Songoftheday 2/14/23 - All you people look at me like I'm a little girl, well did you ever think it'd be okay for me to step into this world?

 

 

"I'm A Slave 4 U" - Britney Spears

from the album Britney (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 3

Today's song is from Britney Spears, whose sophomore effort Oops!...I Did It Again had scored a trio of pop hits with the title track, "Lucky", and "Stronger". In the early fall of 2001, Spears returned with the lead single for her upcoming third album Britney. "I'm A Slave 4 U", written and produced by the Neptunes, the hot up and coming team of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (who will themselves make the series as well), the song completely changed the perception of the star from a pristine ex-Mickey Mouse Club princess to a total seductress, complete with a slinky groove let alone the title which certain raised eyelids then (I couldn't even imagine it with that title being released today). But the lyrics in the verses are almost deceptively cooler, though she's macking up on some guy in the club with the definite intention of getting him home tonight. And the last line on the verses, "Leave behind my name and age", is vaguely scandalous. But the thing is, Britney's voice isn't made for this time of sensuality, and it comes off pretty Lolita-ish in this, despite the Neptunes flooding her basement with beats and bass. The music video is this display of a dance orgy that certainly shocked a whole lot of people, and radio give it a lukewarm reaction even though MTV played the hell out of it. And without a commercial CD or cassette single (only a 12" vinyl single of dance remixes was released in the U.S.), the song certainly failed Britney and Jive Records' expectations, with a quick run to the top-40...

"I'm A Slave 4 U" became the sole top-40 hit from Britney in December of 2001, while landing her first hit on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart at #85. On the radio, the song hit #15 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, and #21 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format. The remixes of the track, done by Thunderpuss and Miguel Migs among others, helped Spears land her first chart hit on Billboard's Dance Club Play list at #4. Internationally, the single did much better, reaching the top ten in Portugal (#2), Germany (#3), Norway (#3), the United Kingdom (#4), Italy (#4), Belgium (#4 Wallonia/#6 Flanders), Finland (#4), Spain (#6), Austria (#6), Ireland (#6), Greece (#6), Australia (#7), Sweden (#7), Switzerland (#7), Croatia (#7), France (#8), Canada (#8), Denmark (#8), the Netherlands (#9), and Romania (#10). The Britney album, released in November of that year, came in strong, selling 3/4ths of a million in its first week, and spent over a year on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell close to five million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2003, Britney was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, losing to Norah Jones with her lite jazz-pop of Come Away With Me. 

For the second single from the record, Britney went to Swedish hit producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub for "Overprotected", taking her back to the sound of her previous work. Even though it sounds like an *NSYNC toss-off, its a stronger song and works much better for her. However the music video had glimpses of her fighting her image while still relying on selling her young body to the masses, and pop radio was turned off. A remix by Rodney "Darkchild" Jenkins helped at least placing in the top-40 on the Mainstream Top-40 radio chart at #37, but the song stalled down at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100, a great disappointment. Nevertheless, most likely from record company campaigning, "Overprotected" was nominated for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy, which again went to Norah Jones for "Don't Know Why".Overseas, though, it was a bigger hit, making the top ten in Sweden (#2), Italy (#3), the UK (#4), Romania (#5), Greece (#6), Finland (#7), Hungary (#7), Croatia (#7), Belgium (#9 Flanders/#14 Wallonia), Ireland (#9), and Norway (#9).

The third radio single from Britney was the ballad "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman", another Martin/Yacoub production that they wrote with Dido of "Thank You"/"Stan" fame. It was a much more mature record, and the melody supports Spears' voice nicely, but I think the title again turned off many a radio programmer, and without a commercial CD single release, it didn't have a chance. While it got to #21 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, and #29 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format, the single only "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at #102. Again, it was a bigger international hit, reaching the top ten in the UK (#2), Austria (#3), Ireland (#3), Sweden (#4), the Czech Republic (#4), Australia (#7), the Netherlands (#9), and Germany (#10).

In 2002, Britney starred in the movie Crossroads, and in it she sings a cover of Joan Jett's 1982 #1 hit "I Love Rock & Roll" produced by Darkchild that was on the Britney album. It was released as a single in Europe, and reached the top ten in Portugal (#4), Hungary (#6), Germany (#7), Ireland (#8), Croatia (#8), Austria (#9), and Slovenia (#10), and made the top-40 in the UK (#13), Australia (#13), Sweden (#15), Belgium (#15 Flanders/#27 Wallonia), Switzerland (#15), the Netherlands (#18), Finland (#19), Italy (#20), Canada (#32). But this is possibly the most embarrassing thing Britney or Darkchild ever did. 

Another song from the Neptunes on Britney, "Boys", was put out as the next single, with Pharrell singing on it as well, and while it peaked at #32 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 radio chart, it again "bubbled under" their Hot 100 tally at #122. The song had a better overseas showing, hitting the top ten in the UK (#7), Belgium (#7 Flanders/#10 Wallonia), and Ireland (#10). Finally, the dance-pop song "Anticipating" was released as a single in France, where it made the top-40 at #38. Britney will return to the series. 

(4/10)

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The club remixes of the track, like this one from Thunderpuss, helped Britney score her first Dance Club Play chart hit at #4...

The most remembered performance of the song came when Britney appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards a couple weeks before the release of the single, where she notoriously cavorted with a giant snake...

But she had a more organic performance when she was on the Rosie O'Donnell show...

And lastly, in concert on her In The Zone DVD...

Up tomorrow: This rapper is perpetually punctual.