I'm a Slave 4 U

Background and composition

"I'm a Slave 4 U" is dance-pop and R&B song, written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, who also collaborated with Britney Spears on "Boys", another track from Britney. Both recordings were originally intended for Janet Jackson's seventh studio album All for You (2001) – Jackson's recording was an unreleased demo before the track was handed to Spears. "I'm a Slave 4 U" was recorded by Andrew Cleman (Master Sound Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia) and Brian Garten (Right Track Studios, New York City), and was mixed by Serban Ghenea. Audio engineering on the track was done by Ryan Smith and Tim Roberts. After reading the lyrics for the first time, Spears said the song reflected her desire to "go out and forget who I am", describing it as being about dancing and "having a good time". The soundscape of the song has been noted to be similar to Vanity 6's 1982 song "Nasty Girl".

Critical reception

Ted Kessler from NME magazine stated that "I'm a Slave 4 U" is "funk the way God intended", characterizing it as "hypnotic, insistent, mysterious, [and] suggestive". The review further remarked that if Prince were a "nineteen-year-old former Disney Club host and virgin", he would be proud to have created such a release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic agreed that "I'm a Slave 4 U" was a step towards a more mature sound. According to Rolling Stones Barry Walters, while the Neptunes-produced tracks are "not the album's most melodious", "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Boys" were identified as Spears' "most important" songs on the record. Bill Lamb from About.com listed the track at number nine on her Top 10 Songs, saying that, by the release of the single from her third album, it had become "obvious" that Spears was "becoming an adult", describing the song as a "radical shift" from the "not quite innocent" image associated with the 16-year-old schoolgirl persona of ...Baby One More Time (1999). The review further noted that elements described as "slinky and sexy" had begun to enter Spears' style.

"I'm a Slave 4 U" received several comparisons to Janet Jackson's songs, with one critic noting that Spears' primary influence was "not Madonna but Janet Jackson". They also emphasized the song's production, noting that the Neptunes' "minimal" electronic approach, combined with Spears’ "breathy, cooing delivery", resulted in a track that "smacks of Prince". Yahoo! Music wrote that "I'm a Slave 4 U", written and produced by the Neptunes and initially intended for Janet Jackson, evoked "old-school" sexual themes associated with Prince and his protégés Vanity 6. They described the song as "a real artistic leap" for Spears.

Commercial performance

"I'm a Slave 4 U" peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the issue date of December 1, 2001, becoming Spears' first lead single from an album not to enter the U.S. top ten. The low sales points were mostly due to the song's 12-inch single release instead of a competitive regular CD single. Despite the low sales, "I'm a Slave 4 U" became Spears' first dance hit, reaching number four on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It is also her first and, so far, only song to appear on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, peaking at number 85.

In Europe, "I'm a Slave 4 U" became a top ten hit in nearly every country that it charted in, such as Germany and France, and was certified silver by the SNEP for selling over 125,000 copies. The track spent two weeks at number five on the European Hot 100 Singles chart provided by magazine Music and Media at the time. In the United Kingdom, "I'm a Slave 4 U" peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and spent a total of 14 weeks within the top 100 and sold over 150,000 copies. In the Pacific, the track debuted at number seven on the Australian Singles Chart. Spending eight weeks on the chart, it was certified gold by the ARIA for shipments of over 35,000 units. In New Zealand, "I'm a Slave 4 U" debuted at number 46 on November 4, 2001, peaking at number 13 in its third week and spending six weeks on the chart.

In 2021, Billboard ranked "I'm a Slave 4 U" at No. 3 on the 100 Greatest Songs of 2001 list, stating that it "blazed a new path for pop stars of the future" by asserting that an artist's mode of self-expression is "entirely up to them", regardless of whether audiences "like that".

Music video

The accompanying music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" was filmed on a soundstage in Universal City, California, over Labor Day weekend on September 1–2, 2001, under the direction of Francis Lawrence. It made its world premiere on MTV's Making the Video on September 24 at 5 p.m. EST, the same day the song officially beat the US radio stations. Spears that the song's theme and its music video closely reflected her personal state at that point in her life. Director Lawrence explained that he wanted the video to move beyond the "sleek" dance clubs typically associated with Los Angeles or New York, instead envisioning a setting with a more international scope. He described conceiving the club as being located in an "abandoned Asian bath house", populated by "young world travelers" who seek out "far exotic places" and would naturally be drawn to a location like the one depicted in the video.

