 While in Europe , Spears met with William Orbit and Daft Punk about possible collaborations , and originally confirmed Darkchild and The Neptunes as producers . When asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the direction of the record , Spears responded it was an organic evolution , adding , " It should just happen naturally from the way you feel . [ ... ] Whatever happens , happens " . Additionally , Spears scheduled meet @-@ and @-@ greets with Timbaland and Missy Elliott in an effort to help evolve her sound . Elliott would also enlist in further production work with Nisan Stewart for Spears ' project , however none of the initial material saw the light of day . Fred Durst was asked by Spears ' management to submit material , and he wrote and produced three trip hop tracks that were recorded by Spears in January 2003 . However , after news of an affair between them broke , Durst told JIVE Records he was not going to let them use the songs for the album . In March 2003 , Lauren Christy from The Matrix spoke about the development of the album with MTV News , and likened their work with Spears to Madonna 's Ray of Light . Scott Spock , also from The Matrix , continued comparing her to Madonna , saying , 
