I Wanna Go
Encyclopedia
"I Wanna Go" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears
, released as the third single from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale
. It was written and produced by Max Martin
and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha
. Spears first posted a snippet of the track in February 2011, prior to the album's release. Following a poll on her official website in which fans could choose the third single of the album, "I Wanna Go" was announced as a single on May 13, 2011. The cover art was released on June 6, 2011.
"I Wanna Go" is a dance
and Hi-NRG
song that features a heavy bassline
and drum fills
reminiscent of New Order
. The pre-chorus has a whistle
d hook
that received comparisons to the music of Bob Sinclar
and Frankie Knuckles
. Spears' vocals are processed, and she squeals and stutters throughout the song. The lyrics of "I Wanna Go" feature Spears singing about losing inhibitions. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Some praised it for being effective and highlighted its hook, while others dismissed the processed vocals. The song was treated with different remixes, including a Bollywood mix with guest vocals by Sonu Nigam
, and another one by DJ Frank E
and Alex Dreamz.
After the release of Femme Fatale, "I Wanna Go" charted due to digital sales in the lower regions of the US Billboard Hot 100
and the Canadian Hot 100
, and also topped the South Korean International chart. Following its release as a single, the song reached the top ten in several music markets, including Canada, France, Finland and the United States. However, it became one of her lowest peaking singles in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and was the first single of her career that failed to chart in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "I Wanna Go" made Femme Fatale the first album by Spears to have three top ten singles.
An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero, premiered on June 22, 2011. It depicts Spears daydreaming at a press conference about a series of events, including being chased by paparazzi
cyborgs and being rescued by actor Guillermo Díaz. Marrs Piliero explained the video as "a ridiculous, exaggerated rumor about her life and career." The video references films such as Half Baked
, Crossroads
, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Michael Jackson's Thriller. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its fun spirit. Spears has performed "I Wanna Go" at the Femme Fatale Tour
(2011).
and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha
. The song was written in 2009 and registered on Broadcast Music Incorporated
under the legal title "I I I Wanna Go O O". On February 22, 2011, Spears posted on her Twitter
account a link to a 29-second clip of the song, while calling Martin "amazing". With Rolling Stone
, Spears stated that the song's signature whistle gets her "every time [she] hears it", adding that Martin's melodies are "incredible. [...] Who would have thought of that? There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio." Kotecha told Digital Spy
in May 2011 that the song was likely a contender for third single due to positive reaction. On May 11, 2011, a poll was launched on Britney.com in which fans could choose the third single of the album. Two days later, "I Wanna Go" was officially announced as the third single from Femme Fatale by Jive Records
through a press release. The cover art
was revealed on June 6, 2011, and featured Spears on the music video set, wearing colored hair extensions and a top with a skeletal Mickey Mouse
.
and Hi-NRG
song. It features a heavy bassline
and drum fills
; the latter are reminiscent of English band New Order
, more specifically of their single "Blue Monday
" (1983). Spears squeals and chuckles throughout the song, and her vocals are processed. In the pre-chorus, she draws out the "e"'s in lines such as "Shame on me / To need release / Uncontrollably." The section also has a whistle
d hook
, which was compared by Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
to the music of French recording artist Bob Sinclar
and American recording artist Frankie Knuckles
. In the chorus
, Spears stutters "I I I wanna go O O / All the way-ay-ay / Taking out my freak tonight". Ryan Brockington of the New York Post
compared "I Wanna Go" to the music of her fifth studio album Blackout (2007).
In the lyrics, Spears sings about losing inhibitions, as evident in lines such as "I I I wanna show / All the dir-ir-irt / I got running through my mind.", while playfully apologizing for her need for sexual release. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
stated that she sings about "the scrum that surrounds her" in "Lately people got me all tied up / There's a countdown waiting for me to erupt". According to the sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing, "I Wanna Go" is written in the key
of D minor
, with an electropop beat infused metronome of 138 beats per minute. Spears' vocals range from the low-key of E3 to the high-note of D5.
and released on the DesiHits
website in June 2011. In the remix, Sonu mirrors Spears' vocals in Hindi over Indian instruments
. Spears said about the song, "I'm so excited about having Sonu on I Wanna Go. His vocals add such a different feel, which I love! Watch out Bollywood – it's Britney and Sonu!". A remix done by DJ Frank E
and Alex Dreamz removes the whistled hook and adds an extra beat to the song. The accompanying video for the remix contains footage of the music video for the song with a glowing yellow tint.
called "I Wanna Go" Spears' best song since "Toxic
", and added that "I’d go so far as to say that it is probably the best song that she has ever recorded. [...] How the decision was made that 'Hold It Against Me
' would be a better first single over this is baffling." Parker Bruce of the Washington Square News
stated that the song functions as "a sort of formal declaration and mission statement" for Femme Fatale, saying that "It is not an innovative song, but it is fantastically effective and endlessly enticing with its liberating, toss-your-cares-away, dance-like-a-complete–and-utter-fool cathartic chorus, repeated words and typically saucy Britney lyrics." Hannah Rishel of The Daily Collegian said "I Wanna Go" would have been "another good lead single". Andrew Leahey of The Washington Times
said that along with "Till the World Ends
", they are "bass-heavy tributes to club culture."
