Britney Spears was “on top of the world” when she recorded the I’m a Slave 4 U music video.
The 44-year-old singer’s striking music video marked her evolution from teen pop icon to mature, provocative superstar, and Brian Friedman, a dancer who choreographed the 2001 video, still has fond memories of working with Britney on the project.
Brian told People: “Britney in 2001 was unstoppable.”
I’m a Slave 4 U featured on her third studio album, Britney, and the record presented a young woman feeling liberated and independent.
Brian recalled: “She was the best of the best. She was on top of the world, which is crazy to think that. She was 19 years old. She was just a baby at that time.”
Brian developed the choreography with the help of Wade Robson. But Britney was keen to put her own distinctive twist on the dance routine, too.
Brian said: “With me, she didn’t really choreograph, but she knew how to make things look her own. And I think the gift of a great choreographer is when you give choreography to an artist, you choreograph it for them, and you have them in mind. So when they do the work, it should look like them, and it shouldn’t look like they’re trying to be someone else.
“I think Wade and I both always wanted everything to look like it was her improv or her freestyle.”
Brian remembers the choreography developing very naturally and easily.
He explained: “I remember the process was easygoing. It flowed really fast. It wasn’t the way I choreograph now, which is methodically and I’m in my head and I second-guess everything.
“It was that blind naivete that you have when you’re younger: healthy delusion where you think everything you do is going to be epic and you don’t second-guess things. And I think that was why it was so magical.”
Britney previously explained that the music video reflected her own love of dancing.
Speaking to MTV, Britney explained: “We’re in Los Angeles shooting my first single off my new album.
“It’s basically saying ‘I’m a slave for the music.’ Like, when you go into a club, you can’t help yourself; you’re enraptured in it. When I go to a club, I can’t just sit there and chit-chat. I’d much rather be on the dance floor, just dancing. And that’s what the song’s talking about.”
