It was short and sweet. But Britney Spears’ run on the charts is ending as fast as it began.
On Friday, Spears’ fans fished out a 2011 track of hers called “Selfish” — the same title as Justin Timberlake’s new song. The fans pushed it up to number 3 on iTunes, planning to go to number 1.
Alas, neither the fans nor Timeberlake could predicted the other disturbances on the weekend chart. Other people were also plotting ways to game the system.
Also released on Thursday was a record called “Facts” from right wing singer Tom McDonald, whoever he is. The record features right wing agitator Ben Shapiro. It’s not a good record, and I can’t imagine any radio stations will play it. There are no “Facts” involved. But someone in a red state is pressing “Buy” over and over. McDonald’s record is number 1.
Then comes the feud between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. Megan released a foul mouthed diatribe called “Hiss” on Thursday. Nicki responded with “Big Foot” — two versions. This means that four spots on the iTunes top 5 are taken up with these kerfuffles. Timberlake’s “Selfish” — the only actual song of the bunch — is stuck at number 5, despite his compelling performance on “SNL” over the weekend.
And Britney? Her “Selfish” has dropped to 10, and should be back off the charts soon enough. It was a fun play by her fans, who got the satisfaction of knowing they’d slighted Justin for a few hours. That’s all it was about in the first place. Britney, in the meantime, apologized to Justin for the bad things she said about him in her book. That angered fans who thought she should hold a grudge. But Britney is too big for that! Lesson learned.
