What it means to “feel like Britney Spears”

In 2007, pop star Britney Spears’ image was plastered on every tabloid. With paparazzi trailing her every move, her music was overshadowed by her place in the press. 

Unfortunately, the image the paparazzi painted was one of an “out of control” pop star, an image that was further exaggerated after she famously shaved her head. This type of imagery played a part in her being forced into a conservatorship for over a decade. 

Now, with Britney outside of the control of her conservatorship, family, and ex-husbands, she’s living proudly and loudly and of those ways is through singing and dancing on social media. And while some folks think that her behavior is still concerning, Britney and her fans see it as her being able to access her true self without someone else’s influence. 

One of those fans being rapper Cardi B.

This summer, the Bronx native joined forces with Latto to do a remix of the Atlanta rapper’s song “Put It On Da Floor Again.” In the song, Cardi raps about dancing in her house and feeling like Britney Spears while wearing an outfit with the phrase “I feel like Britney Spears” on it. 

Related:

What do Christina Aguilera, Latto, and Grubhub have in common?

Hint: they all work with this company.

For Cardi, the lyric was about feeling empowered and that rebrand was one that fans took to heart, especially when 2007 paraphernalia flaunted images or sayings about Britney that implied feeling mentally unwell. With “Put It On Da Floor Again,” Cardi (a vocal Britney fan) gave the princess of pop her props and Britney even approved the lyric. 

So when the X account @bodakvictor posted “Cardi B really rebranded the whole ‘I feel like Britney Spears’ phrase giving it a whole new meaning – a positive & empowering one,” with a collection of videos of women dressed as Cardi from the “Put It On Da Floor Again” music video for Halloween, Cardi agreed.

The “Bongos” rapper responded to the post with “In this house…we love Britney!!”

In this house, we love Britney, too, and Cardi.