Skadoosh! One week after Jack Black and Kyle Gass’ 20-second clip where they animatedly performed “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears went viral on multiple platforms, the duo — known together as Tenacious D — have put out a longer recording of the song.
Dropped on Black’s social media accounts, the minute-and-a-half-long track is accompanied by a music video that was shot at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles.
In the video, Black wears a black and white panda-inspired suit, dances and does karate moves with various members of the Kung Fu Panda cast and crew, including Awkwafina, Bryan Cranston, James Hong, Ke Huy Quan, along with his friend Gass. Kung Fu Panda star Po also makes several appearances. Black, of course, puts his own hard rock spin on the song, a vocal style he came to be known for after his breakout performance in School of Rock.
On the carpet at the premiere, The Hollywood Reporter chatted with Black about the Britney Spears cover song. “You know what the director, Mike, said, ‘Hey we would love to have a Tenacious D song for the end credits.’ And I said, ‘Really? Can we do Britney Spears?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, let’s do Hit Me Baby One More Time’ for the kung fu aspect of that song,” Black explained.
“So we got in the recording studio and we did it and we’re really proud of the track,” Black continued. Watch the music video below: “We shot a little impromptu music video in Kyle [Gass’s] hotel room and it’s gone crazy viral. It’s exciting.”
