Hold It Against Me
"Hold It Against Me" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Billboard, with additional writing by Bonnie McKee. Luke explained that he wanted "Hold It Against Me" to sound unlike his previous productions. The song was originally offered to Katy Perry, but Luke and Martin felt that it did not suit her. A demo version of the track by McKee was leaked on January 6, 2011, and the single became available for streaming on January 10, 2011. It was released for digital download the following day as the lead single from Femme Fatale.
Not to be confused with Would You Hold It Against Me."Hold It Against Me"
Musically, "Hold It Against Me" blends pulsating industrial and dance beats with elements of electropop and trance. The chorus has lilting synths that lift her vocals and contrast them with the hard beats. The song features a dubstep-influenced breakdown, in which Spears moans and blows kisses, and the song ends with a final chorus with elements of rave. The lyrics portray the singer seducing someone on the dance floor, and the chorus revolves around pick-up lines. After the song was released, the Bellamy Brothers criticized it for being similar to their 1979 hit "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me". They were sued by Martin, Luke, McKee and Billboard for defamation and libel, but the case was dismissed after the Bellamy Brothers apologized. McKee stated in an interview that the title was inspired by a discussion she had with Katy Perry about the latter's body.[1]
"Hold It Against Me" was met with positive reviews from most critics, although some criticized its lyrical content. The song debuted at number one in Belgium (Wallonia), Canada, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, as well as on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it became her fourth chart topper. In the latter, it made Spears the second artist in Billboard's history to debut at number one more than once, and to achieve that with a second consecutive single, both behind Mariah Carey. The feat also made her the seventh artist to score number one singles in three consecutive decades. The single has also charted in the top five in countries such as Australia, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Finland and Norway.
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It premiered on February 17, 2011, following a two-week promotional campaign of teasers. The video features Spears as a pop star who fell from space to find fame on Earth. There, she becomes overwhelmed by the pressures of being a celebrity and breaks down. The video received mixed to positive reviews; critics complimented its artistic concept and visuals, but dismissed the use of product placement. Spears performed "Hold It Against Me" at Rain Nightclub, Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She has also performed it as the opening number of the Femme Fatale Tour (2011).
Critical reception[edit]
"Hold It Against Me" has received mostly positive reviews from most critics.[28] Rick Florino of website Artistdirect gave the song four and half stars, calling it "one of Britney's catchiest club bangers yet" and saying "[it] proudly stands alongside Britney classics like 'Womanizer', 'Gimme More', and 'Toxic', but there's a refined ethereal elegance to it that sees Britney stepping into new territory and pushing the boundaries of dance pop once more."[19] Nick Levine of website Digital Spy said that although "Hold It Against Me" was produced by Luke and Martin, the finished product was not similar to songs by regular collaborators Kesha and Katy Perry, but actually "sounds like a bang-up-to-date Britney tune for 2011."[21] Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly said "'Against Me' is classic Britney — that is to say the vocal performance is far from stellar, but it serves as a nice accessory to [Luke and Martin]'s thumping Euro techno groove." He also added that Spears did not evolve with the lyrics she sings, and that there was not much growth when compared to singles such as "...Baby One More Time" (1998) or "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001).[29]
Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune commented, "It's one of the tougher-sounding Spears singles yet and should do the job as a dancefloor-filler for listeners who are starting to wear out on the latest singles from Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas". However, he also dismissed the lyrical content and said that Spears sounds "bored [...] as is the case with most of her recent work."[23] Michael Cragg of British newspaper The Guardian called it "decent enough."[15] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone referred to the song as "prime Britney" and stated that it "promises great things for her album."[20] Jim Cantiello of MTV felt the use of pick-up lines was silly, but praised the beat and the vocals, while calling the breakdown "awesome".[30] Jim Farber of the Daily News called it "a dance-ready club song" and added, "With all that behind her, the 'Oops' girl may yet do it again", referencing her hit "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000).[31]
Edna Gundersen of USA Today criticized the use of pick-up lines, but said the single "delivers enough dizzying dance-pop ecstasy to ensure another chart-topping ride."[32] Bill Lamb of About.com called it "one of the most mature dance pop songs" of Spears' career, praising the chorus structure and the electropop bridge. Lamb stated, "The pop music of 2011 has an early shot in the arm here. ['Hold It Against Me'] will quickly take its place among Britney Spears' best singles."[33] Music website Popjustice positively compared the song to the leaked demo, saying that although the lyrics and melody were not different, Spears' finished version "is approximately 1000 times better than the demo. It's a harder, more urgent, extremely epic statement track that sounds like the work of a superstar."[14] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday stated that "Hold It Against Me" was "a bit safer [...] like her current low-key, non-tabloid persona."[34] Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail's J.D. Considine called the reworking of the Bellamy Brothers' song "lame", but concluded that the track was "perfect ear candy", calling it "lust made audible".[35]
