Pharrell Williams and the Birth of a Hit Song

Jay-Z Was the Reason Pharrell Got To Work on an Iconic 2000s Pop Track

Pharrell Williams revealed in a 2014 interview how a chain of connections led to the creation of Britney Spears’ hit song “I’m a Slave 4 U.” The collaboration started with Jay-Z, who introduced Pharrell to Justin Timberlake, leading to the production of a song for *NSYNC. Timberlake, who was dating Spears at the time, then insisted that The Neptunes work on a song for her. Despite initial resistance to venturing into pop music, Pharrell and Chad Hugo created the iconic track, which has since been recognized as one of Spears’ greatest singles and a trailblazer for future pop stars. Billboard named it the third greatest song of 2001. Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jay-z-was-the-reason-pharrell-got-to-work-on-an-iconic-2000s-pop-track/