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy called it "anthemic" and noted it may become a future single. Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice called the song the highlight of Femme Fatale, and said "get ready for [it] to score your summer." However, Juzwiak went on to note that her vocals are heavily manipulated to maximize the chorus's potential, even though "the joy she sings about is palpable." Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times
also noted that her vocals were processed to the point "these songs could be sung by anyone", exemplifying "'I Wanna Go' tweaks her up so high she could be Jackie Evancho
." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
stated that "If not for its infectious pre-chorus whistle, 'I Wanna Go' would be just another song off the Max Martin assembly line".
Andy Gill of The Independent
said that the album sounds more programmed than natural, commenting that "even the little whistling hook in 'I Wanna Go' has a synthetic character about it." Alexis Petridis
of The Guardian
said that although most of tracks of the album are "genuinely exciting [...] there's certainly some unremarkable stuff on offer, notably 'Seal It With a Kiss' and 'I Wanna Go." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
stated that "I Wanna Go" is the point of the album in which "things stop being fun and start becoming intensely repetitious", criticizing specifically "[the] utterly stupid set of syllables repeated ad nauseam
for no reason whatsoever? [..] the 'ably' part of 'uncontrollably' gets recycled far beyond the point where it just sounds stupid." In September 2011, "I Wanna Go" topped Rolling Stones reader's poll of The Best Songs of the Summer.
, and at number
fifty-two on the Hot Digital Songs
component chart due to strong digital sales. The song debuted at number sixty on the Canadian Hot 100
on the week of April 16, 2011. It also debuted at number one on South Korea's GAON
International Chart, and remained on the same position for three consecutive weeks, After its release as a single, the song debuted at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Pop Songs
chart on the week of July 2, 2011. It also re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-nine. The following week, it surged up to number twenty-nine on the Hot 100 due to the premiere of the music video, with sales of 67,000 copies (up 282% from the previous week). "I Wanna Go" became Spears's twenty-first top-forty single, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart on November 21, 1998, and only behind Taylor Swift
with twenty-seven and Rihanna
with twenty-two.
On August 4, 2011, the song climbed to number nine, making Femme Fatale the first album by Spears to achieve three top ten singles. It became her fifth top ten single in a row, and her twelfth top ten hit overall, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart, behind Rihanna with eighteen and Beyoncé with fourteen. "I Wanna Go" peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 on the week of August 24, 2011. The song peaked atop the Pop Songs chart on September 24, 2011, becoming Spears' sixth single to top the chart, and setting a record for the longest span of number-one singles by an artist (12 years, seven months and four days). Spears scored her first chart-topper with "...Baby One More Time
" on the week of February 20, 1999. She also tied Mariah Carey
and Beyoncé for the third-highest female total of number-one singles. As of September 2011, "I Wanna Go" has sold over 1.1 million digital downloads in the United States.
In Australia, "I Wanna Go" debuted at number thirty-three on the ARIA Singles Chart
on the week of July 10, 2011. It peaked at number thirty-one three weeks later, on July 31, 2011. The song became the third lowest peaking single of Spears' career in the country, after "Radar
" (2009) at forty-six and "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
" (1999) at thirty-seven. It spent nine weeks on the chart. It has since been certified gold
by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number twenty-five on the official chart, and peaked at number twenty-two the following week. It became her lowest peaking single since "Radar", and her sixth single to not enter the top twenty. The song spent ten weeks on the chart. On July 7, 2011, "I Wanna Go" debuted at forty-one on the Irish Singles Chart
. It became her first single to not chart In the United Kingdom. Across Europe, the song has peaked at number five on Belgium (Flanders) and France; number ten in Finland; the top twenty in Belgium (Wallonia), Norway and Denmark; and the top forty in Czech Republic and Sweden.
. Spears first contacted Marrs Piliero and asked him to put together a concept for the video. The main idea for Marrs Piliero came from the lyric "be a little inappropiate", which stood out for him, but he did not want to make a video about sexual inappropriateness. Marrs Piliero wrote the opening press conference scene as a tribute to the film Half Baked (1998), which he is a fan of. He explained, "That scene resonates with everyone as the epitome of the greatest way to quit your job, and just blow people off. [...] I felt like that would just be such a perfect way for her to tell the reporters to eff off." Marrs Piliero first asked actor Kellan Lutz
to co-star the clip with Spears; however, Lutz turned down the role, saying that "there were a couple of weird things about the part that didn't make sense", including the scene where he was going to pour milk on himself. Marrs Piliero then thought of asking one of the stars of Half Baked, Guillermo Díaz, to be part of the video, explaining that it "would make it come full circle." He watched all of Spears' videos and wanted to pull what he loved from them, but also give it something fresh. Marrs Piliero felt that all of her references to the paparazzi
in her previous videos had been more of a statement than an action, and for "I Wanna Go", he wanted her to have the opportunity to fight back.
