Me Against the Music

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"Me Against the Music"
Single by Britney Spears featuring Madonna
from the album In the Zone
Released	October, 2003 November 10, 2003
Format	CD maxi single 12" single
Recorded	Spring 2003
Genre	Dance-pop/R&B
Length	3:43
Label	Jive Records
Writer(s)	Britney Spears Madonna Chris "Tricky" Stewart Penelope Magnet T. Nikhereanye T. Nash G. O'Brien
Producer(s)	Britney Spears Madonna Chris "Tricky" Stewart Penelope Magnet
Certification	Platinum (ARIA)
Chart positions
#1 (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Europe, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Russia Taiwan, United World Chart) #1 (TRL (21 days) #2 (Canada, Finland, Greece, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom) #4 (Switzerland) #5 (Belgium, Germany, Sweden) #6 (Brazil, Netherlands) #11 (France) #35 (United States)
Britney Spears singles chronology
"Boys (The Co-Ed Remix)" (2002)	"Me Against the Music" (2003)	"Toxic" (2004)
Madonna chronology
"Hollywood" (2003)	"Me Against the Music" (2003)	"Nothing Fails" (2003)

"Me Against the Music" is the first single from Britney Spears's 2003 album In the Zone, released during the fourth quarter of 2003.

The song is different from any previous singles released by Spears in a number of ways. For one, this became her first to have both co-writing and co-producing credits from herself (along with many others, including Madonna who is also featured on vocals for the song).

In 2004, "Me Against the Music" gained a Billboard Music Award for Hot Dance Sales Single of the Year.

In general, the song was panned by critics. Influential music review website Pitchforkmedia, which gave it half a star out of five, came to the point of considering the duet to represent "the ultimate musical horror", "an abomination in nearly all terms", "one of the greatest disasters in pop music history" and "an abomination even by Spears' standards" ^[1].

Contents 1 Making the song 2 Music video 3 Madonna Against The Video 4 Chart performance 5 Tracklisting 6 Remixes 7 References

[edit] Making the song

Originally, this song was not planned on being the first single off of In the Zone, and when it was then decided it would be the 1st single, a completely different version was in mind. Jive records was planning on releasing Outrageous as the lead off single. They felt that it was urban enough to become a hit across most formats, and they also had to fulfill a contract with R.Kelly who produced the song, which obligated them to release the song as a single. However, Britney felt that the song wasn't strong enough to be the 1st single and lobbied for 'Me Against the Music'. The original version that Britney had in mind did not include Madonna on the song. When Britney finally got her way, all was set to release the single. However, during rehearsals for the 2003 Video Music Awards in which Britney Spears would perform with Madonna and Christina Aguilera, Britney let Madonna listen to the song to get an opinion on it. As Madonna was listening to it and seemed to be enjoying it, Britney asked Madonna if she would like to appear on the song. Madonna agreed and the release of the song was delayed for weeks as Britney and Madonna went back into the studio and re-arranged the song to put Madonna's vocals on it. When the final version of the song was released in October 2003, many criticized the duo as it appeared that both were using each other for benefiting reasons. Madonna had been unable to score any radio hits off of her current album American Life so this was her chance to get some radio airplay, and Britney hadn't had a hit single in over 2 years, and having Madonna on the track would help her.

[edit] Music video

Directed by Paul Hunter, the video for "Me Against the Music" starts out with Britney driving up to a club. After entering the building, she begins a short dance scene in the entranceway; at the same time, we see several video screens about the different rooms in the club. In one room with several older men is Madonna sitting in a chair being taped by a camera. Her face appears on the video screens while Britney begins a dance in another part of the club. At this point, Madonna sees Spears and is immediately intrigued to find this girl, so she leaves the room to search for her; the same scenario occurs with Spears, as she, too, is intrigued to find out who this woman appearing on the screens is.

Throughout the video, there are cuts of Britney and Madonna in a section of the club that has wooden strips covering the walls. Madonna makes her way here and begins to look for Spears. At one point, she drops her jacket, and Britney picks it up, realizing this the same one the woman on the screen (Madonna) was wearing. Cuts of Spears dancing in a room with neon lights intrude this part of the video, as do scenes of Britney and Madonna dancing together in a filthy room on an iron bedframe.

