Britney Spears wants everyone to remember who did it first.
On Saturday (Oct. 17), the 44-year-old pop superstar took to Instagram to comment on “a lot of girls” who have seemingly copied the “complete image I used to have when I was younger.”
Spears’ lengthy post was accompanied by a video of herself dancing for the camera in a long-sleeved white button-down shirt tied at the waist, a short light gray skirt and red boots. The clip was soundtracked by Chris Isaak’s 1995 song “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing.”
“And yo that’s cool but at least mine was real,” the “Toxic” singer wrote. “I was that nerd in school that was real as hell… the world has become fake… people who are actually real get hated on… which is a shame.. ok.”
Although Spears didn’t name anyone specifically, her comments may allude to the schoolgirl look she popularized in her 1998 music video for “…Baby One More Time,” which has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. In the Nigel Dick-directed visual, Spears dances through high school hallways in a tied-up white shirt, pleated skirt and braided pigtails.
She may also be referring to other memorable looks from her early career, including the red catsuit from “Oops!… I Did It Again” and the crop tops and low-rise pants she sported during her “I’m a Slave 4 U” era.
“To all the girls who say I’m History… I’M PROPHECY,” Spears continued. “I’m the original apple B school girl who did backflips and backhand springs and fell in love with people on every set I ever went to… these years were precious so young and naive… the world has been hateful to me and I’m still standing, living, and dreaming.”
Spears wrapped up her post with a final thought on beauty and appearance, adding, “PS no makeup makes you look WAY younger.”
The post comes after Spears released “She’ll Never Be Me,” a previously unreleased song co-written with ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake and collaborators Bradley Daymond and Alex Greggs. The track arrives ahead of the Nov. 6 release of the 25th anniversary edition of her 2001 album Britney.