Piliero had the concept nearly finished by the time he met with Spears. Both wanted to explore fun ways for her to be inappropriate in the video. Spears suggested different alternatives, including having the cop frisk her. Having seen Spears on How I Met Your Mother
and Saturday Night Live
, Marrs Piliero felt that none of her videos had really taken advantage of her comedic timing. "She never had a music video where she could show her acting chops and have fun with comedy while being super badass. That was my goal from day one: I wanted her to be funny, badass and super cool", said Marrs Piliero. During the first day of the shoot, he requested Spears to "have as much fun as possible over these next two days". He also stated that the Crossroads
(2002) reference "[i]s a fun Easter egg
for fans. Plus, Die Hard 2: Die Harder
is the most ridiculously awesome way to title a sequel. It just felt like the right thing to do. When Britney saw it, she loved it."
top (paying homage to her days in The New Mickey Mouse Club), is being asked ridiculous questions such as, "Is it true you banned junk food, smiles, candy, sunshine and laughter from your Femme Fatale tour
?". Fed up, Spears says to the reporters: "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you – I'm out", referencing a scene of the film Half Baked. She steps out onto the street, wearing a white leather jacket and black frilly skirt matched with studded combat boots. She signs a fan's copy of Femme Fatale and then blows a kiss to a baby as he whistles the melody of the chorus. She keeps walking and flashes
several men, including a policeman. He searches her feeling up and down her legs, as she is bent over a car. Spears later walks away from the policeman, swinging handcuffs around her finger while he buttons his shirt.
She continues walking down the street, where she smashes the camera of a paparazzo that takes pictures of her. More paparazzi appear as she runs off and jumps on top of a taxi. Spears then stands atop of it, wielding the microphone as a weapon against the paparazzi. Across the street, a marquee of the cinema besides her Crossroads 2: Cross Harder, referencing her film debut Crossroads. After all the paparazzi, revealed to be cyborgs, have been knocked to the floor, they start crawling back with their eyes glowing red and their faces bursting with wires, similar to a scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
(1991). A car suddenly pulls up and Guillermo Díaz tells her to enter it. In the next scene, Spears dances in the passenger seat in a pink bikini top, as Guillermo drives and pours a carton of milk over his face. His chest starts to spark, and Spears pulls open his jacket to reveal that he is also a cyborg. The video then cuts back to the press conference signaling Spears was daydreaming. Guillermo steps in and leads Spears out of the room. He turns to the camera with his eyes glowling red, and his laugh is heard, referencing Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983).
announced through a press release that an exclusive 30-second teaser would premiere on June 19, 2011, on Bravo's Watch What Happens: Live and on Vevo
simultaneously. The official video was revealed to premiere on MTV and Vevo on June 22, 2011. Following the premiere the video was played hourly on MTV, during video hours, and on VH1
's Best Morning Buzz Live. Jen McDonnell of Dose
said, "damn if [the video] doesn't rock. [...] It all sounds very weird – and it is. But it's also buckets of fun." Megan Gibson of Time
stated that the video is "It's random, weird and intended to be funny" and that despite the lack of dancing "Britney seems pleasantly energetic and spunky in 'I Wanna Go' which is a comforting change from her usual blank-eyed look." Gibson also compared her look in the video to that of Avril Lavigne
. Sarah Anne Hughes of The Washington Post
commented that the video "shows a much livelier Britney than the world has seen since the 'Toxic' years."
Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said that the video continues the visual representation of Spears' relationship with the paparazzi and her public image, as previously seen in the videos for "Everytime" (2004) and "Piece of Me" (2008), but "the new clip is arguably her most playful yet." Amos Barshad of New York
stated the video "is awe-inspiring in almost exactly the way it intended to be" and that "the spirit of the song, as reflected in the video, is that of free will and dream fulfillment in the face of a repressive society." Jocelyn Vena of MTV commented that "Britney displays the sass and charm fans fell in love with a decade ago during performance shots, where she flirts with the camera, her eyes as big and wide as her smile." An editor for VH1
called the video "fan-freakin'-tastic" and compared it favorably to the music video for Katy Perry
's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
" (2011), saying that "they share a silly temperament, a flirty star, and funny cameos. Upon closer examination, though, Britney's video blows Katy Perry's out of the water."
Devin Brown of CBS News
called it her best video from Femme Fatale, and added that unlike "Piece of Me", "'I Wanna Go' offers a bevy of pop culture references meant to ridicule the rumors about the star – and finally no 'dancing.'" An editor from Rolling Stone said "The weirdness seems very calculated, but that doesn't make the video any less delightful." Another critic from Rolling Stone noted that the press conference "is hysterical because she's one of the least media-accessible singers in the world. It's easier to get a sit-down with Bob Dylan
than it is with Britney." Becky Bain of Idolator
called the video "delightful" and "flat out funny", explaining that Spears "focuses her energy on being too darn cute (and deliciously naughty) instead of having to worry about dancing, [she] is in on the joke and loving it all."
