I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)
Encyclopedia
"I've Just Begun" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears
, taken from her first greatest hits album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
(2004). The song was produced by Bloodshy & Avant
and originally recorded for In the Zone
. It was released as a digital download
on August 17, 2004, prior to the album's release. The track has an electro-funk sound that draw comparisons to No Doubt
's single "Hella Good
" as well as 1970s American funk
bands. Lyrically, the songs refers to having a good time at a party. "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" received mixed reviews from critics, some naming it one of the best songs in the compilation, while others dismissed its lyrical content. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 film Bridesmaids
.
(2003). The song was written by Spears, Michelle Bell
, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, and was produced by Bloodshy & Avant
. The song was first included as a bonus track
in the European version of the In the Zone DVD
. In the United States, the track was a free download
in the Wal-Mart
edition of In the Zone, due to an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart and Sony Connect
. When the deal ended in mid-2004, Jive Records
released the song on the iTunes Store
and Rhapsody
on August 17, 2004. "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" peaked at number seven on the iTunes chart while it was speculated to be in the tracklist of Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 film Bridesmaids
.
, is composed in the key of G minor
with 108 beats per minute. It has a dance
-oriented beat that has been compared by Jennifer Vineyard of MTV
and Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic to No Doubt
's 2002 single "Hella Good
". Spears's vocal range spans from the high-tone of G3 to the low-tone of Eb5. The track features mainly guitar
and bass
, along with string arrangements
and 1970s synthesizer
s reminiscent of Zapp
and The Gap Band. Its lyrics refer to a make-believe situation in which Spears describes an encounter with a man at a party. During the song, she declares to prefer having a good time rather than settling down..
", they are "[two] robust, unreleased tracks [that] suggest, however, that she may still be churning out a few more No.1s before taking time out to sing lullabies to her brood". Ann Powers of Blender
called the song "instantly forgettable and biographically inaccurate," while Mike McGuirk of Rhapsody said the song "is on a level with her best work, namely "I'm a Slave 4 U
"." Louis Pattison of the New Musical Express stated that the lyrics "chime rather oddly with Britney’s much-vaunted desire to start a family". On the week of September 4, 2004, "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" debuted at number twenty-three on Billboard Hot Digital Tracks
, and falling at number forty-one in the following.
Source:
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, taken from her first greatest hits album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative is the first greatest hits album from American singer Britney Spears, released on November 1, 2004 by Jive Records. The compilation was released in two different formats, a standard edition and a limited edition containing a bonus disc with remixes. A compilation DVD...
(2004). The song was produced by Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy and Avant are a music production and songwriting team from Sweden made up of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg...
and originally recorded for In the Zone
In the Zone
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 16, 2003, by Jive Records. Following the end of the Dream Within a Dream Tour in July 2002 and her break-up with Justin Timberlake, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her...
. It was released as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on August 17, 2004, prior to the album's release. The track has an electro-funk sound that draw comparisons to No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's single "Hella Good
Hella Good
"Hella Good" is a song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, and The Neptunes for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady . The song draws influence from electro, rock, and funk music...
" as well as 1970s American funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
bands. Lyrically, the songs refers to having a good time at a party. "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" received mixed reviews from critics, some naming it one of the best songs in the compilation, while others dismissed its lyrical content. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 film Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids (2011 film)
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The plot centers on Annie ....
.
Background
"I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" was originally recorded for Spears's fourth studio album, In the ZoneIn the Zone
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 16, 2003, by Jive Records. Following the end of the Dream Within a Dream Tour in July 2002 and her break-up with Justin Timberlake, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her...
(2003). The song was written by Spears, Michelle Bell
Michelle Bell
Michelle Bell is an American female Singer/Songwriter/Producer from Ohio. Michelle's songs has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.She has written songs for Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Paulina Rubio, Nas, Kelis, and Jennifer Lopez...
, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, and was produced by Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy & Avant
Bloodshy and Avant are a music production and songwriting team from Sweden made up of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg...
. The song was first included as a bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
in the European version of the In the Zone DVD
In the Zone (DVD)
In the Zone is the fifth video release by singer Britney Spears. Released by Jive Records on April 6, 2004, it accompanied the album of the same name. The DVD contains her ABC concert special Britney Spears: In the Zone, as well as footage from live performances to promote the album...
. In the United States, the track was a free download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
in the Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
edition of In the Zone, due to an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart and Sony Connect
Sony Connect
The CONNECT Music Store was Sony's music store built within the SonicStage music management application for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. It was one of the world’s largest online music download stores with over 2.5 million tracks to preview and purchase, with over 10,000 new songs...
. When the deal ended in mid-2004, Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
released the song on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
and Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
on August 17, 2004. "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" peaked at number seven on the iTunes chart while it was speculated to be in the tracklist of Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 film Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids (2011 film)
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The plot centers on Annie ....
.
Composition
"I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" is an electro-funk song, and according to the sheetmusic published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing GroupUniversal Music Publishing Group
Universal Music Publishing Group is a music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group.UMPG owns or administers more than 1 million copyrights. They are one of the largest music publishing businesses in the world with more than 47 offices in 41 countries...
, is composed in the key of G minor
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
with 108 beats per minute. It has a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
-oriented beat that has been compared by Jennifer Vineyard of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic to No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's 2002 single "Hella Good
Hella Good
"Hella Good" is a song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, and The Neptunes for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady . The song draws influence from electro, rock, and funk music...
". Spears's vocal range spans from the high-tone of G3 to the low-tone of Eb5. The track features mainly guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, along with string arrangements
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
and 1970s synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s reminiscent of Zapp
Zapp (band)
Zapp is a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Bobby Glover and Gregory Jackson [Cincinnati Ohio Funk Keyboardist]...
and The Gap Band. Its lyrics refer to a make-believe situation in which Spears describes an encounter with a man at a party. During the song, she declares to prefer having a good time rather than settling down..
Reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said "the In the Zone outtake [...] betters most of the songs that were featured on the album". Annabel Leathes of BBC Online commented that along with "Do Somethin'Do Somethin'
"Do Somethin" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her first greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. It was released on February 14, 2005 by Jive Records as the second single from the album worldwide except North America...
", they are "[two] robust, unreleased tracks [that] suggest, however, that she may still be churning out a few more No.1s before taking time out to sing lullabies to her brood". Ann Powers of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
called the song "instantly forgettable and biographically inaccurate," while Mike McGuirk of Rhapsody said the song "is on a level with her best work, namely "I'm a Slave 4 U
I'm a Slave 4 U
"I'm a Slave 4 U" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. The song was written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, for Spears' third studio album, Britney . It was released on September 24, 2001 by Jive Records, as the first single from the album...
"." Louis Pattison of the New Musical Express stated that the lyrics "chime rather oddly with Britney’s much-vaunted desire to start a family". On the week of September 4, 2004, "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)" debuted at number twenty-three on Billboard Hot Digital Tracks
Hot Digital Tracks
The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to Billboard magazine...
, and falling at number forty-one in the following.
Credits and personnel
- Songwriting – Britney Spears, Michelle BellMichelle BellMichelle Bell is an American female Singer/Songwriter/Producer from Ohio. Michelle's songs has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.She has written songs for Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Paulina Rubio, Nas, Kelis, and Jennifer Lopez...
, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback - Production – Bloodshy & AvantBloodshy & AvantBloodshy and Avant are a music production and songwriting team from Sweden made up of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg...
, Steven Lunt - Vocals – Britney Spears
Source: