Meaning of “Mind Your Business” by will.i.am & Britney Spears
The announcement of the forthcoming of “Mind Your Business”, which was eventually officially released on 21 July 2023, was considered big news for a couple of reasons. First of all, Britney Spears in particular – taking nothing away from Will.i.am – has been one of the most successful and popular musicians of the early 20th century.
Secondly, for the last 15 years or so she has been dealing with a number of well-publicized personal issues. That ultimately contributed to Spears, as of this writing, not having dropped a studio album since 2016’s “Glory” and overall being relatively inactive in the music industry of late.
Indeed, there was a time when it appeared that she may have retired for good. So for instance, Brit only dropped one single in 2022 (“Hold Me Closer” with Elton John), and “Mind Your Business” marks her first release of 2023. So if nothing else, it can be taken that she’s not going to entirely give up on the music industry anytime soon.
Will.i.am
As for Will.i.am, as with Spears he was most active and successful during the aughts. But as a member of The Black Eyed Peas in addition to his solo efforts, he has remained more steadily active professionally than Britney.
That said, with Will also being a behind-the-scenes’ musician, the two have teamed up numerous times in the past. For instance, he co-produced Spears’ 2013 LP “Britney Jean”, and they’ve also collaborated a few times on the vocal front.
It is one of such efforts, the 2012 multi-platinum hit “Scream & Shout”, that has proven to be their most-notable collaboration. And Will.i.am has described their relationship in light of the announcement of “Mind Your Business” along the lines of him being “a fan, a friend and a supporter of Britney throughout the years”.
Credits
This song was written by the two vocalists alongside Anthony Preston and Johnny Goldstein. It is also Goldstein and Will.i.am who produced the track, which samples and interpolates the aforementioned hit song “Scream & Shout”.
The Lyrics of “Mind Your Business”
As alluded to earlier, Britney Spears is a true A-lister. What that means for instance is that her privacy has been pretty much lost in the name of her celebrity. Or put otherwise whenever she’s going through a hard time in life, of which Spears has experienced her fair share, those stories become the main headlines of tabloids and gossip sites.
Honestly, that reality is sometimes attributable to Britney’s own behavior. But apparently, it would be from that position that she and Will.i.am dropped this track, specifically telling the audience to “mind your business”. That’s another way of saying that a person should focus on their own affairs as opposed to those of someone else, such as a celebrity.
It can be taken that they’re not speaking to the likes of true fans. Rather – as illustrated in the second verse especially, which is held down by Spears – they’re referring to the likes of “paparazzi”. These are those who actually persecute celebrities in the name of getting the latest scoop, if you will.
“Mind your B, mind your B, mind your B, mind your B
Mind your business-ness-ness”
And by the time all is said and done, “Mind Your Business” does a noteworthy job of focusing on one of the less-enviable aspects of being famous like Brit and Will. That’s when they’re regularly confronted by people who want “too much looky-looky”, i.e. get too close for comfort.
And as Britney warns, if such individuals ‘don’t get up out of her face’. she’s going to be compelled to let the “dogs” loose, which we will take as alluding to being dealt with by her security team.
