American producers Christopher " Tricky " Stewart and Penelope Magnet , known collectively as RedZone Entertainment , presented Spears with the third song they had written and produced , " Pop Culture Whore " . While her management liked the track , she rejected it , telling them the song " sucked " . After bonding with Spears during a night in New York City to " get in her world " , as Magnet explained , it was easier to " actually write and know what she would and would n't say , to know where her real vibe is " . Stewart and Magnet began working on the first version of the song ; Stewart came up with the track , while Magnet developed the melody on a piano and some of the lyrics . American producer The-Dream became involved after Stewart proposed him to work together on the track for Spears . He explained , " I was just getting into the business . I 'm in Atlanta , driving home in a '92 Cadillac , and I get the call ... I hung up and just screamed out joyous sounds . " During the recording sessions , Stewart recalls that the studio 's air-conditioning died for three days , but Spears " did n't complain or anything , and for me that shows she 's where she is for a reason . " While rehearsing for their performance at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards , Spears played a finished version of " Me Against the Music " to Madonna . After Madonna commented that she liked the track , Spears asked her to do the song with her . RedZone then handed " Me Against the Music " to Madonna , who arranged and recorded her vocal additions on her own , therefore making the song a duet . Spears , who has been a Madonna fan for years , was " beyond surprised " when she heard Madonna 's verse . She said " I just asked her to do a little thing , but she really went there . She did a lot of stuff to it . " Jive Records hoped " Outrageous " would be released as the first single from the album , but Spears pushed for " Me Against the Music " . After she performed the song for the first time at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live , Spears refused to answer if it was the first single from the album , but said that " there are some surprises that are going to come up in the song that I 'm really excited about . " On September 16 , 2003 , it was confirmed that " Me Against the Music " would be released as the first single from '' In the Zone ''
2003 MTV Video Music Awards
2003 MTV Video Music Awards
Me Against the Music