In the video, Spears and her backup dancers employ the same choreography and sing while looking over a balcony at cars down in the distance. Spears is portrayed as a slave to the music, dancing all day until she and the backup dancers are sweaty and near dehydration, forcing them to search for water — Spears is then seen standing by a mirror at the sink. The turntable solo in the video was done by DJ Skribble. Two alternative versions of the video clip can be found on the Greatest Hits: My Prerogative DVD, released on November 9, 2004.

Reception

The video clip for "I'm a Slave 4 U" was noted for drawing inspiration from Janet Jackson; Vertigo Shtick wrote that Spears' primary influence was "not Madonna but Janet Jackson", particularly in terms of her "visual element". This influence was described as evident in the video itself and as continuing through later releases such as "Me Against the Music", "Boys", and "My Prerogative", as well as her "live performances in general". In Canada, the video ranked number one in the list of the "50 Sexiest Music Videos of All-Time" published by music video channel MuchMusic in 2007. Several visual elements in the video for "Till the World Ends" draw comparisons to "I'm Slave 4 U", with the art direction described as hewing "closely to the grimy" setting associated with the earlier video, including editing techniques which makes Spears appear as if she can "throw down on the dance floor".

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.

Live performances and usage in media

Spears first performed "I'm a Slave 4 U" at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on September 6, 2001. The performance is widely considered amongst the greatest moments in the award show's history as well as in pop culture. The performance featured a white tiger (wrangled by Bhagavan Antle) and a live amelanistic Burmese python on her shoulders. Other performances include several television appearances to promote her third album, Britney. She performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 11, and a special named Total Britney Live was aired by MTV on November 3, where Spears performed "I'm a Slave 4 U", "Stronger", and "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman". Two days later, on November 5, Spears performed "I'm a Slave 4 U" on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and on the Late Show with David Letterman the day after. A month later, she opened the 2001 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on December 4, 2001, with a performance of the track on a stage inside the fountains of the Bellagio Hotel.

Spears performed the song on the 2001–02 Dream Within a Dream Tour, in a setting resembling the performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. According to Jim Farber from New York Daily News, "But for all the bumping and grinding that went on, parents had no reason to cover their daughters' eyes". To promote her fourth studio album In the Zone, she performed the track at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live on September 4, 2003, at the National Mall. Other songs performed included "Me Against the Music" and "...Baby One More Time". On September 14, Spears played a surprise concert at Rain Nightclub in the Palms Casino Resort, and performed the aforementioned songs along with a new song titled "Breathe on Me". On November 17, a concert special titled Britney Spears: In the Zone aired on ABC, and included a mash-up of "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Boys". On The Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004, the track was included on the setlist and had a "Flintstones-meets-Survivor" set.

"I'm a Slave 4 U" was performed as a shortened version on the 2007 The M+M's Tour. On The Circus Starring Britney Spears in 2009, Spears performed the song in a setting "complete with flames and a fierce dance routine", which managed to "rise above all the ephemera" according to MTV News' James Montgomery. For the Femme Fatale Tour in 2011, "I'm a Slave 4 U" was performed as fetishistic shots of naked, bound men were displayed on the backdrops. On her residency concert in Las Vegas, Britney: Piece of Me (2013–17), Spears initially started the performance sat on a throne surrounded by her female dancers who are playing in a fountain. Later on, the throne was removed in favor of a pole. At the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, the song was once again on a stripper pole as part of a greatest hits medley. While promoting her ninth studio album Glory in 2016, Spears performed the song at several music festivals worldwide, including the iHeartRadio Music Festival, Apple Music Festival, KIIS-FM Jingle Ball, and the 99.7's Triple Ho Show. "I'm a Slave 4 U" was performed on the 2017 Britney: Live in Concert Asian tour, as well as on the Piece of Me Tour in 2018, which covered North America and Europe.

According to rehearsal videos published at Spears's social media accounts in late 2018, "I'm a Slave 4 U" was set to be performed at her planned residency Britney: Domination prior to its cancellation.