. The song was performed after Spears sings a cover of Madonna's
"Burning Up
." Spears and her dancers bring fans onstage and dance with them throughout the performance. Shirley Halperin of The Hollywood Reporter
stated that "[the] mid-tempo numbers [...] seemed to stall out quickly, where faster offerings like 'Womanizer
,' 'I Wanna Go' and 'Toxic' had the sold out crowd jumping in place and pumping their number twos in the air." Shaunna Murphy of Entertainment Weekly
said, "Of the newer songs, 'How I Roll' and 'I Wanna Go' were standouts, the former for its bubblegum fun and the latter for the uproarious fan participation on stage."
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, released as the third single from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale
Femme Fatale (Britney Spears album)
Femme Fatale is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. The album was released on March 25, 2011 by Jive Records . Recorded between 2009 and 2011, the album featured Spears working mainly alongside longtime collaborators Max Martin and Dr. Luke, who served as the...
. It was written and produced by Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
. Spears first posted a snippet of the track in February 2011, prior to the album's release. Following a poll on her official website in which fans could choose the third single of the album, "I Wanna Go" was announced as a single on May 13, 2011. The cover art was released on June 6, 2011.
"I Wanna Go" is a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
song that features a heavy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
and drum fills
Fill (music)
In popular music, a fill is a short musical passage, riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody....
reminiscent of New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
. The pre-chorus has a whistle
Whistle
A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...
d hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
that received comparisons to the music of Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
and Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer...
. Spears' vocals are processed, and she squeals and stutters throughout the song. The lyrics of "I Wanna Go" feature Spears singing about losing inhibitions. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Some praised it for being effective and highlighted its hook, while others dismissed the processed vocals. The song was treated with different remixes, including a Bollywood mix with guest vocals by Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films...
, and another one by DJ Frank E
DJ Frank E
Justin Franks, also known as DJ Frank E, is an American DJ and record producer from Denver, Colorado. He began mixing records and later progressed to producing remixes in 2003....
and Alex Dreamz.
After the release of Femme Fatale, "I Wanna Go" charted due to digital sales in the lower regions of the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
, and also topped the South Korean International chart. Following its release as a single, the song reached the top ten in several music markets, including Canada, France, Finland and the United States. However, it became one of her lowest peaking singles in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and was the first single of her career that failed to chart in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "I Wanna Go" made Femme Fatale the first album by Spears to have three top ten singles.
An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero, premiered on June 22, 2011. It depicts Spears daydreaming at a press conference about a series of events, including being chased by paparazzi
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
cyborgs and being rescued by actor Guillermo Díaz. Marrs Piliero explained the video as "a ridiculous, exaggerated rumor about her life and career." The video references films such as Half Baked
Half Baked
Half Baked is a 1998 stoner comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams and Guillermo Díaz. The movie was directed by Tamra Davis, and co-written by star Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan...
, Crossroads
Crossroads (2002 film)
Crossroads is a 2002 comedy-drama road film directed by Tamra Davis and starring American recording artist Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning...
, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Michael Jackson's Thriller. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its fun spirit. Spears has performed "I Wanna Go" at the Femme Fatale Tour
Femme Fatale Tour
The Femme Fatale Tour is the seventh concert tour by American singer Britney Spears, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was officially announced in March 2011, with dates for North American venues revealed. The tour was initially planned as a co-headlining tour with Enrique...
(2011).
Background and artwork
"I Wanna Go" was written and produced by Max MartinMax Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha
Savan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
. The song was written in 2009 and registered on Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
under the legal title "I I I Wanna Go O O". On February 22, 2011, Spears posted on her Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account a link to a 29-second clip of the song, while calling Martin "amazing". With Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Spears stated that the song's signature whistle gets her "every time [she] hears it", adding that Martin's melodies are "incredible. [...] Who would have thought of that? There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio." Kotecha told Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
in May 2011 that the song was likely a contender for third single due to positive reaction. On May 11, 2011, a poll was launched on Britney.com in which fans could choose the third single of the album. Two days later, "I Wanna Go" was officially announced as the third single from Femme Fatale by Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
through a press release. The cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
was revealed on June 6, 2011, and featured Spears on the music video set, wearing colored hair extensions and a top with a skeletal Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
.
Composition
"I Wanna Go" is a danceDance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
song. It features a heavy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
and drum fills
Fill (music)
In popular music, a fill is a short musical passage, riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody....
; the latter are reminiscent of English band New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, more specifically of their single "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
" (1983). Spears squeals and chuckles throughout the song, and her vocals are processed. In the pre-chorus, she draws out the "e"'s in lines such as "Shame on me / To need release / Uncontrollably." The section also has a whistle
Whistle
A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...
d hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
, which was compared by Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
to the music of French recording artist Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
and American recording artist Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer...
. In the chorus
Chorus effect
In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...
, Spears stutters "I I I wanna go O O / All the way-ay-ay / Taking out my freak tonight". Ryan Brockington of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
compared "I Wanna Go" to the music of her fifth studio album Blackout (2007).
