Britney Spears Declared Her Independence With 'I'm Not A Girl' Video

Britney Spears had been grappling with her budding adulthood when she released her third album, simply titled Britney, in 2001. With songs like "Overprotected" and "Let Me Be," Spears seemed to be letting out her adolescent angst. But on the single "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," which was also featured on the soundtrack for her flick "Crossroads," the singer wanted the world to know that she was ready to be treated like an adult.

For the video, director Wayne Isham just wanted to have Britney out in nature — even if the setting seemed a bit dangerous for a pop star. "I go, 'Let me check it out first,' " Isham told MTV News about having Britney stand on the edge of a cliff. "She understood that if my fat ass was out there and I could stand there, then she could stand there," he laughed.

The singer might have been willing to take the risk, but she still had some trepidation about standing on a cliff. "The wind started picking up a lot and almost dropped me over," Spears recalled. "And I was like, 'OK, gotta go.' "

Nonetheless, Isham loved the way the video looked and said there was no green screen involved. "She went out there and, without a safety cable, just stood there with those cowboy boots on," he said. "She was standing on the edge in her cowboy boots, looking hot. We'd be right on the edge, and she had not a blink of fear."

Spears said in 2001 that the song was actually intended for the "Crossroads" soundtrack before she included it on her album. "The song was written for the movie once we had the decision to make the music part of the movie," she said. "It's an inspirational song, and it's probably one of my favorite songs that I've ever sang."

And the video is one of Isham's favorites too. "I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience with her and what she's doing right now," he said. "She stepped into it with positive energy. She ended up stepping out and kicking ass.

50 Cent Says He Feels The Same Pressure As Britney Spears

50 Cent says Before I Self Destruct is no different from his other three solo LPs; he feels like his back is against the wall every time he releases a new album.

"Absolutely, every project is the same for me," he told MTV News. "It feels like I'm back in the underdog space because I feel that doubt from the public where they go, 'Do you think he can do it again?' [They doubt you can] return to that space where you're generating that interest as before. Not the actual sales, not how people feel about you generally, but overall does it feel the way it felt in 2003? ... But I told them ahead of time, actually getting a chance to hear the record, is that this album was arguably better than Get Rich or Die Tryin'."

Fif says he's more conscious of himself in the studio now, as opposed to when he was debuting. Now that he's tasted the kind of success that most in his peer group will never see, he says that some want to see his downfall. It's only natural.

"Well, the title itself is a representation of the cycle of success from an artist perspective," he said. "I feel like the general public turns you into a favorite by consuming your material. We all start from an underdog space. And after they consume it, they begin to resent you for not bearing the same pressures. Because you're in this financial space where they know you're not under the same circumstances they are. ... This is why they like nothing more than to see Britney Spears when she's shaving her head and swinging at the cameras. We should be covering her more now. They covered it during the confusion, but the intensity, that's less than when she made the comeback."

Heaven & Earth Phil Wickham

1. "Eden"
2. "Coming Alive"
3. "Heaven & Earth"
4. "The Time Is Now"
5. "Hold On"
6. "Safe" (featuring Bart Millard)
7. "I'll Always Love You"
8. "In Your City"
9. "Your Arrival"
10. "Because Of Your Love"
11. "Cielo"
12. "Heaven Song"