| "I'm a Slave 4 U" | ||||
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| Single by Britney Spears | ||||
| from the album Britney | ||||
| B-side | "Intimidated" | |||
| Released | September 24, 2001 | |||
| Format | CD single, 12" | |||
| Recorded | June–August 2001 Right Track Studios (New York City, NY) Master Sound Studios (Virginia Beach, VA) |
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| Genre | R&B, pop | |||
| Length | 3:23 | |||
| Label | Jive | |||
| Writer(s) | Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo | |||
| Producer | The Neptunes | |||
| Britney Spears singles chronology | ||||
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"I'm a Slave 4 U" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. The song was written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, for Spears' third studio album, Britney (2001). It was released on September 24, 2001 by Jive Records, as the first single from the album. The urban song, has a similar soundscape to Vanity 6's 1982's song "Nasty Girl", while its lyrics talks about being a slave to the music.
The song garnered mixed reception from music critics. Some critics argued it was the singer's most mature sound at the time compared to her previous singles, while other noticed the song's attempt to leave behind Spears' girl next door image and said her vocals were unnatural. "I'm a Slave 4 U" achieved commercial success, peaking inside the top-ten in almost every country that it charted on. However, the song peaked at number twenty-seven in Hot 100 and at number eighty-five in Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, both being the lowest chart positions of the single worldwide.
A music video for the single, which was directed by Francis Lawrence, was released along with the single released. It features Spears dancing in a sauna, and it was recreated by television series Glee. Spears' performance of the song at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City was highly criticized by animal rights group PETA for the inclusion of exotic animals. Spears performed the song on every tour since its release, including the promotional The M+M's Tour.
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"I'm a Slave 4 U" was written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo,[1] best-known as The Neptunes, who also collaborated with Spears on another album track, "Boys",[2] for her third and self-titled LP, "Britney". It was recorded by Andrew Cleman at Master Sound Studios in Virginia Beach, VA and by Brian Garten at Right Track Studios in New York City, being later mixed by Serban Ghenea in NYC. Audio engineering was done by Ryan Smith and Tim Roberts.[3][4] After reading the lyrics for the first time, Spears stated it talks "about me just wanting to go out and forget who I am and dance and have a good time. That's kinda where I am now right now. I love working, but at the same time, I love having a good time."[5] The urban song is backed with breathy and moaning vocals and scratching. The soundscape of the song has been noted to be similar to Vanity 6's 1982's song "Nasty Girl".[6]
Announced as the album's lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U" was released in several formats. It was first solicited to radio stations before its official singles release on September 24.[7] On October 15 and 23, 2001, the track was physically available in Europe and in the United Kingdom respectively.[8] The CD single includes the main and instrumental version of the track, and the b-side "Intimidated",[8] which can be also found on the "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" soundtrack.[9] In addition, a four-track vinyl 12-inch single was released in the United States on October 30, 2001, which includes remixes by Thunderpuss and Miguel Migs.[10] Other official re-workings of the track were made by Dave Audé, which can be found on Spears' 2005 remix compilation "B in the Mix: The Remixes".[11] The song was covered on the TV show Glee, by Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce on September 28, 2010, as a part of a tribute episode to Spears titled "Britney/Brittany". The song was covered by the American pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene for their 2011 We Own the Night Tour as a tribute for Spears.