Chart performance[edit]
After its first day of release in the United States, "Hold It Against Me" set the record for most radio plays during a first day, registering 619 plays on Mediabase and 595 plays on Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS).[36] The song broke Mediabase's record for the largest spin-increase in a single week, registering 3,866 more spins.[37] Billboard reported that it was likely to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, due to high airplay and sales, which were expected to exceed 400,000 copies.[38][39] On the issue dated January 29, 2011, "Hold It Against Me" debuted at number one on the Hot 100, making Spears the second artist in history to debut multiple songs at the top of the chart, behind only Mariah Carey. The single is also the eighteenth song to debut at number one, and Spears' fourth chart-topper.[40] "Hold It Against Me" made Spears the third female artist, behind Madonna and Janet Jackson, to top the Hot 100 in three decades, as well as the seventh artist overall.[41] In 2012, it was voted as the best song to reach the top position on the Hot 100 over the past two years, in Billboard's "Hot 100 March Madness" poll for readers.[42]
"Hold It Against Me" also debuted atop the Hot Digital Songs chart, with 411,000 copies sold. The sum marked the most downloads in a first week by a female artist, beating the previous record held by Taylor Swift's "Today Was a Fairytale" (2010).[40] The current record is held by Adele, with her 2015 single "Hello" selling 1,112,000 downloads in its first week.[43] It is also Spears' biggest sales week total, as well as the fifth biggest first-week sales tally in digital history.[44] In seven weeks, "Hold It Against Me" topped one million downloads, becoming her eighth song with at least a million copies sold.[45] "Hold It Against Me" debuted at number sixteen on Billboard's Pop Songs chart with 4,071 plays, the highest detections total by a new entry in the chart's history. It was also tied with Madonna's "Frozen" (1998) for the second highest debut, behind Carey's "Dreamlover" (1993).[38] The following week, it climbed to number ten, becoming the seventh song in history to reach the top ten in only two weeks, as well as the first to do so in six years.[46] On Radio Songs, "Hold It Against Me" debuted at number twenty-three with 45 million first-week audience impressions, which according to Nielsen BDS, is the highest debut on the chart since Carey's "Touch My Body" (2008).[40] As of March 2015, "Hold It Against Me" has sold 1.6 million digital downloads in the United States.[47]
The song debuted on the ARIA Charts of Australia at number ten, and peaked at number four the following week. It became her eleventh top five entry and her ninth highest-peaking single. The song stayed on the charts for twelve weeks.[48] It has since been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 units.[49] On January 17, 2011, "Hold It Against Me" debuted atop the New Zealand RIANZ charts, becoming her fourth number one single. However, it only stayed on the charts for eight weeks.[50] On January 13, 2011, the song debuted at number six on the Irish Singles Chart, and moved up to number five the following week.[51] The single also debuted atop the Canadian Hot 100, becoming Spears' fourth Canadian number one single as well as the sixth song in the chart's history to debut at number one. With digital sales of 37,000 copies, "Hold It Against Me" also debuted at number one on Canada's Digital Songs chart, the highest debut sales total, and the second highest one week sales behind The Black Eyed Peas's "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (2010). It debuted at number eleven on the country's Hot 100 Airplay chart, the highest debut since Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet" (2009) as well as entering the Top 40/CHR airplay chart at number twelve, the second highest debut in the last five years, only behind Madonna's "4 Minutes" (2008).[52] After its release in the United Kingdom, "Hold It Against Me" debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Spears' 21st top ten entry.[53][54] However, it was her lowest-peaking lead single from a studio release.[55] Across Europe, the song has peaked at the top of the charts in Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark and Finland; number two in Belgium (Flanders), Italy and Norway; number six in Spain; number seven in Switzerland; and the top twenty in Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.[56]
Cover versions[edit]
"Hold It Against Me" was covered by American recording artist Miguel for Billboard.[93] English singer-songwriter Taio Cruz also covered the song, incorporating R&B elements on his version.[94] Marines from the Rein 266 and HMLA 169 helicopter squadrons uploaded a video to YouTube of them lip synching to the song in their base in Afghanistan. Spears posted the video on her Twitter account and added, "I am in LOVE with this... I always knew our soldiers were fierce! Thanks for everything you guys do."[95] American pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene performed a tribute to Spears during their 2011 We Own the Night Tour. They performed "Hold It Against Me" along with a medley of hits that included "...Baby One More Time", "(You Drive Me) Crazy", "Oops!... I Did It Again", "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Toxic", mixed similar to the Chris Cox Megamix included in Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004).[96] In the 2012 Glee episode "Britney 2.0", Heather Morris' character Brittany Pierce performed a cover of the track.[97] The song is also sampled on the Krewella song "Feel Me",[98] as well as the Sabrepulse song "Paradise".[99]