Another part of the video has Spears and Madonna in two rooms separated by the same wall. As Spears begins a dance segment on her side of the wall, Madonna craves to get on the other side to find out who this girl is. Cuts of Madonna swinging in a courtyard with leaves on the ground are also included. The climax has Britney finally finding Madonna. She pushes her up against the wall, and moves in to kiss her; this piece is obviously a play on their now-infamous lip-lock at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. However, before Spears can reach her lips, Madonna disappears, leaving Britney very confused. About a second after she disappears, Madonna's laugh can be heard, suggesting that she may have been part of Britney's imagination or a spirit sent to tease her.

The video itself reached number one on the TRL Countdown and stayed there for a record breaking 20 consecutive days. However the record was beaten in 2005 by Kelly Clarkson with her hit "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

[edit] Madonna Against The Video

Madonna disliked the making of the music video, she did not get on well with the director Paul Hunter, who she had previously worked with on the Gap commercial with Missy Elliot. Dustin Robertson who edited this video and has done previous Madonna remix videos had this revelation about the video shoot :

"Madonna threatened to take herself out of that video at one point! She did NOT get along with the director on that video, Paul Hunter, either. She had already worked with him on the Gap spot and had not had a good experience. I remember she called Paul to give him some specific notes on the video and I guess, from what Madonna told me right after, she asked him if he was writing down her comments and he said, “No, I’m Driving.” Madonna said, “Fuck you”, hung up and called me right away. That was the last video I ever cut with Paul Hunter as I sided with Madge instead of him on creative issues and the direction of Madonna’s performance in the clip. I WAS TRYING TO HELP, I SWEAR. I got it to a place where Madonna was happy. I think the art direction is horrible and the wardrobe is stupid… it should have been way more modern, hipper and edgier for both Britney and Madge. It was one of the weakest videos ever, that NEEDED to be strong but just wasn’t." [1]

[edit] Chart performance

"Me Against the Music" was marked to become Britney's comeback single after a year-long hiatus from the music scene and no substantial U.S. hits since back two years prior in 2001. While the song didn't break records of any sorts, it made Spears' musical presence known once again.
The single reached a modest peak of number thirty-five on the Billboard Hot 100; Britney's first top forty hit since "I'm a Slave 4 U". On the component charts, it peaked within the top five of the Hot 100 Singles Sales and at number thirty-eight on the Hot 100 Airplay. At Top 40 radio, it became her first truly successful track in years, going top twenty on both the Top 40 Tracks and Mainstream Top 40.

"Me Against the Music" was a huge international success, reaching the top five in nearly every country in which it charted it peaked at number-one on the United World Chart for four weeks. It was a chart success in the UK however it only managed to sell a surprisingly low 122,000 copies, and It was a major hit for Spears in Australia, being her first number-one since "Oops! I Did It Again".

The song was also physically released in Mexico (as in the United States, not too many singles get released physically), and it managed to sell 50,000 copies being certified Gold.

The song was her first number one hit on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles (which began posting European chart position on the Internet since 2002 with "I Love Rock 'N Roll" being the first song that has charted on the chart).

Chart (2003/2004) [2] [3][4][5]	Peak Position
Argentina Top 40 Singles	1 (1 week)
Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles	1 (2 weeks)
Austrian Top 75 Singles	12
Belgium Top 50 Singles	5
Brazilian Hot 100 Singles	6
Canadian Billboard Top 100 Singles	2
Chilean Top 20 Singles	1 (4 weeks)
Danish Top 20 Singles	1 (1 week)
Dutch Top 40 Singles	6
Dutch Mega Single Top 100	5
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1 (3 weeks)
Finnish Top 20 Singles	2
French Top 100 Singles	11
German Top 100 Singles	5
German Top 100 Airplay	16
Greek Top 20 Singles	2
Irish Top 50 Singles	1 (1 week)
Italian Top 50 Singles	2
Japanese Oricon Top 200 Singles	11
'Tokio Hot 100'	1 (3 weeks)
New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Singles	13
Norwegian Top 20 Singles	2
Spanish Top 20 Singles (Sales)	1 (2 weeks)
Swedish Top 60 Singles	5
Swiss Top 100 Singles	4
Taiwanese Top 10 Singles	1 (1 week)
UK Official Top 75 Singles	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	35
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	38
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1 (2 weeks)
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales	1 (3 weeks)
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks	15
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40	11
United World Chart	1 (4 weeks)

