Britney's vault opens: five songs nobody's ever heard drop today, and one of them is with Justin Timberlake
Twenty-five years after 'Britney' went quadruple platinum in under two months, Legacy Recordings just released five songs from that era for the first time ever. One of them is a co-write with Timberlake, recorded while they were still together.
In brief
Britney's vault opens: five songs nobody's ever heard drop today, and one of them is with Justin Timberlake
It is November 6, 2026, and Britney Spears has new music out. Sort of.
The Associated Press and Variety both confirmed this morning that Britney (25th Anniversary Edition), a 23-track expanded reissue from Legacy Recordings and RCA Records, is officially out today. Among the five previously unreleased songs is "She'll Never Be Me," a collaboration with Justin Timberlake that was originally recorded for her 2001 self-titled album while the two were dating, with songwriters and producers Bradley Daymond and Alex Greggs, longtime *NSYNC collaborators who work under the name Riprock 'n' Alex G, also on the track.
The internet noticed immediately. By mid-morning Friday, "Britney" was trending across social platforms, with fans who grew up on "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Overprotected" working through material they never knew existed.
What's actually on the record
The 23-track edition comes out through RCA Records, and the five previously unreleased tracks are "She'll Never Be Me," "Am I a Sinner," "When I Say So," "My Big Secret," and a full studio recording of "Right Now (Taste the Victory)," which originally appeared as a 2002 Pepsi commercial.
Variety notes some complexity around Timberlake's exact role. The track is a previously unreleased collaboration with Timberlake titled "She'll Never Be Me," originally recorded for her 2001 album. However, the reporting on whether Timberlake actually sings on the track is contested. The Gayety report, citing the Press Association, says Timberlake sings background vocals on a track written and recorded for Britney in 2001 and then cut. A separate Canadian radio outlet reported the opposite. The Washington Times' AP review does not resolve the question. Take the specific vocal credit as unconfirmed until an official credit sheet surfaces.
What reviewers do agree on is the quality of the material itself. The Associated Press describes the tracklist as ranging from the slow-burn fake-out "Am I A Sinner" and Latin pop-informed rhythms of "Right Now (Taste the Victory)" to the glitchy, proto-hyperpop "When I Say So" and an unusually lengthy "My Big Secret," which the review calls Spears' strongest vocal performance on the whole album.
Legacy Recordings' release lands as a chance to reflect on the album and Spears' unique position in popular culture, particularly following the events of the last several years, including her 2021 release from a court conservatorship that controlled her life and money for nearly 14 years.
The comeback question nobody can quite answer
Here is the uncomfortable context sitting under all of this. The collection features the first new music from Spears since she announced she would "never return to the music industry" in a 2024 Instagram post, even if these recordings are over two decades old. While the songs are over 25 years old, they represent the first new recordings released by Spears since her 2023 collaboration with Will.I.Am, "Mind Your Business," which was itself assembled from older recordings.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Spears sold the rights to her music catalogue. So whether this release reflects her active participation or is primarily a label initiative is an open question. Her official Facebook page, however, has teased that "more surprises are coming every week."
The original Britney album went quadruple platinum in less than two months. Spears released it just ahead of her 20th birthday, entering adulthood after a meteoric run with her first two albums. The reissue lands the same week the Dream Within a Dream Tour, the tour that supported that original album, marks 25 years since it opened on November 1, 2001.
Thematically, a number of these tracks can be read as a response to the tabloid press' obsession with Spears' virginity at the time of the album's release. Twenty-five years later, the subtext lands differently.
Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj's lawyers want out
The other buzzy music story on this particular Friday: Nicki Minaj may be about to lose her legal representation. According to Billboard, the rapper's attorneys at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever have filed legal paperwork asking a judge to allow them to withdraw from her defense due to "irretrievably broken down" communications issues. According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, the firm wants out of representing Minaj and her Pink Friday Productions company in a lawsuit filed by 24/7 Productions, which claims Minaj and the company failed to reimburse over $200,000 in expenses connected to her Pink Friday 2 album.
Per the docs obtained by TMZ, a process server went to the building where Minaj lives in a $10 million penthouse, but the concierge said she was not home, while also telling him the couple had a "tendency of not answering their phones." At this time, Minaj does not appear to have publicly responded to the new legal filing.
It is a messy situation for a rapper who has had a relatively quiet public 2026. The case itself is about production costs and concert logistics. The lawyers-walking-off-the-case development is what made it land on front pages today, right alongside a pop star's vault opening 25 years late.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