In the lyrics, Spears sings about losing inhibitions, as evident in lines such as "I I I wanna show / All the dir-ir-irt / I got running through my mind.", while playfully apologizing for her need for sexual release. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that she sings about "the scrum that surrounds her" in "Lately people got me all tied up / There's a countdown waiting for me to erupt". According to the sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing, "I Wanna Go" is written in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
, with an electropop beat infused metronome of 138 beats per minute. Spears' vocals range from the low-key of E3 to the high-note of D5.
Remixes
"I Wanna Go" was remixed with guest vocals by Indian singer Sonu NigamSonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films...
and released on the DesiHits
DesiHits
-Background:DesiHits! is a multi-platform media company that produces and distributes fusion entertainment content aimed at the South Asian diaspora. The Company was founded in 2006 by Anjula Acharia-Bath, Ranj Bath and Arun Sandhu, and is headquartered in New York...
website in June 2011. In the remix, Sonu mirrors Spears' vocals in Hindi over Indian instruments
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
. Spears said about the song, "I'm so excited about having Sonu on I Wanna Go. His vocals add such a different feel, which I love! Watch out Bollywood – it's Britney and Sonu!". A remix done by DJ Frank E
DJ Frank E
Justin Franks, also known as DJ Frank E, is an American DJ and record producer from Denver, Colorado. He began mixing records and later progressed to producing remixes in 2003....
and Alex Dreamz removes the whistled hook and adds an extra beat to the song. The accompanying video for the remix contains footage of the music video for the song with a glowing yellow tint.
Critical reception
Samesame.com.auSamesame.com.au
Samesame.com.au is an Australian LGBT website created by Tim Duggan and a partner. The website is run by Sound Alliance in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills...
called "I Wanna Go" Spears' best song since "Toxic
Toxic (song)
"Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After trying to choose between " Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to...
", and added that "I’d go so far as to say that it is probably the best song that she has ever recorded. [...] How the decision was made that 'Hold It Against Me
Hold It Against Me
"Hold It Against Me" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, released as the first single from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was written and produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Billboard, with additional writing by Bonnie McKee. Luke explained that he wanted "Hold It...
' would be a better first single over this is baffling." Parker Bruce of the Washington Square News
Washington Square News
The Washington Square News is the daily student newspaper of New York University and serves the NYU, Greenwich Village, and East Village communities. The paper, better known as WSN, has a circulation of 10,000 and an estimated 65,000 readers online...
stated that the song functions as "a sort of formal declaration and mission statement" for Femme Fatale, saying that "It is not an innovative song, but it is fantastically effective and endlessly enticing with its liberating, toss-your-cares-away, dance-like-a-complete–and-utter-fool cathartic chorus, repeated words and typically saucy Britney lyrics." Hannah Rishel of The Daily Collegian said "I Wanna Go" would have been "another good lead single". Andrew Leahey of The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
said that along with "Till the World Ends
Till the World Ends
"Till the World Ends" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, released as the second single from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was written and produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin, with additional writing by Kesha and Alexander Kronlund, and additional production by...
", they are "bass-heavy tributes to club culture."
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy called it "anthemic" and noted it may become a future single. Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice called the song the highlight of Femme Fatale, and said "get ready for [it] to score your summer." However, Juzwiak went on to note that her vocals are heavily manipulated to maximize the chorus's potential, even though "the joy she sings about is palpable." Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
also noted that her vocals were processed to the point "these songs could be sung by anyone", exemplifying "'I Wanna Go' tweaks her up so high she could be Jackie Evancho
Jackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho is an American child singer described as a classical crossover artist. After entering some talent competitions, issuing an independent album, Prelude to a Dream, and attracting interest on YouTube, she gained wider popularity in 2010 with her performances in the...
." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
stated that "If not for its infectious pre-chorus whistle, 'I Wanna Go' would be just another song off the Max Martin assembly line".
Andy Gill of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
said that the album sounds more programmed than natural, commenting that "even the little whistling hook in 'I Wanna Go' has a synthetic character about it." Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for UK newspaper The Guardian, as well as a regular and contributor to the magazine GQ.Petridis began his career writing for Varsity whilst a student at the University of Cambridge...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said that although most of tracks of the album are "genuinely exciting [...] there's certainly some unremarkable stuff on offer, notably 'Seal It With a Kiss' and 'I Wanna Go." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
stated that "I Wanna Go" is the point of the album in which "things stop being fun and start becoming intensely repetitious", criticizing specifically "[the] utterly stupid set of syllables repeated ad nauseam
Ad nauseam
Ad nauseam is a Latin term used to describe an argument which has been continuing "to [the point of] nausea". For example, the sentence, "This topic has been discussed ad nauseam", signifies that the topic in question has been discussed extensively, and that those involved in the discussion have...
for no reason whatsoever? [..] the 'ably' part of 'uncontrollably' gets recycled far beyond the point where it just sounds stupid." In September 2011, "I Wanna Go" topped Rolling Stones reader's poll of The Best Songs of the Summer.
