Though Federline’s album release is still months away, he has already made several promotional appearances—for which he’s reportedly been paid $10,000 a pop—including a recent stop at Pure, the nightclub at Caesars in Vegas, where some people gave Federline the finger, though Federline doesn’t recall it that way from up in the glass booth. “They were feeling it,�? he says, picking at a double order of turkey bacon. “I’m learning what I gotta do to get people hyped up. It doesn’t matter even if they’re not dancing, as long as they’re bobbing their head and as long as it looks like a mosh pit down there.�? Federline took Jimmy and Eddie with him to Vegas. “I don’t want to show up and be sitting in a booth and have everyone staring,�? he says. “Like it’s just me and my old lady sitting up there like, ‘Hey, how you doin’?’ �?

Federline has begun thinking ahead to his own tour, which he hopes will feel—backstage, anyway—like the vibe on his first big job as a backup dancer for Pink. (Eddie hired him for that gig, by the way. “I seen Kevin, and he had braids, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s him.’ White guy, braids—he had a look.�?) “We did not have no drama on Pink’s tour,�? Federline says. “We fucking went in, did our shit—when it was time to work it was time to work, and when it was time to play we played hard.�?
“It’s the company you keep,�? says Big Mike, who up until now has been silent. Big Mike has been Britney’s bodyguard for eight years, and he’s one of Federline’s best friends; he’s also roommates with Jimmy and Eddie. “I was living with them before she and I got together,�? Federline says.

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