Gulp.
Of the many mysterious, left lane gems from the period in between recording In The Zone and My Prerogative, “Guilty” is by far one of the most intriguing offerings from The Legendary Miss Britney Spears.
The song, which leaked as a remix around the time of In The Zone over a decade ago, was rumored to be an angry response to Justin Timberlake‘s “Cry Me A River” and her (alleged?) affair with Wade Robson. Her vocals are fiery and #unapologetic — a far cry from the emotionally devastated angel sent from Heaven On Earth found on her official JT response track, “Everytime.”
According to fan lore, the leaked “Guilty” remix was created by Quentin Harris and played frequently during Junior Vazquez‘s residency at Discoteque and on his KTU radio show, Junior’s World.
Now everything has changed (REFERENCE).
Today, a new, slower version of “Guilty” surfaced with a tiny bit of new vocals (“That dude, he wasn’t planned/My god, it was out of my hands!”) and fierce electronic production centering around a sample of Prince‘s iconic 1986 single “Kiss” — and it’s really, really incredible.
The original is said to be produced by Danish producers Cutfather, Joseph Belmatti and Remee, as well as songwriter Karen Poole — all based on this ASCAP registration.
If this is the original version, the fact that it was shelved makes more sense: Perhaps the Prince sample wasn’t cleared? Or it was imply too artsy fartsy for the record? In any case, it’s everything. And as much as I love hearing Chipmunkney on the remix, it’s nice to actually understand what B-Girl’s singing with this new version.
“I have no reason to lie, I told you a thousand times/I needed you by my side, but you were nowhere to be found/But you pushed your luck when you stood me up, now it’s all messed up/But you went too far when you broke my heart and I found my guy/And if losing you is what I gotta do to satisfy my needs…then I guess that makes me guilty.”
Am I wrong for wanting to petition to make this decade-old demo the new single? Convict me…I’m guilty.