The Problem With... Britney Spears' "I Wanna Go"

It's a funny thing growing up hearing about Britney Spears. I remember conversations between my friends and me in the school cafeteria about how much we loathed her.

Somewhere along those acne-anointed, styrofoam-tray screeds, we got to asking whether Britney Spears could retreat from pop and do another genre. The greasy-haired kid with a fresh-from-the-mall Slipknot T-shirt said Britney should do metal. Sitting across from him in an equally fresh Simpsons T-shirt, I said she should do techno (We were kids and didn't know any better, so we called anything with a keyboard techno). I wish I could go back in time, hold those kids up by the collar and tell them: "Kids of '99, be careful what you wish for because it just might happen!"

Well, it was a process. It started in 2007 with Blackout, continued the year after with Circus. This year's Femme Fatale went all the way...ay..ay with the electronic sounds that are now the standard in today's pop music. 

Britney's latest single "I Wanna Go" continues that "techno" sound her producers have boasted through most of her latest album. This track sounds just like her last few singles down to the stuh-uh-utter. There's one thing that's different. It's that playful summertime whistle that doesn't match the eerie, heavy bassline. 

I'm a bit confused by the track's theme about Britney breaking her inhibitions. Aren't the people who "got [her] all tied up" the same people who write her tracks and press releases. I don't think the press or fans would stop her if she did "take out her freak" -- like when she shaved her head. That was badass. 

The video follows the same template as director Chris Marrs Piliero's video for Ke$ha's track "Blow." Throw in references to movies, include a celebrity for credibility, and shoot a hokey action segment. It's clear that these references and ideas didn't come from Britney, she's just running with it. Way to "blow out" Britney. The video reminds me of a handy tip I heard once: don't trust a director with three names. 

After hearing this track a few hundred times. I kind of want to cry and scream "She's inhuman!!" into my bedsheets for a couple of minutes.