The song was mostly well-received by the critics. A review from NME magazine stated that "the song is funk the way God intended —hypnotic, insistent, mysterious, suggestive— and if Prince was a nineteen-year-old former Disney Club host and virgin, he'd be proud to create such a record".[12] Other reviews from Rolling Stone magazine[13] and Allmusic[14] agreed that "Slave" was a step towards a more mature sound. The song and video was the beginning of a different Britney and was the first of her seductive videos. Even though the single made it to #27 in the US, it is often regarded as one of Britney's best single by fans. However, there were some bad reviews such as the one by Stephanie McGrath from All Pop, who despite considering "Slave" as a "huge step away from the bouncy pop that made her a superstar" and was an "attempt to leave behind her pigtails and chirpy image", stated that the track "did not suit her style, the vocals were forced and the Janet Jackson slinkiness was unnatural".[15]Bill Lamb from About.com listed at number nine, on her Top 10 Songs, saying: "By the time of this single off her third album, it was obvious Britney Spears was becoming an adult. This song is a radical shift from the "not quite innocent" 16 year old schoolgirl of Britney's first album. Slinky and sexy have crept into the Britney Spears style".[16]
"I'm a Slave 4 U" reached number twenty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100,[17] becoming Britney's first lead single from an album not to crack the U.S. top ten. The track also became a top thirty hit on the Hot 100 Airplay,[18] but just barely made into the Hot 100 Singles Sales peaking at number seventy-three.[19] The low sales points are due mostly because of the song's 12-inch single release instead of a competitive regular CD single. "Slave" became Spears' first dance hit, reaching number four on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.[17] It is also her first and, so far, only song to appear on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number eighty-five.[17] In Europe "Slave" was more successful, becoming a top ten hit in nearly every country that it charted in, including big markets such as Germany and France,[8] where it was certified Silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique for selling over 125,000 copies.[20] The track spent two weeks at number-five on the European Hot 100 Singles chart provided by magazine Music and Media at the time.[21] "Slave" peaked at number-four on the official UK Singles Chart[22] and spent a total of fourteen weeks within the top seventy-five and sold over 150,000 copies.[23] In the Pacific, the track was somewhat successful, debuting at number-seven on the Australian Singles Chart. Despite spending a very short period on the chart, eight weeks,[24] it was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of over 35,000 units.[25] In New Zealand, "Slave" debuted at number forty-six on November 4, 2001 and missed the top ten, peaking at number-thirteen in its third week. The song spent just six weeks on the chart.[26]
The music video was shot on a soundstage in Universal City, California, over Labor Day weekend (Sep. 1-2), under the direction of Francis Lawrence, and is one of her most risqué videos ever.[27] It made its world premiere on MTV's "Making the Video" on September 24 at 5 p.m. EST,[27] the same day the song officially hit the American radio stations,[7] and debuted at #1 on Total Request Live two days later.[28] Some of the dancing was choreographed by Puerto-Rican dancer Mayte Garcia, who taught Spears bellydancing for the video. In the video, Spears and fifteen dancers employ the same choreography seen in her with Spears looking over a balcony whilst singing with cars down in the distance. Spears is portrayed as a slave to the music who dances all day until she and the other dancers are sweaty and near dehydration, forcing them to search for water. Two alternative versions of the video clip can be found on the Greatest Hits: My Prerogative DVD released on November 9, 2004.[29] The music video was nominated in three categories at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, and Best Choreography. The video clip for "I'm a Slave 4 U" ranked #1 in the list of the "50 Sexiest Music Videos of All-Time" published by Canadian music channel MuchMusic in 2007.[30] An official remix video used the "Miguel Migs Petalpusher Vocal Mix" was also released. There are another 2 unreleased remix videos using the Thunderpuss Club Mix and the Thunderpuss Dark Mix Nearly 10 years later in 2011, the video would be compared to her Till The World Ends music video. Several references from the Slave video were made in the video for Till The World Ends, such as the dancers crowding around her and the sweaty dancers scene.
Spears first performed "I'm a Slave 4 U" publicly at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on September 6, 2001.[31] Along with dancing in a very revealing outfit, the performance is probably most remembered for featuring a number of exotic animals, including a white tiger and a live albino Burmese Python on her shoulders, the latter of which has become one of Spears' most iconic images. The inclusion of the animals in the performance brought a great deal of criticism from animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).[32] In August 2008, MTV Network named the performance the most memorable moment in VMA history.[33] Other performances include several television appearances to promote her third album, Britney. She performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 11, The Rosie O'Donnell Show on November 5 and the Late Show With David Letterman on November 6.[7] A month later, Spears opened the 2001 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on December 4 with a performance of the track on a stage inside the fountains of the Bellagio Hotel.[34] Notably, the song was performed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to kick off the 2003 National Football League season.[35] Spears performed the track on her latest four world tours, Dream Within a Dream, The Onyx Hotel, The Circus Starring Britney Spears and The Femme Fatale Tour.
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