Britney Spears’ iconic 2003 track “Toxic” is a staple of early 2000s pop culture. It’s remained a beloved song for more than 20 years, and one element in particular has helped sustain it. The intro, in particular, along with the overall South Asian influences in the composition. Fans have Christian Karlsson to thank for finding it. But many might know him better as Galantis.
Karlsson co-wrote “Toxic” as one half of the songwriting duo Bloodshy & Avant with Pontus Winnberg. He also penned hits for Katy Perry and Madonna, but under the now-solo moniker Galantis, he built a die-hard following since 2012. Speaking with Music Radar in October 2026, Karlsson shared details of “Toxic” in its early stages. Specifically, how it all formed around a hook from a Bollywood song.
“[Toxic] was probably like one out of 15 ideas that I had that day,” Karlsson said, starting from the very beginning. “It was this Bollywood thing that I cut up into something like 100 pieces, and I was playing [with it], and I found that [riff, from the 1981 film Tere Mere Beech Mein] and made it into a loop.”
‘Toxic’ Wasn’t Initially Written for Britney Spears, but Christian Karlsson Didn’t Waste an Opportunity
“Then I was like, ‘How do you make a song out of it?’” said Christian Karlsson. He explained that he would mute different parts of the loop, edit sections, then return to them and figure out the best way to put it all together.
“So, it wasn’t like it was [written] as a song and then we find that string thing,” he said. “It was that on a loop, muting it and trying to write a section.” Essentially, “Toxic” was built around that loop. But Karlsson revealed that the intro on the studio version didn’t come from the master recording.
“I have to say though, that it’s not a sample on the record like everyone thinks, because I replayed it with live strings,” he said. “It was an amazing session because it was all kind of out-of-tune stuff, you know. They were trying to mimic the sample. It was amazing.”
Even though the strings on “Toxic” weren’t directly from the sample, Karlsson shared that he still got into a copyright snafu. “Someone came after me anyway later on, and so I still had to pay the price—even though I did actually not sample it. I got punished for something I did not do in the end.”
Still, fans may be surprised to learn that “Toxic” wasn’t actually written for Britney Spears specifically. Karlsson said that he doesn’t write with someone in mind. “I worked on stuff, and then I sent it out to people. If anyone wanted it, they could have it!” he said.
He even sent it out to Kylie Minogue, but didn’t hear back. Instead, he said, “I was in a session with Britney, recording something else, and I just felt like I should play her this one.”
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
The post How a Live-Tracked Riff From a 1981 Bollywood Film Became One of the Most Iconic Pop Intros of the 2000s appeared first on VICE.
