"Till the World Ends" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale (2011). It was written by Kesha, Dr. Luke, Alexander Kronlund, and Max Martin, while the production was handled by Luke, Martin and Billboard. It was released as the second single from the album on March 4, 2011, by Jive Records. "Till the World Ends" is an uptempo dance-pop, electropop and Eurodance song with an electro beat. It opens with sirens, and has elements of trance. The song features a chant-like chorus, and lyrics in which Spears sings about dancing until the end of the world. "Till the World Ends" received universal acclaim from critics, who deemed it a catchy dance track and complimented its anthemic nature. "Till the World Ends" was treated with different remixes, most notably the Femme Fatale Remix, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj and Kesha, which was released on April 25, 2011. The remix adds a rap verse by Minaj at the beginning, new vocals by Kesha, and a dubstep breakdown. The Femme Fatale Remix received positive reviews from critics, with most complimenting the diversity of the group and Minaj's rap. "Till the World Ends" attained international success, charted on the top-ten in several major music markets, including Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. Spears's solo version reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The Femme Fatale Remix propelled the single to the top five on the Canadian Hot 100 and the US Billboard Hot 100. An accompanying music video for the "Till the World Ends" was released on April 6, 2011. It portrays Spears in an underground dance party set on December 21, 2012. Critics noted the similarities with the music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001), and predominantly gave positive reviews for it. A choreography cut was released on April 15, 2011. The video was also nominated for two categories at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, and went on to win Best Pop Video. Spears has performed "Till the World Ends" on television shows Good Morning America and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and performed it with Minaj at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. She has also performed the song as the encore of the Femme Fatale Tour (2011), Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017), Britney: Live in Concert (2017) and Piece of Me Tour (2018).
Background and release "Till the World Ends" was written and produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin, with additional writing by American recording artist Kesha and Alexander Kronlund, and additional production by Billboard. In an interview for Spin on February 11, 2011, Kesha announced she had co-written the song with Luke and Martin for Spears's then-upcoming album Femme Fatale, explaining it was inspired by "me imagining [Spears] and any female musician touring the world. When you go out, and you're having an amazing, magical night and you don't want to go to sleep and you want it to last until the world ends." She further elaborated for Vulture:
"I've never been more proud of anything in my career... It really solidifies me as a songwriter in the pop music world, which is what I consider myself first and foremost. So it actually is really, really exciting for me when I hear [Britney] sing it. Like, when I hear my own songs on the radio I have to kind of turn it down or change the radio or whatever. When I hear that, I fucking blow the speakers out and I order everybody to dance."
On March 2, 2011, the single's cover art, in which Spears appears sitting on a couch in a sweater and heels, was posted on Deezer. This was followed by a 30-second snippet of the song, which appeared on German Amazon. "Till the World Ends" leaked online on March 3, 2011, which prompted Spears to post hours later on her Twitter account, "Looks like the cat's out of the bag..." She formally premiered the single at On Air with Ryan Seacrest, on March 4, 2011, at 10:00 EST (15:00 UTC). "Till the World Ends" was made available on iTunes the same day, several days earlier than originally planned. Following the announcement, Kesha spoke to MTV News stating that "I consider myself a songwriter before and above everything else, so it's an honor to write for one of pop music's biggest icons." During an interview with Seacrest, Spears described "Till the World Ends" as "fun. I like it. It's good energy. [...] I'm a vibe person, and I think I love good-mood songs, and if it puts me in a good mood, it clicks for me."
Composition
"Till the World Ends" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, with an electro beat and elements of trance and Eurodance. The song opens with sirens and a "sizzling" bassline. Spears delivers confident and breathy vocals, in lyrics such as "If you want this good shit / Sicker than the remix / Baby let me blow your mind tonight." In the chorus, the song slows down while Spears sings "I can't take it take it take no more / Never felt like felt like this before / Come on get me get me on the floor / DJ what you what you waiting for?". The melody's 4:3 cross-rhythm continues into a chant-like segment, in which "whoa-oh-oh-oh" is repeated. The bit was compared by Scott Shettler of AOL to the "rapid word repetition" of Kesha. Keith Caulfield of Billboard said the chorus "comes on hard like it's the sexy spawn" of American recording artist Usher's "OMG" (2010) and Italian band Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy" (1985). Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times stated that like her previous single "Hold It Against Me", "Spears's main intention with her new single seems to be keeping the dance floor pulsating with sweaty bodies". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said the song recalls past hits by English recording artist Taio Cruz, Swedish recording artist Robyn and Spanish recording artist Enrique Iglesias. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post felt the song was comparable to Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" (2010). Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine and a reviewer from Popjustice compared it to Kesha's "Blow" (2011). According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing Inc., "Till the World Ends" is set in the simple quadruple meter time signature, with a moderate dance beat infused metronome of 132 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C minor; Spears' vocals range from the low-key of B♭3 to the high-note of C5. Lyrically, the song talks about dancing until the end of the world.
Critical reception
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