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Justin Timberlake‘s new song “Selfish” seems like it might be about Britney Spears. That raises a lot of interesting questions about how Timberlake understands his relationship with the “…Baby One More Time” singer two decades later. Regardless of how you interpret the song, Timberlake said it comes from a very personal album.

Justin Timberlake might be calling Britney Spears his ‘angel’ in a new song

In “Selfish,” Timberlake says he doesn’t want other men taking his place in the life of a woman he finds attractive. It sounds like he’s asking for someone back. Since Timberlake had a famous relationship with Spears, it’s hard not to interpret the song as a barely coded message to her. The track feels possessive with all the emphasis on keeping the woman away from other men.

Timberlake also refers to the object of his affections as “an angel.” Spears has depicted herself as an angel in some of her live performances. In addition, James Franco called her “an angel if there ever was one on this Earth” in a famous sequence from the movie Spring Breakers.

Timberlake hasn’t said if the song is about Britney Spears

The world may never know if “Selfish” is about Spears. We know it comes from a personal record called Everything I Thought It Was. During a 2024 interview with Apple Music, Timberlake explained what he was trying to accomplish on the record.

“I was able, on some of the songs, to look back at the past and have a real, not a refracted perspective of what it was because they always say … you always hear that thing about, well, there’s never any truth, there’s just everybody’s perspective of what happened,” he said. “But to really look at it and be able to metabolize and verbalize my perspective on it, I don’t think I’ve ever really done that before.”

Timberale took immense pride in Everything I Thought It Was. “I worked for a long time on this album and I ended up with 100 songs,” he said. “So narrowing them down to 18 was a thing, and then, yeah, I’m really excited about this album. I think every artist probably says this, but it is my best work.” Considering Timberlake previously created the critically acclaimed, epoch-defining album FutureSex/LoveSounds, his high praise of Everything I Thought It Was is incredible.

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Justin Timberlake’s ‘Selfish’ sank like a lead balloon

“Selfish” has been a modest hit at best. It peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, meaning that it is the lowest-charting lead single of Timberlake’s career besides “Take Back the Night” from The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2. So far, “Selfish” has lasted 13 weeks on the chart. It would take a miracle for the song to become a real hit at this point.

Everything I Thought It Was peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and fell off the chart after four weeks. It’s his lowest-charting album and his shortest-charting album. Timberlake’s career might be in the dumpster at this point, but he can take solace in the fact that other stars have dug themselves out of deeper holes, including the “Womanizer” singer.

Whether it’s a hit or not, “Selfish” seems like an interesting look into Timberlake’s mind.

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