Criminal: Britney's biggest sleeper hit ever?

[blackingouthenegativity]

It's amazing to me that "Criminal" has such great streaming numbers, rivaling many of her most classic songs. A better song couldn't deserve it. I'm glad Brit stuck to her guns and that we voted correctly on the Facebook poll asking fans what FF's fourth single should be

194+ million views for the music video on YouTube (not including other official audios on YouTube)

172+ million streams on Spotify

What explains Criminal's long-term success?

 

[GlitterRain]

How dare you!!!!! Criminal is iconic. I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you 

edit: not me not having a single clue what a sleeper hit was and thinking it meant a flop song 

[blackingouthenegativity]

1 minute ago, GlitterRain said:

How dare you!!!!! Criminal is iconic. I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you 

I agree, I was celebrating that fact

[Kletus]

Flopminal

[GlitterRain]

1 minute ago, blackingouthenegativity said:

I agree, I was celebrating that fact

You called it a sleeper hit…

[that's hot y'all]

i love criminal !

[blackingouthenegativity]

1 minute ago, GlitterRain said:

You called it a sleeper hit…

Is that a bad thing?

Quote

In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later

 

[GlitterRain]

Just now, blackingouthenegativity said:

Is that a bad thing?

 

How am I supposed to know these terms  

[RedCarpet]

well... she looked nice in music video.. 

[blackingouthenegativity]

2 minutes ago, GlitterRain said:

How am I supposed to know these terms  

That's ok, we can pretend it was a fake fight to prevent yet another one of my threads from flopping

[MikeHunt]

A few years ago when my niece was like 5/6 I heard her singing Criminal. I was shocked because it was a Britney song but an older song. I asked her how does she know that song and she played me this YouTube video with like anime art but criminal was made into like a creepy remix. And I don’t know what those kinds of videos are called but I guess they were huge with her age range. 
 

Then a few years later Criminal because a hit on TikTok because of some trend. Very cringey but hey it got Britney’s song exposure.

I think that’s why it has so many streams! The youth just keeps repurposing it and I’m here for it! 

[GlitterRain]

1 minute ago, blackingouthenegativity said:

That's ok, we can pretend it was a fake fight to prevent yet another one of my threads from flopping

[GlitterRain]

3 minutes ago, blackingouthenegativity said:

That's ok, we can pretend it was a fake fight to prevent yet another one of my threads from flopping

GlitterRain is here… It wont flop now 

[blackingouthenegativity]

Just now, MikeHunt said:

she played me this YouTube video with like anime art but criminal was made into like a creepy remix. And I don’t know what those kinds of videos are called

It's called "Nightcore"... I work at a place with teenagers that use YouTube and two of them played this "genre" in the background while they were studying 

[LaLisaManoban]

And let's not forget the fact that the MV was blocked for people underage when it was released and kept it like that for years!

[MikeHunt]

8 minutes ago, blackingouthenegativity said:

It's called "Nightcore"... I work at a place with teenagers that use YouTube and two of them played this "genre" in the background while they were studying 

Thank you! I’m so out of touch with teen culture 

[IsraeliMatt]

This is a case of quality winning. It's been one of my favorite songs from her since the album dropped. The lyrics tell a **** and dramatic story. It's like a soap opera in a song. The flute sound draws you in from the first second.  And I think it's aged well. It still absolutely slaps. 

[Spicechinodiva]

Harleys in Hawaii is actually becoming a hit on tik tok.  

Watching adam the flop, it show's wgat flopped then because of bad timings! Etc..

 

Comes a hit now. 

 

This us definitely proving.

 

I think criminal flopped cos, the video was controversial, Britney sl** shaming the girl her man was flirting with about on so it's your day off from working the corner. 

 

I felt had a different video get made it would have been a hit.

Let's not act like some of the fans thought the dialogue was actually a diss at them.

Rentboy.com don't ring a bell anybody.  

 

 

[Rob_]

It’s become one of my favorite songs of hers 

[waynebradybyday]

Its relatable. Who doesn't love the bad boys? (i.e. Havana) Its pretty catchy and mellow so it has a good slow burn rate. The flute. It also had a great remix and good video. It works much better I think as a streaming hit than radio hit