[edit] Tracklisting

• Australian Maxi-Single Pt. 1

Released November 18, 2003

#	Title
1.	"Me Against the Music" (Video Mix)	3:47
2.	"Me Against the Music" (Peter Rauhofer Radio Mix)	3:46
3.	"Me Against the Music" (The Mad Brit Mixshow)	5:55

• Australian Maxi-Single Pt. 2

Released January 6, 2004

#	Title
1.	"Me Against the Music" (Rishi Rich's Dasi Kulcha Remix)	4:31
2.	"Me Against the Music" (Passengerz vs. The Club Mix)	7:37
3.	"Me Against the Music" (Terminalhead Vocal Mix)	7:10
4.	"Me Against the Music" (Video Mix Instrumental)	3:35

• International Maxi-Single

Released November 10, 2003

#	Title
1.	"Me Against the Music" (Video Mix)	3:47
2.	"Me Against the Music" (Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix)	4:31
3.	"Me Against the Music" (Peter Rauhofer Radio Mix)	3:46
4.	"Me Against the Music" (The Mad Brit Mixshow)	5:55

• US Remixes CD

Released November 11, 2003

#	Title
1.	"Me Against the Music" (Video Mix)	3:47
2.	"Me Against the Music" (Trak Starz Remix)	3:34
3.	"Me Against the Music" (Gabriel & Dresden Club Mix)	8:54
4.	"Me Against the Music" (Peter Rauhofer Radio Mix)	3:46
5.	"Me Against the Music" (The Mad Brit Mixshow)	5:58
6.	"Me Against the Music" (Bloodshy & Avant 'Dubbie Style' Remix)	5:18
7.	"Me Against the Music" (Kanye West Remix)	3:43

[edit] Remixes

"Me Against The Music" was one of Britney's most remixed single songs.

• Album Version/Video Mix 3:44
• Instrumental/Video Mix Instrumental 3:34
• Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix 4:33
• Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix Instrumental 4:33
• Rishi Rich's Punjabi Club Mix 5:34
• Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix ft. Penelope Magnet 3:35
• Gabriel & Dresden Club Mix 8:51
• Gabriel & Dresden Radio Edit 3:39
• Gabriel & Dresden Dub 7:14
• Peter Rauhofer's Electro House Mix 8:17
• Peter Rauhofer's Electro House Dub 6:49
• Peter Rauhofer Radio Mix 3:43
• Bloodshy & Avant "Chix Mix" ft. Penelope Magnet 5:16
• Bloodshy & Avant "Chix Mix" (Lidrock Edit) ft. Penelope Magnet 3:31
• Bloodshy & Avant "Dubbie Style" Remix 5:15
• Justice Remix/Extended Mix 4:01
• Passengerz Vs. The Club Mix 7:34
• The Mad Brit Mixshow 5:55
• Terminalhead Vocal Mix 7:07
• B.E.D. Club Mix 3:45
• Scott Storch Mix 3:38
• The Trak Starz Remix 3:31
• Dragon Man Remix ft. Penelope Magnet 3:44
• Dragon Man Remix ft. Madonna 3:44 - Confirmed by Taan Newjam
• Dragon Man Remix (Instrumental) 3:41 - Confirmed by Taan Newjam
• Kayne West Remix 3:43

A solo version of the song without Madonna was never released although Spears performed a pre-radio-airplay, Madonna-less version at the NFL Kick-Off in Washington DC.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/track_review/30239
2. ^ Britney Spears: Billboard Singles. AllMusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
3. ^ Me Against the Music and the Charts. Top40-Charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
4. ^ Me Against the Music and the Charts. MusicSquare.net. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
5. ^ Me Against the Music and the Charts. Mariah-Charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-06.

Preceded by "Slow" by Kylie Minogue	ARIA (Australia) number one single November 16, 2003 - November 23, 2003	Succeeded by "Angels Brought Me Here" by Guy Sebastian
Preceded by "White Flag" by Dido	United World Chart number one single December 13, 2003 - January 3, 2004	Succeeded by "Hey Ya!" by OutKast