Search the Community

On November 28, 2012, will.i.am released the music video for Scream & Shout, featuring Britney Spears. It was premiered during The X Factor, where Britney was participating as a judge at the time, and it was later uploaded to his official VEVO channel. The music video was directed by Ben Mor. It was filmed in October in Los Angeles. will.i.am described the concept for the video as "uber fresh fashion". He originally intended the video and the song to be released at the same time, but due to the song leaking, they had to officially release it a few days earlier. The music video doesn't really have a storyline but it's more about the imagery and symbolism of the song. We see will.i.am and Britney in front of white and black backgrounds, in different poses and activities, as well as some extras and shots of several objects. Ben Mor, who would work with Britney the next year for her music video Work *****, told MTV News that he had one word in mind for the production of this video "iconic". He said: He also commented in the relationship will and Britney had with each other on set: About the disco ball in flames: Ben Mor would also work with will and Britney in early 2013 to shoot the remix video of the song. He would also direct Work ***** music video. Before the release of the videoclip, Britney Spears commented on working with will.i.am through an official statement: "There are few people on the planet who inspire me like will.i.am does. I couldn't be more excited to work with him again. I can't wait for people to hear the song and see the video." The music video became a hit. To this day, it's got over 969M views, making it the most watched video on YouTube of both artists. It's expected to hit 1B views in May 2023.

On February 14, 2013, will.i.am released the Scream & Shout (Remix) video featuring Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Hit-Boy, Waka Flocka Flame and P. Diddy, after it leaked a day ahead of its planned released through a Chinese website. MTV news was at the filming of the video, where will.i.am said: A couple of days before the release, Britney teased a picture from the videoshoot, where she was wearing a Jeremy Scott x Adidas cage track jacket, to which Jeremy Scott himself tweeted about in excitement. Later in April, they talked about it briefly during a Google Hangout interview that was livestreamed The remix was so different from the original song, that it charted separately, debuting at #49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In 2016, a clean version of the video was uploaded to will's channel.

On November 20, 2012, will.i.am released Scream & Shout featuring Britney Spears, the second official single off his fourth studio album #willpower. The song, which had already leaked online on November 17, was written by will.i.am, Jef Martens, Tulisa, Jean Baptiste and it was produced by Martens (also known as Basto) under the alias of Lazy Jay. The club banger references Britney's 2007 Gimme More with the phrase "Britney, *****!" The song went #1 in 24 countries, and it was at least top 5 in almost every other country it charted. In the UK, this was will.i.am's second consecutive #1, and for Britney, it would be her first #1 since Everytime (2004). In the United States, the electropop track peaked at #3 on the BBH100 but it became the first #1 song on the newly created Dance/Electronic Songs chart in January 2013. Britney and will.i.am had already collaborated in 2011 on the song Big Fat Bass, from her Femme Fatale album. In 2012, while Britney was working as a judge on the second season of The X Factor, will.i.am joined her as a guest during the Judge's house stage of the competition. In August she confirmed she had been recording on will's new single. In 2013 they would collaborate again, when will.i.am produced Britney's eighth studio album, Britney Jean, where he also appears as a featured artist on the track It Should Be Easy. At first, the track was rumored to be titled "**** ****" and it was confirmed to be part of will's new album, which was supposed to come out in October. However he pushed the release after several of the tracks leaked online. A music video for the song was shot in October, directed by Ben Mor, and it was released on November 28. will.i.am and Britney have never performed the song live together. However, will.i.am has done it by himself, including a notable performance with French singer Alizée. Britney on the other hand, included the song as an interlude on her Piece of Me show in Las Vegas with will.i.am appearing on the backdrop. In January 2013, a remix was released featuring Waka Flocka Flame, Hit-Boy, and rappers Diddy and Lil Wayne, but this version was more urban, and significantly different as to chart separately on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, singer Tulisa won a lawsuit she had filed since 2012 against will.i.am. It turns out, she co-wrote with Jean Baptiste the original version of the song for her debut album, and recorded it as "I Don't Give a ****". The producer of the song didn't give one either, and decided to pass it to will.i.am who re-wrote it as a Britney duet. Despite her vocals appearing on the final track with Britney, she was not credited, thus the lawsuit. After she won, she's now entitled to 10% of the royalties of the song.