
artists from different genres, most notably by Britney Spears.
She released her cover in her similarly titled 2004 greatest
hits compilation. The cover was produced by Bloodshy &
Avant and was noted for aptly referring to Spears's
relationship with the media at the time. It received mostly
unfavorable reviews from critics, with one reviewer calling it
"unnecessary". Although the song only appeared in component
charts in the United States, Spears's cover surpassed Brown's
version worldwide, peaking at the top of the charts in Finland,
Ireland, Italy and Norway and reaching the top ten in another
fourteen countries. The music video, directed by Jake Nava,
portrays Spears arriving at a Hollywood Hills manor in which a
party is taking place. In the end, it is revealed that the
party is actually Spears's wedding.
Brown had already completed recording sessions for
Don't Be Cruelin Los Angeles, California, but felt
something was missing in the record. He said, "I felt my album
was lacking a strong, aggressive song and I thought, 'Where
better to New York to come up with it'". He travelled to the
city with producer Gene Griffin. "My Prerogative" was written
and co-produced by Brown, Griffin and Teddy Riley. It was
recorded at Axis Studios and mixed at Soundworks, in New York.
The track was mastered at Future Disc Systems in Hollywood,
California. During an interview with
The Houron March 17, 1989, Brown explained the theme
behind the song, saying, "A lot of things had been said about
Bobby Brown, why was he doing this [a solo career]. It's my way
of expressing to people it's your prerogative to do as you
want, but make sure what you do is the right thing".
"My Prerogative" is considered a new jack swing anthem, that
merges hip hop beats with elements of synthpop and soul. It
features a triplet swing in the sixteenth note, as included in
many of Riley's productions. Jake Brown said in his book
Your body's calling me: music, love, sex &
money(2003), that like most new jack swing songs from the
late 1980's, it was composed by "punchy, street-savvy beats,
with sexually energetic melodies and poppy choruses". The
bassline of the track was described by Cam'Ron Davis of
CMJ New Music Monthlyas "truly sinister". According to
the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music
Publishing, the song is composed in the key of A minor, with a
tempo of 120 beats per minute. Brown's vocal range spans from
the high-note of C to A.
Barry Michael Cooper of
Spinsaid "My Prerogative" "sounds like gin-drenched,
Roaring Twenties swing". Arion Berger of
Rolling Stonecalled it "a grumpy and undeniably adult
dance hit". "My Prerogative" was nominated for at the 30th
Grammy Awards in the category of Best R&B Urban
Contemporary Single by a Male, but lost to Michael Jackson's
"Man in the Mirror". The following year,
Spinlisted the song at number seventy-two on the "100
Greatest Singles of All Time" list. It ranked at number
ninety-eight on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". The
track is often referred to as Brown's signature song.
"My Prerogative" debuted on the U.S.
BillboardHot 100 during the week of October 29, 1988 at
number sixty-one. The following week, it climbed sixteen
positions to number forty-five. On January 14, 1989, it peaked
at the top position of the chart. The song also peaked at
number one in Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number seven in
Hot Dance Club Songs. It was certified gold by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales over 500,000
copies. In Canada, the song debuted on the
RPMSingles Chart at position ninety-eight, on the issue
dated December 23, 1989. In the United Kingdom, "My
Prerogative" debuted at number eighty-seven on December 10,
1998. On February 18, 1989, the song peaked at number six and
stayed in the position for two weeks. Across Europe, the song
reached the top ten in Ireland and the Netherlands, and the top
twenty in Germany and Sweden. In Australia and New Zealand, the
track peaked at number forty and number three,
respectively.
The music video for "My Prerogative" was directed by Alek
Keshishian. It begins with Brown driving a car while his
musicians start to perform the song on a stage. Shortly after,
he descends to the stage in an elevator, wearing a black
jumpsuit and a headset. He dances flanked by two women, one of
them playing a keytar. J. D. Considine of
Rolling Stonewrote in the review of
Bobby(1992), "As anyone who saw him swagger through the
videos for 'My Prerogative' and 'Every Little Step' can attest,
Brown had a phenomenal ability to convey a sense of street
toughness that was utterly without malice or menace, making him
credible and likable". The music video was nominated at the
1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Stage Performance in a
Video, but lost to the music video of Living Colour's "Cult of
Personality". It also charted at number nine on
RPMvideo chart on July 21, 1990.
