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Welcome back to Hipgrade, a podcast of of Pop Chart History from Slate Magazine about the hits from coast to coast.

I'm Chris Malanfi, chart analyst, pop critic, and writer of Slate's Why Is This Song Number One series?

On our last episode, we introduced Farrell Williams, Timothy Timothy Timbaland Mosley, and Missy Elliott,

three friends from around Virginia Beach with quirky tastes in music and genius ears for a hook.

We're now up to 2001 when both Farrell and his Neptunes partner, Chad Hugo, and Timbaland

and Missy are at the height of their chart powers, and they're all about to cast a wider

net for the superstars they will work with. By 2001, the Neptunes, Forel Williams, and Chad Hugo, had massively grown their clientele.

That year alone, they produced hits for everyone from Usher to Ray J to Foxy Brown.

But one particular client was drawing more attention than all the others.

I know I may be young, but I've got feelings too,

and I need to do what I feel like doing, so let me go.

I'm a slave for you, was the lead single of Britney Spears' 2001 album, simply titled

Brittany.

It was a big departure for Spears, whose last two CDs had led off

with tracks produced by Swedish pop mastermind Max Martin. I'm a slave for you was a track

Farrell and Chad had originally demoed for Janet Jackson. But when she passed, Spears, eagerly looking

to shed her teen pop image, jumped at the chance to record it. She premiered the single at the

2001 MTV Video Music Awards in a headline-grabbing performance that found Brittany wearing a barely-there

outfit and a massive albino python snake.

The performance at the VMAs nearly overshadowed the song, which was only a medium-sized hit for Brittany,

peaking at number 27 on the Hot 100. Critics compared it not only to Janet Jackson, but also

...