Chart performance
On the week of April 3, 2011, "I Wanna Go" debuted at number seventy-three on the US Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and at number
fifty-two on the Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
component chart due to strong digital sales. The song debuted at number sixty on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
on the week of April 16, 2011. It also debuted at number one on South Korea's GAON
Gaon Chart
The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
International Chart, and remained on the same position for three consecutive weeks, After its release as a single, the song debuted at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Pop Songs
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
chart on the week of July 2, 2011. It also re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-nine. The following week, it surged up to number twenty-nine on the Hot 100 due to the premiere of the music video, with sales of 67,000 copies (up 282% from the previous week). "I Wanna Go" became Spears's twenty-first top-forty single, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart on November 21, 1998, and only behind Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
with twenty-seven and Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
with twenty-two.
On August 4, 2011, the song climbed to number nine, making Femme Fatale the first album by Spears to achieve three top ten singles. It became her fifth top ten single in a row, and her twelfth top ten hit overall, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart, behind Rihanna with eighteen and Beyoncé with fourteen. "I Wanna Go" peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 on the week of August 24, 2011. The song peaked atop the Pop Songs chart on September 24, 2011, becoming Spears' sixth single to top the chart, and setting a record for the longest span of number-one singles by an artist (12 years, seven months and four days). Spears scored her first chart-topper with "...Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time (song)
"...Baby One More Time" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It served as Spears' debut single from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time . Written by Max Martin and produced by Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, "...Baby One More Time" was released on September 30, 1998,...
" on the week of February 20, 1999. She also tied Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
and Beyoncé for the third-highest female total of number-one singles. As of September 2011, "I Wanna Go" has sold over 1.1 million digital downloads in the United States.
In Australia, "I Wanna Go" debuted at number thirty-three on the ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
on the week of July 10, 2011. It peaked at number thirty-one three weeks later, on July 31, 2011. The song became the third lowest peaking single of Spears' career in the country, after "Radar
Radar (song)
"Radar" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant and The Clutch in November 2006 as a record that did not relate to any of her personal problems at the time. The recording sessions took place the day after Spears filed for divorce from...
" (2009) at forty-six and "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, taken from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time . It was released on December 15, 1999, by Jive Records as the fifth and final single from the album...
" (1999) at thirty-seven. It spent nine weeks on the chart. It has since been certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number twenty-five on the official chart, and peaked at number twenty-two the following week. It became her lowest peaking single since "Radar", and her sixth single to not enter the top twenty. The song spent ten weeks on the chart. On July 7, 2011, "I Wanna Go" debuted at forty-one on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
. It became her first single to not chart In the United Kingdom. Across Europe, the song has peaked at number five on Belgium (Flanders) and France; number ten in Finland; the top twenty in Belgium (Wallonia), Norway and Denmark; and the top forty in Czech Republic and Sweden.
Development
The music video for "I Wanna Go" was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and filmed in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Spears first contacted Marrs Piliero and asked him to put together a concept for the video. The main idea for Marrs Piliero came from the lyric "be a little inappropiate", which stood out for him, but he did not want to make a video about sexual inappropriateness. Marrs Piliero wrote the opening press conference scene as a tribute to the film Half Baked (1998), which he is a fan of. He explained, "That scene resonates with everyone as the epitome of the greatest way to quit your job, and just blow people off. [...] I felt like that would just be such a perfect way for her to tell the reporters to eff off." Marrs Piliero first asked actor Kellan Lutz
Kellan Lutz
Kellan Christopher Lutz is an American fashion model, and film and television actor, who is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in the Twilight series.-Early life:...
to co-star the clip with Spears; however, Lutz turned down the role, saying that "there were a couple of weird things about the part that didn't make sense", including the scene where he was going to pour milk on himself. Marrs Piliero then thought of asking one of the stars of Half Baked, Guillermo Díaz, to be part of the video, explaining that it "would make it come full circle." He watched all of Spears' videos and wanted to pull what he loved from them, but also give it something fresh. Marrs Piliero felt that all of her references to the paparazzi
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
in her previous videos had been more of a statement than an action, and for "I Wanna Go", he wanted her to have the opportunity to fight back.
Piliero had the concept nearly finished by the time he met with Spears. Both wanted to explore fun ways for her to be inappropriate in the video. Spears suggested different alternatives, including having the cop frisk her. Having seen Spears on How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Marrs Piliero felt that none of her videos had really taken advantage of her comedic timing. "She never had a music video where she could show her acting chops and have fun with comedy while being super badass. That was my goal from day one: I wanted her to be funny, badass and super cool", said Marrs Piliero. During the first day of the shoot, he requested Spears to "have as much fun as possible over these next two days". He also stated that the Crossroads
Crossroads (2002 film)
Crossroads is a 2002 comedy-drama road film directed by Tamra Davis and starring American recording artist Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning...
(2002) reference "[i]s a fun Easter egg
Easter egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
for fans. Plus, Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Die Hard 2
Die Hard 2 is a 1990 action film and the second in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by Renny Harlin, and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane...
is the most ridiculously awesome way to title a sequel. It just felt like the right thing to do. When Britney saw it, she loved it."
Synopsis
The video begins at a press conference where Spears, wearing a cropped Mickey MouseMickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
top (paying homage to her days in The New Mickey Mouse Club), is being asked ridiculous questions such as, "Is it true you banned junk food, smiles, candy, sunshine and laughter from your Femme Fatale tour
Femme Fatale Tour
The Femme Fatale Tour is the seventh concert tour by American singer Britney Spears, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was officially announced in March 2011, with dates for North American venues revealed. The tour was initially planned as a co-headlining tour with Enrique...
