Although both singers worked with producer Benny Blanco in studio on " ( Drop Dead ) Beautiful " , Spears recorded her vocals for the song before Sabi , who actually raps on the track . The latter also revealed she felt lucky and honored because Spears does not do features often , while commenting that " it 's just pretty crazy , I mean , I grew up watching Britney Spears . All my friends watched Britney Spears and we even had a routine to ' ... Baby One More Time ' that we were gon na perform , like , for a middle-school talent show . So it 's a dream come true . Never did I ever think that I 'd be in the mix with Britney . I 'm just lucky . " When asked about how she learned about Sabi in an interview with '' Rolling Stone '' , Spears revealed , " friends and people around me are always showing me new artists that they love and that 's how I learned about Sabi and ended up working with her on ' ( Drop Dead ) Beautiful ' . I have always wanted to feature a new artist on one of my albums and she is really cool . " A small teaser of the song was unveiled by the singer on March 7 , 2011 . Four days later , it leaked in full online , along with another '' Femme Fatale '' track , " Inside Out " . On August 5 , 2011 , Spears posted a poll on her Facebook page asking fans whether her next single should be " Criminal " , " Inside Out " or " ( Drop Dead ) Beautiful . " After the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards , she revealed to MTV News that " Criminal " was chosen as the fourth single
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
(Drop Dead) Beautiful