Influence and legacy

"I'm a Slave 4 U" was widely seen as being a departure from Spears' girl next door image and signature bubblegum pop sound from her previous two albums – ...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again – the sound of the single leans more towards "urban pop" and R&B, and the accompanying video and live performances are more overtly sexual. Upon its release, the song and video - as well as Spears' performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards - were heavily criticized for their overt sexual nature as well as for Spears only being 19 years old at the time. Many critics at the time compared the song and its video to that of Prince and Janet Jackson. Some critics also noted similarities in Spears' slight transition from bubblegum pop and more confident overt sexuality to that of Madonna in the early 1990s, during which she was transitioning from her pop sound of the 1980s to a more mature sound and more explicit sexuality on her single and music video for "Justify My Love" and on her Erotica album.

Miley Cyrus has also cited "I'm a Slave 4 U" for influencing the song and video for her 2013 hit "We Can't Stop". Likewise, Selena Gomez cited the song for influencing her 2013 single "Come & Get it". In a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair, Lindsay Lohan said the song and video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" were the main influence for her 2004 hit "Rumors", with Lohan even using the same director Spears had previously used on her video "My Prerogative". At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, Nicki Minaj had planned on paying homage to Spears' 2001 performance for her performance of her song "Anaconda" by using several albino snakes, however, MTV banned Minaj's use of live snakes after a backup dancer was bitten. In 2016, Mexican-American singer Becky G paid homage to Spears' 2001 VMA performance by dancing with a yellow snake to her song "Sola" at Univision's annual awards show 2016 Premios Juventud. In 2020, Jazmin Bean recorded a cover of the song for the expanded reissue of their debut extended play Worldwide Torture (2019).

Controversy

"I'm a Slave 4 U" was seen as so controversial upon its release that Spears received immense backlash from The Parents Association of America (PAA), as well as several other conservative outlets. The PAA also urged people to boycott Spears and criticized her for "being an irresponsible and bad role model to young girls all over the country", with even Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich proclaiming at a live press conference, "If I had a chance, I would shoot Britney Spears." Spears responded to the backlash in a December 2001 Rolling Stone article, "I don't see the big deal and I don't see the need for an apology. I'm a 19-year-old girl about to be 20, I'm growing up and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides no matter what, I can never win, when I did '...Baby One More Time' they were saying I was too controversial, so you can never win."

While then seen as controversial, in subsequent years "I'm a Slave 4 U" has since gone down in pop culture history with Billboard regarding the video and song itself as "groundbreaking, daring and artistically creative" in 2013. Many music critics have credited the Britney album as a whole and its lead single "I'm a Slave 4 U" for inspiring other female artists of her own generation and the generation following her. In 2017, writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers noted, "In the early 2000s there was no one bigger in music than Britney Spears and with her third studio album Britney and its lead single 'I'm a Slave 4 U', Britney Spears started a new trend. The now clichéd trend of a young girl transitioning from the Disney Channel to a squeaky clean pop image than into overtly sexual 'femme fatale'. From girls of her own era, such as Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson, to girls of the next generation, such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, Spears blazed the trail of how to grow and sustain from Disney kid to pop sensation to pop culture powerhouse."

Track listings

• European CD single

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (main version) – 3:23
2. "Intimidated" – 3:17

• European and Australian CD maxi single

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (main version) – 3:23
2. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (instrumental) – 3:23
3. "Intimidated" – 3:17
4. "Britney... Interview" – 4:16

• Japanese CD maxi single

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (main version) – 3:23
2. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (instrumental) – 3:23
3. "Intimidated" – 3:17

• UK CD maxi and cassette single

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (main version) – 3:23
2. "Intimidated" – 3:17
3. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (instrumental) – 3:23

• 12-inch vinyl

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (main version) – 3:23
2. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (instrumental) – 3:23

• 12-inch vinyl (The Remixes)

1. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Thunderpuss club mix) – 8:45
2. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Thunderpuss radio mix) – 3:18
3. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Miguel Migs Petalpusher vocal) – 5:30
4. "I'm a Slave 4 U" (The Light remix) – 8:25

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

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