"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 by Jive Records.
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 Have 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.
"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 Billboards 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, 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).
Background
"Hold It Against Me" was written and produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Billboard, with additional writing by Bonnie McKee. It was inspired by a moment when McKee saw American recording artist Katy Perry wearing a tight dress and joked "Damn Katy, if I told you you had a nice body would you hold it against me?" After it was written, Luke and Martin wanted to give the track to Perry, but they decided that "it definitely wasn't a Katy Perry record." They continued to work on the song with Billboard; Luke commented, "I wanted to make sure it didn't sound like everything else I've done. [...] It can be hard in the verse, and the bridge is super, super hard, but the chorus is super-pop." After rumored lyrics for the song surfaced on the web, Luke commented in his Twitter account on December 9, 2010, "I / we never wrote a song called 'don't hold it against me'.... BewaRe of InaccuraTe info kids ;-) We did write 'hold it against me' but those lyrics are NOT the lyrics ...." It was reported by news outlets that "Hold It Against Me" would premiere on January 7, 2011. However, this was denied by Spears' manager Adam Leber. An early demo of the track performed by McKee was leaked on January 6, 2011. Spears released the cover art for the song that same day and commented via Twitter, "Heard an early demo of my new single leaked. If u think that's good, wait til you hear the real one Tuesday."
On January 10, 2011, the single became available for streaming on Ryan Seacrest's website, who premiered it on his radio show shortly after. Spears tweeted, "Don't #HOLDITAGAINSTME for coming out early. I couldn't wait any longer. Hope you don't mind....." The radio premiere caused several sites to crash after they received too much traffic searching about the song. "Hold It Against Me" was released digitally in the United States and Canada at the iTunes Store at 00:00 EST (05:00 UTC), where it was available exclusively until January 18, 2011. The single was going to be released in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2011, but the date was moved up to January 17, 2011, due to overwhelming demand.
Composition
"Hold It Against Me" is three minutes and forty-nine seconds long. It is a dance-pop song that blends pulsating industrial and trance beats with elements of grime. Spears' vocals have been described as "a bit treated" but not heavily Auto-Tuned. The chorus, reminiscent of other pop productions by Max Martin, has lilting synths that lift her vocals and contrast them with the hard beats. After the second chorus, the beats drop and Spears speaks the lines in the hook. This is followed by a dubstep-influenced breakdown, which lasts about thirty seconds. Spears moans, blows kisses and sings the lines "Gimme something good, don't wanna wait I want it now / Pop it like a hood and show me how you work it out." "Hold It Against Me" continues with a second breakdown, which is more similar to the sound of the track. The final chorus has a smattering of rave chords and the song has a sudden end.
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone commented that the song "recalls the synth-gloom ambience of Britney's 2007 gem, Blackout." He also compared the riff to AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (1976). Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times found the song's hook reminiscent of "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" (1986) by Cutting Crew. Nick Levine of Digital Spy felt the song had a "clubby and au courant" feel, comparable to "Only Girl (In the World)" (2010) by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing Inc., "Hold It Against Me" is set in the compound meter time signature, with a moderate dance beat infused metronome of 133 beats per minute. Lyrically, "Hold It Against Me" talks about seducing someone on the dancefloor. The chorus revolves around pick-up lines; Spears sings, "If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?" and "'Cause you feel like paradise, and I need a vacation tonight." James Montgomery of MTV compared the feeling of the lyrics to that of "If U Seek Amy" (2009).
Controversy After "Hold It Against Me" 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". In a statement, David Bellamy said "professionally, well, in all honesty, we feel completely ripped off. Where's the originality?" The brothers's attorney Christopher E. Schmidt stated that "[it] becomes somewhat uncanny if you simply double the beat of the Bellamy Brothers' song and match it up with Britney's version" and pointed out that it was not the first time Martin and Luke were accused of copyright infringement. On March 2, 2011, Martin, Luke, McKee and Billboard filed a lawsuit in which they accused the brothers of making defamatory and libelous statements about them. The case was dismissed on August 11, 2011. The Bellamy Brothers released a statement that said, "The Bellamy Brothers apologise to Dr. Luke and Max Martin for the Bellamys' public statements and any false impressions suggested by the statements on their website that Dr. Luke and Max Martin copy the works of others."
Critical reception "Hold It Against Me" has received mostly positive reviews from most critics. 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." 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." 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).
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." Michael Cragg of British newspaper The Guardian called it "decent enough." Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone referred to the song as "prime Britney" and stated that it "promises great things for her album." 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". 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).
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." 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." 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." Glenn Gamboa of Newsday stated that "Hold It Against Me" was "a bit safer [...] like her current low-key, non-tabloid persona." Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail 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".
Chart performance