Britney Spears' Official "Gimme More" Single Cover.

“Gimme More” is a song by American pop singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout. It was released on September 27, 2007 by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. The song was written during Spears’ second pregnancy. Its lyrics feature racy content, and although they appear to be about dance and sex, they are a reference to the media and public always wanting more of her. “Gimme More” is backed with breathy vocals and up-tempo urban beat.

“Gimme More” received mixed reviews, with critics complimenting the song’s beat but highly criticizing the opening line. The song topped the Canadian Hot 100, and reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Spears’ fourth highest-peaking single in the US. The single reached the top five in many international charts and has been certified double platinum in Canada.

The single’s accompanying stripper-inspired music video also received media attention, with Spears’ pole dancing being panned by critics. On the other hand, the video was considered an improvement on her highly criticized 2007 MTV Video Music Awards opening performance.

Music video

Directed by first time director Jake Sarfaty, the music video was shot in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles on July 19 and August 7, 2007. Sarfaty was handpicked by Spears, and the video was shot in two days. The production “was purely Spears’ ‘concept and her vision’”. It is a stripper-inspired video to fit the song’s racy content. The video’s light systems change from black and white with aura-like blue and pink hues to full blown color. The camera’s position always moves out-of-beat, giving the video a “raw and edgy look”. Spears features a tattoo on her biceps and dresses in all black. She wears a leather vest, a studded belt and skimpy panties over ripped fishnet stockings. “Gimme More” is the second video in which Spears sports black hair. The vest that Spears wore was inspired by the Royal Jelly show in Hollywood, CA. The back-up dancers are performers from the show itself, who wore the same uniform as they do in the show. Spears was inspired after she attended the show a few weeks before the video shooting.

The video puts Spears in two roles: as a brunette pole-dancing in a stripper’s pole, and a blonde version sitting at the bar with friends seemingly watching the strip tease while gazing at a mysterious man. Around the middle of the video, the brunette Spears takes off her top and uses it to cover her breasts; she continues to pole-dance, flipping her hair and occasionally dancing in a mirror. The blonde Spears keeps an eye on the brunette which Entertainment Weekly describes as “giddily staring at ‘stripper Britney’”, while stunned at others inside the club and continues on laughing.

The music video had its exclusive premiere in the iTunes Store on October 5, 2007, before other outlets slated for an October 8 release. It currently holds a 2.5/5 rating based on over 3,100 reviews. The iTunes version of the video was rotating on MuchMusic and VH1 a few hours before its premiere on MTV. On October 8, 2007, it was posted on MTV’s official blog, and premiered in Total Request Live’s exclusive world premiere slot at 3:30 p.m. It debuted on TRL’s chart at number eight on October 9. “Gimme More” opened at number thirteen on MuchMusic’s Countdown on October 13, 2007, peaking at number four on December 1. Earlier in the month of July 2008, the Music Video for Gimme More was deleted off of Britney Spears’ Official Channel due to unknown reasons, it has since been added back to the popular website. The music video has received 56.0 Million views on Youtube!

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