"My Prerogative" was performed during his tour in promotion
for
Don't Be Cruelas the last song of the night. Brown
usually performed it wearing a black outfit, flanked with two
male dancers wearing white clothes. On the February 4, 1989
show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, wore a red
boxing robe with the words "King of the Stage" printed in the
back. During the performance, Joseph Simmons of Run-DMC, LL
Cool J and Heavy D joined him onstage and freestyle rapped.
Eric B., KRS-One, L. A. Reid, Babyface and Teddy Riley also
joined him onstage, with the latter performing a keyboard solo.
Peter Watrous of
The New York Timescommented that, "The communal scene on
stage mirrored the feeling in the audience; everybody seemed
aware that this was a generation that had rewritten the rules
of pop entertainment, and was justifiably proud of its
achievement". Brown also performed the song at the 1997 Home
Again Tour with New Edition, during the second portion of the
show in which he performed hits from his solo career. On
November 10, 2005, he performed the song for the first time in
eight years at a concert at House of Blues in Atlantic City. He
wore a white suit and matching hat, and sang it as the last
song of the evening. On January 17, 2006, he performed it at a
New Edition show in Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal. During the
performance, he tore open his orange dress shirt, singing
bare-chested with a tie and a fur coat on. Brown also performed
the song during his 2007 July shows in Australia.
"My Prerogative" was sampled and covered by many artists
from different genres. It was sampled in Nice & Smooth's
"O-o-h Child" (1989), Public Enemy's "Pollywanacraka" (1990),
Nice & Smooth's "Hip Hop Junkies" (1991) and LL Cool J's
"Doin It" (1995). J.D. Considine of
Rolling Stonenoted that the hook of Brown's 1992 single
"Humpin' Around" from
Bobby, "bears a more than passing resemblance to the
synth part from 'My Prerogative'". According to
Entertainment Weekly, American R&B group U.N.V.
sampled the melody for their 1993 single "Something's Goin'
On". Jamaican reggae singer Beenie Man covered "My Prerogative"
for his 1998 studio album
Many Moods of Moses. American singer Rod Michael covered
the song for his 2004 studio album,
The Next Episode. English rock band Selfish Cunt also
covered the song for their 2004 studio album
No Wicked Heart Shall Prosper, changing the name to
"Bobby". On July 2007, American basketball player LeBron James
covered "My Prerogative" at the 15th ESPY Awards at the Kodak
Theatre in Hollywood, California, wearing a wig and Hammer
pants.
Vibenamed the performance one of the "worst of the worst
live performances of the year". Anoop Desai, contestant of the
eight season of
American Idol, covered the song for his wildcard round
performance. It earned him the last spot in the finals, marking
the first time the show ever had thirteen contestants. Desai
also performed the song during the American Idols LIVE! Tour
2009. Graeme McRanor of
The Vancouver Sunsaid in the concert review that "My
Prerogative" "really shouldn't be covered by any artist, ever
again". On July 31, 2009, American hip hop group The Pharcyde
covered the song at the All Points West Music & Arts
Festival in Jersey City. The song was also featured on the
films
Love & Basketball(2000),
Wild Hogs(2007) and
Sex Drive(2008).