?". Fed up, Spears says to the reporters: "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you – I'm out", referencing a scene of the film Half Baked. She steps out onto the street, wearing a white leather jacket and black frilly skirt matched with studded combat boots. She signs a fan's copy of Femme Fatale and then blows a kiss to a baby as he whistles the melody of the chorus. She keeps walking and flashes
Exhibitionism
Exhibitionism refers to a desire or compulsion to expose parts of one's body – specifically the genitals or buttocks of a man or woman, or the breasts of a woman – in a public or semi-public circumstance, in crowds or groups of friends or acquaintances, or to strangers...
several men, including a policeman. He searches her feeling up and down her legs, as she is bent over a car. Spears later walks away from the policeman, swinging handcuffs around her finger while he buttons his shirt.
She continues walking down the street, where she smashes the camera of a paparazzo that takes pictures of her. More paparazzi appear as she runs off and jumps on top of a taxi. Spears then stands atop of it, wielding the microphone as a weapon against the paparazzi. Across the street, a marquee of the cinema besides her Crossroads 2: Cross Harder, referencing her film debut Crossroads. After all the paparazzi, revealed to be cyborgs, have been knocked to the floor, they start crawling back with their eyes glowing red and their faces bursting with wires, similar to a scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
(1991). A car suddenly pulls up and Guillermo Díaz tells her to enter it. In the next scene, Spears dances in the passenger seat in a pink bikini top, as Guillermo drives and pours a carton of milk over his face. His chest starts to spark, and Spears pulls open his jacket to reveal that he is also a cyborg. The video then cuts back to the press conference signaling Spears was daydreaming. Guillermo steps in and leads Spears out of the room. He turns to the camera with his eyes glowling red, and his laugh is heard, referencing Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983).
Release and reception
On June 17, 2011, Jive RecordsJive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
announced through a press release that an exclusive 30-second teaser would premiere on June 19, 2011, on Bravo's Watch What Happens: Live and on Vevo
Vevo
Vevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...
simultaneously. The official video was revealed to premiere on MTV and Vevo on June 22, 2011. Following the premiere the video was played hourly on MTV, during video hours, and on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Best Morning Buzz Live. Jen McDonnell of Dose
Dose (magazine)
Dose is a daily Canadian news website and former daily print magazine.Dose was a mixture of standalone features and coverage of daily news, sometimes from an irreverent perspective...
said, "damn if [the video] doesn't rock. [...] It all sounds very weird – and it is. But it's also buckets of fun." Megan Gibson of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated that the video is "It's random, weird and intended to be funny" and that despite the lack of dancing "Britney seems pleasantly energetic and spunky in 'I Wanna Go' which is a comforting change from her usual blank-eyed look." Gibson also compared her look in the video to that of Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
. Sarah Anne Hughes of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
commented that the video "shows a much livelier Britney than the world has seen since the 'Toxic' years."
Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said that the video continues the visual representation of Spears' relationship with the paparazzi and her public image, as previously seen in the videos for "Everytime" (2004) and "Piece of Me" (2008), but "the new clip is arguably her most playful yet." Amos Barshad of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
stated the video "is awe-inspiring in almost exactly the way it intended to be" and that "the spirit of the song, as reflected in the video, is that of free will and dream fulfillment in the face of a repressive society." Jocelyn Vena of MTV commented that "Britney displays the sass and charm fans fell in love with a decade ago during performance shots, where she flirts with the camera, her eyes as big and wide as her smile." An editor for VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
called the video "fan-freakin'-tastic" and compared it favorably to the music video for Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
"Last Friday Night " is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry. The song was produced by Lukasz Gottwald and Max Martin, who also co-wrote the song with Perry and Bonnie McKee for Perry's third studio album, Teenage Dream. Perry stated that she was inspired to write the track after a night...
" (2011), saying that "they share a silly temperament, a flirty star, and funny cameos. Upon closer examination, though, Britney's video blows Katy Perry's out of the water."
Devin Brown of CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
called it her best video from Femme Fatale, and added that unlike "Piece of Me", "'I Wanna Go' offers a bevy of pop culture references meant to ridicule the rumors about the star – and finally no 'dancing.'" An editor from Rolling Stone said "The weirdness seems very calculated, but that doesn't make the video any less delightful." Another critic from Rolling Stone noted that the press conference "is hysterical because she's one of the least media-accessible singers in the world. It's easier to get a sit-down with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
than it is with Britney." Becky Bain of Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
called the video "delightful" and "flat out funny", explaining that Spears "focuses her energy on being too darn cute (and deliciously naughty) instead of having to worry about dancing, [she] is in on the joke and loving it all."
Live performances
"I Wanna Go" was first performed at 2011's Femme Fatale TourFemme Fatale Tour
The Femme Fatale Tour is the seventh concert tour by American singer Britney Spears, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was officially announced in March 2011, with dates for North American venues revealed. The tour was initially planned as a co-headlining tour with Enrique...
