"Till the World Ends" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale (2011). It was written by Kesha, Dr. Luke, Alexander Kronlund, and Max Martin, while the production was handled by Luke, Martin and Billboard. It was released as the second single from the album on March 4, 2011, by Jive Records. "Till the World Ends" is an uptempo dance-pop, electropop and Eurodance song with an electro beat. It opens with sirens, and has elements of trance. The song features a chant-like chorus, and lyrics in which Spears sings about dancing until the end of the world. "Till the World Ends" received universal acclaim from critics, who deemed it a catchy dance track and complimented its anthemic nature.
"Till the World Ends" was treated with different remixes, most notably the Femme Fatale Remix, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj and Kesha, which was released on April 25, 2011. The remix adds a rap verse by Minaj at the beginning, new vocals by Kesha, and a dubstep breakdown. The Femme Fatale Remix received positive reviews from critics, with most complimenting the diversity of the group and Minaj's rap. "Till the World Ends" attained international success, charted on the top-ten in several major music markets, including Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. Spears's solo version reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The Femme Fatale Remix propelled the single to the top five on the Canadian Hot 100 and the US Billboard Hot 100.
An accompanying music video for the "Till the World Ends" was released on April 6, 2011. It portrays Spears in an underground dance party set on December 21, 2012. Critics noted the similarities with the music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001), and predominantly gave positive reviews for it. A choreography cut was released on April 15, 2011. The video was also nominated for two categories at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, and went on to win Best Pop Video. Spears has performed "Till the World Ends" on television shows Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and performed it with Minaj at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. She has also performed the song as the encore of the Femme Fatale Tour (2011), Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017), Britney: Live in Concert (2017) and Piece of Me Tour (2018).
Background and release "Till the World Ends" was written and produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin, with additional writing by American recording artist Kesha and Alexander Kronlund, and additional production by Billboard. In an interview for Spin on February 11, 2011, Kesha announced she had co-written the song with Luke and Martin for Spears's then-upcoming album Femme Fatale, explaining it was inspired by "me imagining [Spears] and any female musician touring the world. When you go out, and you're having an amazing, magical night and you don't want to go to sleep and you want it to last until the world ends." She further elaborated for Vulture:
"I've never been more proud of anything in my career... It really solidifies me as a songwriter in the pop music world, which is what I consider myself first and foremost. So it actually is really, really exciting for me when I hear [Britney] sing it. Like, when I hear my own songs on the radio I have to kind of turn it down or change the radio or whatever. When I hear that, I fucking blow the speakers out and I order everybody to dance."
On March 2, 2011, the single's cover art, in which Spears appears sitting on a couch in a sweater and heels, was posted on Deezer. This was followed by a 30-second snippet of the song, which appeared on German Amazon. "Till the World Ends" leaked online on March 3, 2011, which prompted Spears to post hours later on her Twitter account, "Looks like the cat's out of the bag..." She formally premiered the single at On Air with Ryan Seacrest, on March 4, 2011, at 10:00 EST (15:00 UTC). "Till the World Ends" was made available on iTunes the same day, several days earlier than originally planned. Following the announcement, Kesha spoke to MTV News stating that "I consider myself a songwriter before and above everything else, so it's an honor to write for one of pop music's biggest icons." During an interview with Seacrest, Spears described "Till the World Ends" as "fun. I like it. It's good energy. [...] I'm a vibe person, and I think I love good-mood songs, and if it puts me in a good mood, it clicks for me."
Composition
"Till the World Ends" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, with an electro beat and elements of trance and Eurodance. The song opens with sirens and a "sizzling" bassline. Spears delivers confident and breathy vocals, in lyrics such as "If you want this good shit / Sicker than the remix / Baby let me blow your mind tonight." In the chorus, the song slows down while Spears sings "I can't take it take it take no more / Never felt like felt like this before / Come on get me get me on the floor / DJ what you what you waiting for?". The melody's 4:3 cross-rhythm continues into a chant-like segment, in which "whoa-oh-oh-oh" is repeated. The bit was compared by Scott Shettler of AOL to the "rapid word repetition" of Kesha. Keith Caulfield of Billboard said the chorus "comes on hard like it's the sexy spawn" of American recording artist Usher's "OMG" (2010) and Italian band Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy" (1985).
Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times stated that like her previous single "Hold It Against Me", "Spears's main intention with her new single seems to be keeping the dance floor pulsating with sweaty bodies". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said the song recalls past hits by English recording artist Taio Cruz, Swedish recording artist Robyn and Spanish recording artist Enrique Iglesias. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post felt the song was comparable to Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" (2010). Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine and a reviewer from Popjustice compared it to Kesha's "Blow" (2011). According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing Inc., "Till the World Ends" is set in the simple quadruple meter time signature, with a moderate dance beat infused metronome of 132 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C minor; Spears' vocals range from the low-key of B3 to the high-note of C5. Lyrically, the song talks about dancing until the end of the world.
Critical reception
The song received universal acclaim from critics. Ryan Brockington of the New York Post called it "amazing". Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone gave the song three and a half out of five stars, stating, "You want a party song, call a partier" and describing it as "sky-sucking synth streaks, a beat that sounds like blimps fucking and a thousand shirtless drunken sailors chanting along on the chorus." Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times called the song "catchy [...] [it] makes you want to grab some glow sticks and hit the clubs" and added that the Femme Fatale era "already shows an undeniably more confident Spears." Mike Collett-White of Reuters deemed it as a dance anthem. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy said that the song is unquestionably a Dr. Luke production, but "somehow it's Brit that manages to come out on top." Copsey went on to call it her most uplifting number since "Stronger" (2000), and added that "for longtime Britney fans, is the comeback we've all been waiting for.
Bill Lamb of About.com commented that the song would "sound solid on the radio and bring crowds to the dance floor," but when compared to "Hold It Against Me", it was much safer and not as innovative. Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald gave the song a B+, saying that "pop fans always need a huge hook, catchy chorus and break-it-down-build-it-up bridge. This song’s got all three". Edna Gundersen of USA Today called it "a sleek and impossibly catchy slab", and said that although the song is unmistakable Luke, Spears "holds her own with confident, kittenish vocals." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post stated that the track "is Spears's most joyously danceable track in a long time." Caryn Ganz of Spin named it "her first truly synapse-sizzling single since 'Toxic'." Andy Gill of The Independent selected the song along with "Criminal" as the download picks of the album. Kevin Ritchie of Now stated that "wannabe World Cup anthem 'Till The World Ends' kicks things off with an aura of pounding, Euro dance euphoria."
David Buchanan of Consequence of Sound commented that "Till the World Ends", "Hold It Against Me" and "Inside Out" "simultaneously send Spears back to basics vocally, and into 2011 sonically." Rudy Klapper of Sputnikmusic said that the song "throbs with trance-y synths, a thumping electro beat that is pure sex and a chorus that goes and goes as only the best club hits can do, sensible lyrics be damned." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters said that "Till the World Ends" sets the pace of Femme Fatale, while calling it "a stadium-rocking pop anthem." Keith Caulfield from Billboard said that the song has a "roof-shaking chant-chorus", but criticized the lyrics, saying that they have "been echoed incessantly over the past year in countless Hot 100 top ten hits: dance until you drop from exhaustion." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine compared it to Kesha's "Blow", saying that the tracks "[are] so similar [...] that I can't decide which one I like more—or if I even like them at all." A reviewer from Popjustice also compared it to "Blow", but said "Till the World Ends" was not as good.
Recognition Rolling Stone named "Till the World Ends" as the third best song of 2011. The writer concluded, "Brit[ney] delivers the Apocalypse Now of Eurotrash electrotrance disco songs, as that throbbing pulse builds to a pure drop-the-bomb chorus. And that 'whoa-ho-ho' choir sounds like Cher leading an aircraft carrier full of gay sailors." The song was also named as the third best single of 2011 by Billboard, and commented that it is "Britney's most immediate single since 'Toxic'." Sam Lansky of PopCrush considered "Till the World Ends" the best pop song of 2011, writing, "2011 was already Year of the Spears by January, when Britney Spears' 'Hold It Against Me' topped the charts — but [Britney] had something even better up her sleeve, the crackling dancefloor barnstormer 'Till the World Ends', penned by rowdy popstrel Kesha and produced by monster hitmaker Dr. Luke. It's a gargantuan party song with provocative lyrics (“This kitten got your tongue tied in knots”, anyone?), throbbing synths, and a thrillingly euphoric hands-in-the-air chant-along chorus — and there wasn't a more exuberant pop song this year." Digital Spy also considered the track as the best song of 2011, naming it "Britney's best track since 'Toxic'" and commenting, "judging from its chart position, it's also her most underrated hit." The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll ranked "Till the World Ends" as the seventh best song of 2011, tied with Lana Del Rey's "Video Games". "Till the World Ends" was voted by readers as the Best Song of the 2010s on Billboard.
Remixes Kesha and Nicki Minaj remix