In 2004, Spears recorded a cover of "My Prerogative" with
Swedish production team Bloodshy & Avant, who produced her
single "Toxic" from her fourth studio album,
In the Zone(2003). Bloodshy & Avant recorded the
song at Murlyn Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Spears recorded
the vocals at Teldex Studios in Berlin, Germany. On August 13,
2004, Spears's label Jive Records announced through a press
release that she had covered the song and was planning to
release it on her first greatest hits compilation, titled
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. The song was set to
premiere on radio stations on September 14, 2004, however, it
leaked in the Real Tapemasters Inc.'s mixtape
The Future of R&Bon September 10, 2004. Spears's
cover of "My Prerogative" is musically different from its
original version, with the bass and new jack swing sound
replaced with synthesizers and elements typical of Bloodshy
& Avant productions. It was noted by Christy Lemire of
msnbc.com that the cover also contains elements of Bollywood
music. At the beginning of the song, Spears says in a breathy
voice the lines "People can take everything away from you / But
they can never take away your truth / But the question is, can
you handle mine?". The rest of the lyrics do not deviate much
from the original version, instead they are changed to fit a
woman's perspective. Jennifer Vineyard of MTV commented the
cover could be interpreted as a statement on Spears's life and
the media reaction to some of her decisions at the time,
including her engagement to American dancer Kevin
Federline.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called the cover "a
useless remake, which seems to exist solely for its video".
Spence D. of IGN said that the lyrics fit perfectly with
Spears's relationship with the media at the time. He also
added, "As for her interpretation, it's an interesting
chameleonic diversion that comes off like a mash-up between
vintage Prince-styled production, Cameo swagger, and Madonna
sultriness, but never seems to capture the gloss and glory of
any of the aforementioned influences". Christy Lemire of
msnbc.com called it "utterly unnecessary". Louis Pattison of
the
New Musical Expresscommented that "judging by the
fuck-you sentiments" of the cover, Spears liked to play the
role of "[the] pop brat careering off the rails". Sarah Hepola
of Salon.com wrote in an article about contemporary teen idols
that the cover "became an anthem for teen-idol rebellion".
American director Quentin Tarantino included the song in a
playlist that inspired him during production of his 2009 film
Inglourious Basterds.
In the United States, "My Prerogative" charted in
Billboard's Top 40 Tracks and Top 40 Mainstream at
number twenty-two and thirty-four, respectively. On November
15, 2004, the song debuted at the Australian Singles Chart at
number seven. The same week, it debuted at number seventeen in
New Zealand. On November 7, 2004, the song debuted at number
three in the United Kingdom, during a competitive week of new
releases, only surpassed by Eminem's "Just Lose It" and
Destiny's Child's "Lose My Breath". The song also reached
success throughout Europe, peaking at number one in Finland,
Ireland, Italy and Norway, number two in Spain and number three
in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Denmark and Germany. It
also reached top ten positions in Austria, Czech Republic,
Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The music video for "My Prerogative" was filmed in August
2004 at The Paramour Mansion in Silver Lake, Los Angeles,
California and was directed by Jake Nava. According to Spears's
mother Lynne, the video was "about capturing gorgeous close-ups
and very subtle movement" since Spears could not do any
choreography due to her knee injury at the "Outrageous" music
video shoot. She also described the video as "[having] an
element of old Hollywood glamour and mystery". The music video
begins with Spears driving a Porsche 928 at high speed in the
Hollywood Hills. She crashes through a fence and lands into a
pool inside a manor where a party is taking place. She emerges
from the water and crawls in top of the car to sing the first
verse. Spears's brother Bryan makes a cameo in these scenes.
After she leaves the pool, she enters the manor and passes
couples making out around her. She appears in a stainless steel
kitchen, where a maid cuts the straps of her black wet dress.
In the next scene, she walks into a study in which her husband
at the time, Kevin Federline, is smoking and watching a
black-and-white video of Spears on a projection screen.
According to Jennifer Vineyard from MTV, the clip had the style
of pornographic films from the 1940's and 1950's.
Rolling Stonein their article "Britney Spears: The
Complete Video Guide", compared it to Madonna's performances of
her 1984 single "Like a Virgin". She then entered a dressing
room with mirrors, wearing lingerie, high heels, stockings and
a short fur jacket. She proceeds to a bedroom, in which a black
dress is laid out on the comforter. She puts on the new dress
and the camera cuts to the party outside where people gathered
waiting. During the song's bridge, it is revealed that the
party is actually Spears's wedding, as she starts walking
towards the aisle and Federline waits next to a priest. The
video ends with a shot of the black-and-white video and Spears
looking into the camera. The footage was released as an
alternate version of the music video in the 2004 DVD
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.