I didn’t think about “pop music” while creating Blackout. I was into dance music and EDM at the time, but it wasn’t mainstream yet. I was just going to a club in Miami a couple of times to see the atmosphere. Everyone was bouncing around to Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction” and Tiesto, literally in a trance. I was like, That’s it. If my music doesn’t make you feel like that, what are we doing? I didn’t think about anything other than bringing that essence to popular culture.

Have you ever seen this pretty pop queen on a bassy scrunching track? It’s like caramel — rich, almost unbearably sweet, but so good at the same time. That was what I was intending to do. I wanted you to make a mean mug face when it came on. So like on “Get Back,” one of the bonus songs, it was gritty and like a videogame — drums distorted a bit, grimy synthesizer bass that had a nasty characteristic, a nice melodic bassline. The bass sounds even had tones. That’s what I would use to make the groove, not the 808 or smooth sub-basses. Even in “Gimme More” — just that “vroom vroom” sound — everything was distinct and had characteristics.

There was not a lot of pre-planned thoughts while going into the studio — we were just going with the flow. We were able to create without any distractions, or anyone giving us any real direction. That’s why I think the part of Blackout that I was a part of ended up being what it is. We were free.

She might have been going through more in her personal life than what we knew at that time, and it got a little crazier when we were deeper in the project. But throughout the whole process, she was very present, attentive, and interactive. She was one of the easiest people to get things done with — she would sit there and sing no matter how many times we had her do it over, and just get it done.

You would know how she felt about a song by pure body language; she didn’t have to say anything. She would still be nailing the lyrics and the melody, but she would be in there really dancing. You hear stories of Michael Jackson doing full-on choreography while recording some of his songs and it was the same thing with her. I was just making sure I made grooves that she could dance to, something hard and edgy with hip-hop undertones. Once I realized that was what she wanted to do, that’s where I stayed.

If you listen to radio now and hot tracks on iTunes, every pop artist has some kind of hard 808 hip-hop urban appeal, and for pop female acts, she started that. She made it OK to bounce a bit, to talk shit, to have harder basses and drums. And it all started at CLUBSPACE in Miami.