I'm a Slave 4 U

"I'm a Slave 4 U" is the first single from Pop singer Britney Spears released from the album Britney during the third quarter of 2001.

It is often considered a developmental milestone in Spears' career because of the single's steamy music video, somewhat raunchy lyrics and R&B origins. The single is probably most well-known for the aforementioned video, which more fully redefined Britney's public image from the virginal 'girl next door' to a powerful vamp.

Song information

"I'm a Slave 4 U" parts ways with Spears' previous singles in a number of ways. Firstly, it was written and produced by The Neptunes, who have worked with rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Mystikal and other hip-hop artists; many therefore believe it symbolized a change in Britney's genre of music. Spears declares her independence in the song whilst also saying how she cannot control herself around a person as she proclaims "I'm a slave for you." Although she has said that the song is about dancing and not necessarily sex, her performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards (which featured her dancing with an albino python draped around her shoulders) meant that her explanation went unnoticed.

Music video

File:SlaveGrind.jpg

Britney drenched in sweat and inside the sauna.

Directed by Francis Lawrence at Universal City in California, the music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" is arguably Britney's most risque ever. It became her first project ever to not retire on MTV's TRL because the video for her next single, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," premiered on the countdown before "Slave" had enough days to allow itself to retire (with TRL, an artist may only have one video on the countdown at a time, meaning "Slave" was knocked off in favor of the newer video). Still, it was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 2002, including Best Female Video, Best Dance Video and Best Choreography. The video was also chosen as the Most Fashionale Video of 2001 in the MTV Philippines.

The video's setting is at sauna found within a run-down, futuristic city. We first find Spears out on a balcony, tempting viewers with her eyes and hands. She makes her way inside the building, while wearing her thong outside her jeans and sweating profusely, and begins a dance segment that continues in different cuts throughout the video. The next cuts show Britney staring into a mirror in a dirty bathroom as she shakes her rump, and in front of a wall of bright lights.

Towards the second half of the video, Spears makes her way into a different room of the sauna and puts her hands up to one of the walls. Here, she begins dancing suggestively for the people behind her. This tempts the group of people to raise Britney up, in a similar fashion that is done to an artist at concerts when they jump into the crowd.

The ending of the video finds Spears sitting in the corner of the main room, sweating as hard as ever. Several people begin to crowd around her, and some even start to lick the sweat off her face. As Britney is gasping for breath, we see that the starlet is in the center of a group orgasm. Next, someone opens a lighter towards the ceiling sprinklers, and it begins to rain down on the dehydrated dancers. Apparently, the ignition of the sauna sprinklers also prompted real rain to pour down from the sky, and the people are seen running out onto the balcony to get a taste right before the video ends.

Chart performance

"I'm a Slave 4 U" proved to be a moderate success, peaking within the top thirty of the Billboard Hot 100; the track also became a top thirty hit on the Hot 100 Airplay, but just barely made into the top seventy-five of the Hot 100 Singles Sales. The low sales points are due mostly because of the song's 12" single release in place of that of a true CD single, but in reality, had the song been released in the CD single format, it would've made only a sparse difference in its chart peak being that the physical singles market had been in decline since the turn of the Millennium.

"Slave" became the first and currently only Spears single to make an appearance on the R&B charts (reaching a peak of only number eighty-five). The single also became her first Dance hit, reaching the top five of the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

At Top 40 radio, "Slave" was a moderate success, peaking within the top twenty of the Top 40 Tracks and Mainstream Top 40, and at number twenty-one on the Rhythmic Top 40.

Internationally, the single was highly successful, becoming a top ten hit in nearly every country that it charted in.

In the U.K. 'I'm A Slave 4 U' was a success, peaking within the top five and selling a total of 149,000 copies.

Chart (2001)	Peak position
ARC Weekly Top 40	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	27
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	30
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	73
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	85
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales	42
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	8
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks	18
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40	18
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	21
TRL Top 10 Countdown	1 (11 Days)
Argentina Top 40	4
Australian ARIA Top 50	7
Austria Top 75	20
Belgium Top 50	6
Brazil Top 100	1 (1 week)
Canadian Billboard Top 100	9
France Top 100	8
German Top 100	3
Indonesia Chart	1 (4 weeks)
Ireland Top 50	6
Italy Top 50	4
Oricon (Japanese) Top 200	33
Netherlands Mega Top 100	9
New Zealand Top 50	13
Norwegian Top 20	3
Philippines Top 20	1 (5 weeks)
Sweden Top 60	7
Switzerland Top 100	7
'Tokio Hot 100'	3
U.K. Top 75 Singles Chart	4
World Chart Show	1 (1 week)

ARC Weekly Top 40 chart trajectory
Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Chart position	37	27	21	19	14	8	7	6	6	7	17	23	30

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart trajectory
Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Chart position	68	58	58	55	49	40	27	36	42	50	64	84	88	89

Australian ARIA Singles Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08
Chart Position	7	15	18	18	19	21	32	39

U.K. Top 75 Singles Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14
Chart Position	4	7	12	20	23	36	44	57	51	48	48	49	59	72

External links

• I'm a Slave 4 U Lyrics
• Watch the music video to I'm a Slave 4 U