This week 9 years ago (September 6th, 2001), I'm A Slave 4 U set the tone for Britney's third album, with hip-hop duo, The Neptunes, producing a song consisting of grown-up, seductive, layered vocals against a sparse beat. The song was premiered with an iconic jungle performance at the MTV VMA Awards, where the reigning Queen of Pop danced with a live snake.

The lusty electro funk masterpiece, telling the story that it's better to be a slave to the rhythm than to any man, peaked at #5 for 7 weeks on the worldwide top 40 chart and has sold over 1 million copies ending up as the 15th best-selling single by a female artist of 2001.

The sexiest sounding cut she ever did, with it's skittering, spare funk sound, perfect for teasing unformed sexiness, is praised as one of her best songs and remains one of the biggest steps forward in her career, being removed from the big Max Martin productions that were her signature until Slave. New Musical Express on I'm a Slave 4 U: This is funk the way God intended - hypnotic, insistent, mysterious, suggestive - and if Prince was a 19 year old former Disney Club host and virgin he'd be proud to create such a record.

The steamy video set in a hot warehouse, with the DJ spinning the darkest magic, while Britney, portrayed as a slave to the music, dances all day until she and the other dancers are sweaty and near dehydration, forced to search for water, was nominated for 3 MTV VMA awards in 2002. The video was ranked #1 on MuchMusic's "50 Sexiest Music Videos of All-Time" list. After the hard and intense choreography used in the video and performances, Britney started being recognized as one of the greatest dancers of all-time.



PURE FIRE.