text: i wanna go " i wanna go " is a song recorded by american singer britney spears for her seventh studio album , femme fatale ( 2011 ) . it was written and produced by max martin and shellback , with additional writing by savan kotecha . spears first posted on her twitter account a link to a clip of the song in february 2011 , a month prior to the album 's release . following a poll on her official website , " i wanna go " was chosen as the third single of the album , and jive records released it on june 13 , 2011 . " i wanna go " is a dance - pop and hi - nrg song that features a heavy bassline and drum fills reminiscent of english rock band new order . the pre - chorus has a whistled hook that received comparisons to the music of bob sinclar and frankie knuckles . 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 upper end 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 inside the top 100 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 . piliero described the video as " a ridiculous , exaggerated rumor about her life and career " . the video references the films half baked , crossroads , terminator 2 : judgment day and michael jackson 's thriller . it received positive reviews from critics , who praised its fun spirit . spears has performed " i wanna go " on her femme fatale tour ( 2011 ) and during her las vegas residency show britney : piece of me ( 2013 ) . background and artwork " i wanna go " was written and produced by max martin 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 " . in an interview 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 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 after winning the poll . the cover art was revealed on june 6 , 2011 , and featured spears on set of the music video , wearing colored hair extensions and a top with a skeletal mickey mouse . composition " i wanna go " is a dance - pop and hi - nrg song , which features a heavy bassline and drum fills ; the latter are reminiscent of english band new order 's song " 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 / . " the section also has a whistled 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 wa - a - 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 sho - o - ow / all the dir - ir - / i got ( sic ) 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 note of d3 to the high note of d5 . critical reception " i wanna go " received generally positive reviews from music critics . a reviewer for samesame.com.au 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 . " the daily collegian writer hannah rishel said " i wanna go " would have been " another good lead single " , while the washington times 's andrew leahey 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 the song would become a future single . rich juzwiak of the village voice called " i wanna go " the highlight of the album , and said " get ready for [ it ] to score your summer . " however , juzwiak went on to note that spears ' vocals are heavily manipulated to maximize the chorus 's potential , even though " the joy she sings about is palpable . " the chicago sun - times journalist thomas conner also noted that the singer 's 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 . " andy gill of the independent also criticized the singer 's vocals on femme fatale , stating that they sounded more programmed than natural , with " even the little whistling hook in ' i wanna go ' has a synthetic character about it . " sal cinquemani of slant magazine noted that " if not for its infectious pre - chorus whistle , ' i wanna go ' would be just another song off the max martin assembly line " . the guardian contributor alexis petridis gave the song a negative review , and 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 also noted 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 stone 's reader 's poll of the best songs of the summer . chart performance on the chart issue of april 3 , 2011 , " i wanna go " debuted at number 73 on the us billboard hot 100 chart , and at number 52 on the hot digital songs component chart due to strong digital sales . the song debuted at number 60 on the canadian hot 100 on the chart issue of april 16 , 2011 . it also debuted at number one on south korea 's international chart , and remained on the same position for three consecutive weeks . after its release as a single , the song debuted at number 37 on the billboard pop songs chart on the chart issue of july 2 , 2011 . it also re - entered the billboard hot 100 at number 89 . the following week , it surged up to number 29 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 21 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 27 and rihanna with 22 . on the chart issue of august 4 , 2011 , the song climbed from number 11 to number nine on the billboard hot 100 , 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 knowles with fifteen . " i wanna go " peaked at number seven on the hot 100 on the chart issue 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 number one single on the chart with " ... baby one more time " on the chart issue of february 20 , 1999 . she also tied mariah carey and knowles for the third - highest female total of number - one singles . as of march 2015 , " i wanna go " has sold 1 , 770 , 000 digital downloads in the united states . it is her eighth best - selling digital single in the country . in australia , " i wanna go " debuted at number 33 on the aria singles chart on the chart issue of july 10 , 2011 . it peaked at number 31 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 46 and " from the bottom of my broken heart " ( 1999 ) at 37 . 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 25 on the new zealand singles chart , and peaked at number 22 the following week . it became her lowest peaking single since " radar " , and her sixth single to not enter the top twenty . the song spent 10 weeks on the chart . on july 7 , 2011 , " i wanna go " debuted at 41 on the irish singles chart . it became her first single to not chart in the inside the top 100 in the united kingdom , peaking at number 138 on the chart issue of june 9 , 2011 . across europe , the song has peaked at number five on belgium ( flanders ) and france ; number 10 in finland ; the top twenty in belgium ( wallonia ) , norway and denmark ; and the top forty in czech republic and sweden . music video development the music video for " i wanna go " was directed by chris marrs piliero and filmed in los angeles , california . spears first contacted 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 inappropriate " , which stood out for him , but he did not want to make a video about sexual inappropriateness . 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 . 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 . " piliero watched all of spears ' videos and wanted to pull what he loved from them , but also give it something fresh . 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 spears to be inappropriate in the video , who had several ideas , such as a cop frisking her . having seen spears on how i met your mother and saturday night live , piliero felt that none of her videos had really taken advantage of her comedic timing , saying , " 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 . " . during the first day of the shoot , he requested spears to " have as much fun as possible over these next two days " . 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 . " synopsis the video begins at a press conference where spears , wearing a cropped mickey mouse top ( paying homage to her days in the new mickey mouse club ) , is being asked inappropriate questions by news reporters , such as " is it true you banned junk food , smiles , candy , sunshine and laughter from your femme fatale tour ? " angered by the questions , spears replies ( albeit censored ) : " fuck you , fuck you , fuck you , you 're cool , fuck you – i 'm out " , referencing a scene from the film half baked . after leaving the press conference , spears walks out of the building and out into the street , wearing a white leather jacket and a black skirt with matching 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 . as spears walks along the street , she flashes several men , including a policeman ( played by adrien galo ) . as a criminal offence , the policeman searches spears , 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 paparazzi photographer who takes pictures of her . more paparazzi appear as she runs away and jumps on top of a taxi . spears then stands atop of it , wielding the microphone as a weapon against the paparazzi who are her . across the street , a marquee of the cinema besides her reads 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 , reminiscent to a scene in terminator 2 : judgment day ( 1991 ) . a car suddenly pulls up near to spears , and the driver guillermo díaz tells her to get inside . in the next scene , spears dances in the passenger seat in a pink bikini top , as guillermo drives . he attempts to drink some milk while driving but pours the carton of milk over his face . his chest starts to spark , and spears pulls open his jacket to reveal that he too is a cyborg . the video then cuts back to the press conference , indicating that spears was daydreaming , due to being asked monotonous and inappropriate questions . guillermo steps in and leads spears out of the room . then , he turns to the camera with his eyes glowing red , and his laugh is heard , referencing michael jackson 's thriller ( 1983 ) . release and reception on june 17 , 2011 , jive records 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 full length 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 " 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 . " 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 ' " 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 video was spears ' first to be vevo certified , which means that it was the first of her videos to have received over 100 million views on vevo . live performances though the song has never been performed live as part of a televised performance , " i wanna go " was featured on the set list of the femme fatale tour ( 2011 ) . 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 . " spears also included the song on her current residency show in las vegas , britney : piece of me . after a rendition of " circus " , a performance of " i wanna go " followed , where spears dances with six mirror images of herself . the mirrors , that are moved around by her dancers , are screens showing pre - recorded images of the singer . keith caulfield from billboard considered the performance " cool " . remixes and other versions " i wanna go " was remixed with guest vocals by indian singer sonu nigam 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 . covers versions " i wanna go " track listings credits and personnel credits adapted from femme fatale booklet liner notes . charts certifications radio date and release history