On Feb. 29, actor and musician Jack Black posted a snippet to Instagram of what seemed to be a cover of Britney Spears’ 1999 hit “Baby One More Time.” Black is half of the musical comedy duo Tenacious D, alongside actor and musician Kyle Gass. In this short video, the two dance and lip sync to their rendition of the pop classic, which had fans hyped.

Following that, on March 7, the duo published a short music video on YouTube for the song, which featured the two on the red carpet for the new DreamWorks animated film Kung Fu Panda 4, starring Black. The next day, the full version of the cover was released for streaming with great reception.

The track takes a groovy funk-rock approach to the original dance-pop layout, changing the main piano to a heavy guitar. This departure is paired with live instruments backing Black, compared to the electronic sound of Spears’s song.

Jack Black has always been completely authentic in his work, whether in acting, singing, or performing. This project is a key example of Black doing what he loves while also staying true to himself.

Black told the Hollywood Reporter, “[Kung Fu Panda 4 director Mike Mitchell] said, ‘Hey, we would love to have a Tenacious D song for the end credits’ and I was like, ‘Really? Can we do Britney Spears?’ He said, Yeah, and he said, ‘Let’s do ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ for the kung fu aspect of that song,’ and we were like, ‘Hell yeah.’”

This is the first Tenacious D song since their last cover of Chris Isaak’s gut-renching Wicked Game. The duo makes the song significantly shorter in length and smaller in instrumentals. However, they still manage to make it feel just as emotional and just as musically full, despite the accompaniment from a single six-string acoustic guitar.

It’s a wonderful thing to see beloved songs covered and kept in their integrity while also giving the listener a fresh and new sonic experience.