Pop Perspective: Britney Spears And Iggy Azalea’s “Pretty Girls” Reviewed By Idolator Editors
At Idolator, the editors share a passion for high-quality pop. Occasionally, our tastes align. Other times, not so much! So, in the spirit of debate, we’ve developed a recurring feature called Pop Perspective. Basically, all of us dissect a particularly noteworthy pop event, and give it a rating out of 10.
That way you’re getting a full spectrum of views and we can all vent. (It’s cheaper than therapy!) The latest pop milestone to be dragged under the Idolator microscope is the long-touted pair-up featuring Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea, “Pretty Girls.” Is this sassy jam a pretty amazing track that has you bumping your booty at the club or is a pretty awful three minutes that should be scrubbed from each of these divas’ respective catalogs? See our thoughts below.
Robbie Daw — 2/10
I was going to point out that the intro to this crime against ears sounds shamefully reminiscent of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” but that would be giving it too much props. So let’s just go with “Pretty Girls” being on par with “Spark The Fire,” Gwen’s own disastrous cannibalization of “Hollaback Girl.”
I’d also like to point out the fact that 16 years into her career, Madonna released Ray Of Light. With Britney, we get “Pretty Girls.” Just sayin’.
Bianca Gracie — 2/10
There is no taking away the fact that Britney Spears is a living legend, but lately the Princess of Pop has been tainting her career with extremely poor decisions. Back in 2013, she let will.i.am executive-produce the embarrassing Britney Jean album. She’s currently giving phoned-in performances for her Las Vegas residency, and now she has committed a musical tragedy: Working with I-G-G-BYE.
Iggy Azalea has been hyping up the “Pretty Girls” song and video for what seems to be centuries, and Britney has been not-so-surprisingly mum with her own promotion. In many cases, when someone is trying to convince you that something is good that means it will be total crap. That is definitely what’s going on with this song.
Brit-Brit is no stranger to Auto-Tune (have you listened to Blackout?), but she usually nails it, as it highlights her unique vocal tone. But on this new track, the singer just sounds like a robot trying to mimic Charli XCX’s rebellious sonic vibes. No surprise there, though — “Pretty Girls” could definitely pass as “Fancy” 3.0 after Reclassified’s “Beg For It.”
As for I-G-G-BYE’s verse? No, just…no. That’s all I have to say about her. Let’s see how the two ladies pull the single off at the Billboard Music Awards in a few weeks — that should be a joy to watch, don’t you agree?
If this song is truly meant for all you “Pretty Girls” out there, then I have zero problem being ugly!
Carl Williott — 7/10
Be honest: If “Fancy” never happened, you would be tweeting about “Pretty Girls” with prayer hands and fire emoji, praising it as your summer swag anthem. But you should be doing that anyway! This has a harder beat, better windows-rolled-down boasts, and — here’s the key — less Iggy.
I get it, it’s easy to hate on Iggy and 2010s-era Britney. The thing is, Brit sounds downright thrilled to be on this track, and to the point that Azalea’s mercifully short verse can’t even muck it up. So if you’re gonna come at anyone here, come at The Invisible Men, whose blatant rip-off of DJ Mustard’s “IDFWU” synth tones has me thinking they are literally invisible, enabling them to sneak into Mustard’s studio and copy his exact knob settings. If there’s any truth to the domino effect theory of the “Blurred Lines” verdict, then after “Fancy” and “Pretty Girls,” The Invisible Men will need to lawyer up.
IDOLATOR SCORE: 11/30
What would you give “Pretty Girls” out of 10? Let us know in the comments below.
