Name That Tune traveled back to 1988 with Bobby Brown and “My Prerogative” from his 1988 album “Don’t Be Cruel.” The song peaked at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Single.
Written by Bobby Brown, the song was a response to the criticism he received for leaving New Edition. Bobby explained that it was about making decisions in your life and not caring about the judgment of the people around you. After nearly completing his album, Bobby felt it lacked a strong, aggressive song. So he traveled to NYC to get the strong feeling he needed to write the song.
“My Prerogative” was covered by Britney Spears in 2004 and was her own way of letting the masses know it was her decision to live her life the way she wanted and to marry whom she wanted. Spears was engaged to Kevin Federline at the time. Although Britney’s version didn’t appear on mainstream music charts, it did surpass Bobby Brown’s version worldwide, peaking at the top of the charts in Finland, Ireland, Italy and Norway and reaching the top ten in another fourteen countries.