. The song was performed after Spears sings a cover of Madonna's
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
"Burning Up
Burning Up
"Burning Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her self-titled debut album. It was released as the album's second single on March 9, 1983, in some countries as a AA side single with "Physical Attraction"...
." Spears and her dancers bring fans onstage and dance with them throughout the performance. Shirley Halperin of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
stated that "[the] mid-tempo numbers [...] seemed to stall out quickly, where faster offerings like 'Womanizer
Womanizer (song)
"Womanizer" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus. It was released on September 26, 2008 by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. Produced and co-written by Nikesha Briscoe and Rafael Akinyemi of The Outsyders, the song had to be...
,' 'I Wanna Go' and 'Toxic' had the sold out crowd jumping in place and pumping their number twos in the air." Shaunna Murphy of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said, "Of the newer songs, 'How I Roll' and 'I Wanna Go' were standouts, the former for its bubblegum fun and the latter for the uproarious fan participation on stage."
Track listing
-
- Digital download
- "I Wanna Go" – 3:30
-
- UK digital EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- UK digital EP
-
- "I Wanna Go" (Gareth EmeryGareth EmeryGareth Emery is a trance-genre producer and DJ. In 2011 he was voted the #13 DJ in the world by DJ Mag Poll.-Background:...
Remix) – 5:25 - "I Wanna Go" (Vada Remix) – 7:39
- "I Wanna Go" (Moguai Remix) – 7:11
- "I Wanna Go" (Pete Phantom Remix) – 3:18
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- German CD single
- "I Wanna Go" – 3:30
- "I Wanna Go" (Gareth Emery Remix) – 5:26
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- Digital download – remixes
- "I Wanna Go" – 3:30
- "I Wanna Go" (Captain Cuts Club Mix) – 4:43
- "I Wanna Go" (Alex Dreamz Radio Edit) – 4:07
- "I Wanna Go" (OLIVER Extended Remix) – 4:57
- "I Wanna Go" (Deluka BS Radio Remix) – 3:15
- "I Wanna Go" (Wallpaper Extended Remix) – 4:03
- "I Wanna Go" (Smash Mode Radio Remix) – 3:49
- "I Wanna Go" (Disco Fries Radio Remix) – 3:34
- "I Wanna Go" (Jump Smokers Radio Remix) – 4:51
- "I Wanna Go" (Desi Hits! Remix) – 4:36
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Femme Fatale booklet liner notes.- Britney SpearsBritney SpearsBritney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
– vocals - Max MartinMax MartinMartin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
– songwriter, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and keyboards - Shellback – songwriter, producer, guitars, keyboards and bass
- Savan KotechaSavan KotechaSavan Kotecha is an American songwriter and vocal producer from Austin, Texas of Indian descent. Kotecha has sold over 60 million records with artists such as Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, One Direction and Celine Dion...
– songwriter and background vocals
- Chau Pan – background vocals
- John Hanes – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Tim Roberts – engineering
- Serban GheneaSerban GheneaSerban Ghenea is a four-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award-winning mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Santana, Ozomatli, Shakira, Jill Scott, R. Kelly, Rod Stewart, and Dave Matthews Band...
– audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... ) |
31 |
| Brazil (Billboard Billboard Brasil Billboard Brasil is a monthly Brazilian magazine launched on October 10, 2009, with a print-run of over 40,000 copies. It is distributed nationwide by Brazil's biggest distributor Dinap... Hot 100 Brasil Hot 100 Airplay Brasil Hot 100 Airplay is the official music singles charts in Brazil. It has been compiled by Crowley Broadcast Analysis and published monthly by Billboard Brasil since the release of the magazine, in October 2009.... ) |
31 |
| Brazil (Billboard Hot Pop Songs Billboard Brasil Billboard Brasil is a monthly Brazilian magazine launched on October 10, 2009, with a print-run of over 40,000 copies. It is distributed nationwide by Brazil's biggest distributor Dinap... ) |
10 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... ) |
5 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) | 10 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... ) |
22 |
| Poland (Airplay Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... ) |
5 |
| Poland (Dance Top 50 Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... ) |
22 |
| Poland (Video Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... ) |
2 |
| South Korea (International Chart) (GAON Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts... ) |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
7 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| US Pop Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| US Latin Pop Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
31 |
Radio date and release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | June 13, 2011 | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... – promotional release Promotional recording A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available... |
Jive Records Jive Records Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African... |
| United States | June 14, 2011 | Mainstream radio | |
| Denmark | June 21, 2011 | Digital download | |
| France | |||
| Italy | |||
| Netherlands | |||
| Spain | |||
| Brazil | June 27, 2011 | Sony BMG | |
| July 11, 2011 | Desi Hits! Remix | ||
| United States | July 15, 2011 | Remix Remix A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song .... es |
Jive Records |
| Germany | July 22, 2011 | CD single | Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
| United Kingdom | July 29, 2011 | Digital EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... |
Jive Records |
| France | September 5, 2011 | CD single | Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
External links
- Official music video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....