Blur

The thing is, the new Gen of popstars are referencing her every few days so maybe they will have to move on too, right? And what about Gen Z? https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spears-slave-4-u-vmas-25th-anniversary-gen-z-1235631530/

Not really. The comparisons were mostly Bey vs Brit in the 00's, dancing wise. And I wouldn't generalize for the competitiveness of Britney's fans (stans are mentally deranged, mostly so I'm not including them on how reasonable they should be). Tinashe or Addison Rae, for example, were quite popular among them and they're both great dancer. Tate gets criticized unfairly, at times, but her audience is sometimes very harsh on Britney, too, so it's a never ending back and forth between the two generations of stans (again stans=not reasonable or well-adjusted to reality). Britney did interview her and seems to like her, so there's that, at least. She's confident on what she's built and doesn't bully newcomers, unlike some other artists.

This is dishonest and revisionist. Now, you can be anti-Trump and, sure, you'll get criticized by his supporters but you'll still have a career. 2003 had Dixie Chicks getting canceled and Madonna almost being over in the US for their anti-war sentiment. Even Taylor was scared to say anything political, for a long time, just because of that specific period... 9/11 had just happened and patriotism was shoved down people throat, for lack of a better word. If you know anything about body language and the empty statement Britney made about Bush, you'd know it was PR survival rather than a republican "reveal". Looking at Britney's career and how inclusive she was in everything she did (let's not even talk her Amber Louise parody, her hatred of traditional America and who she tried to endorse in 2016). In short, there's more elements in favor of her not being republican, yet a tense statement made when she was the face of young America, at 21 years old, seems to have set her politics belief in stone for some people. Her coming from a conservative, Bible belt state, there's a stigma about her beliefs but I honestly don't think she was that political to begin with (and if she had been, she might have been too free-spirited and rebel for the conservative pipeline). As for the problematic collabs, 90% of the pop girls have, at least, one. People were harder on Tate because that got her her first number one + she's an LGBTQ+ supporter, from what I understand.

For ATRL standards which are very low, the thread hasn't been derailed too much but it's too bad we still have to read a few pot-stirring, factually untrue and badly written ragebait to get to the interesting discussion and people confronting their point of view. First, Britney is indeed a more important element to pop music than Rihanna who was a consistent celebrated, hitmaker but never a phenomenon or at the excellence level of performance Britney was operating at. We speak about the "Umbrella link between the two but, if we're being honest, the whole Good Girl Gone Bad thing also had other songs written for Britney on it. Again, Rihanna worked super hard to make it in the big league with this record and was ahead of her time with DSTM (electro-dance when it wasn't the norm, yet) or Disturbia (doing the Fame Monster, type of dark songs/hyper stylized video before it was even a thing). Hot take and many don't notice it but I like how Rihanna's did the nasal, vocal fry Britney originated, with a lower, huskier voice, taking in to another dimension. So, in short, it's not because you're inspired by someone that came before you that you didn't bring tons of things to the table yourself. This leads me to my final point, people saying Britney is just Madonna's and Janet's leftovers are super ignorant of the three ladies careers. Madonna & Janet: cerebral/statement/boundary pushing/songwriting that is not to be played with. Britney: instinctive/escapism/boundary pushing/genius intuition for the key markers of her career (BOMT, Oops, Slave, "Toxic", In The Zone, Britney, Blackout, "Criminal", Glory...). Also, Spears was a blockbuster teen popstar coming from a disney show (something M and Janet never achieved, though J started as a child star too). She took Janet's blueprint but more age-appropriate so as to not get cancelled (before going all the way in with In The Zone and Blackout). Then, she Y2K'd her looks to the max and used her movie (which had quite dark themes explored, for the time) + The Neptunes sound to make the leap toward being an adult popstar, with songs that reflected her life at the time (and some edgier teen pop, here and there, to not alienate her fanbase). This was a gamble, most younger users can't even imagine because they're desensitized but it truly was, and made her lose half of her sales but I'm convinced she would have been left behind without doing a radical step to shake things up. Thus, a new blueprint was put in place that's been used ad nauseum for 90% of the popstars we've been discussing on this forum (just a quick look at the ex-acts trajectory would make my point, in a second!). I'm still putting you a link to the most beautiful message Janet has gotten from a fellow celeb, down below, just in case.

Sometimes, I wonder if a pop culture quizz becoming a requirement to join this site wouldn't improve the quality of the posts we're sometimes subjected to in here... "...Baby One More Time" is the song that shifted the pop culture landscape in its entirety. There is a clear divide between the pre-Britney music world and the post-Britney one. The song went number one everywhere, was crazy controversial (something his previous material never achieved), had unexpected SPUNK, transcended the teen pop stigma and became a generational anthem. When you think "Max Martin", you'll think about Ms Spears first, let's be honest for a second. Just for that, she's the rightful winner of the title (that and making one of the most successful song ever, way above anything BSB/Jessica Folker/Robyn have ever done). Grammy10 Ways Britney Spears' "…Baby One More Time" Changed Pop...Released 25 years ago on Sept. 29, 1998, Britney Spears' iconic pop confection was a musical thunderbolt. GRAMMY.com revisits "…Baby One More Time," and 10 ways Spears' debut single changed the…Also, let's not act Oops wasn't a wall to wall pop masterpiece, brillantly produced (the title track alone, the richness of the details, the aural assault hidden as a falsely innocent pop song), with distinctive, tailor made songwriting, perfectly brought to life by Britney. Let's, once again, remind everyone Oops had NME writing she was "modern day pop perfection" and Rolling Stone giving her a 71/100! Do you realize how difficult this was for her (with the "talentless puppet" narrative already well established by most) to prove the critics wrong with the sequel to a blockbuster teen pop album (probably the LEAST respected genre ever)?

Blackout has kinda become the new blueprint for electro-pop albums by female. It is brought up as a main inspiration by so many new pop girls, it's astounding. I've always preferred Madonna's 80s and 90s work compared to Ray of Light. Even if I like the album, True Blue, Like A Prayer and Erotica are miles ahead (much more subversive too, btw). In spite of not following respectability politics, Blackout proved you could make a relentless party album, filled with double meaning, innovation and elements of depth woven throughout the record. A stone cold miracle given Britney's reputation, at the time, and the preconceived notions/misogyny around pop music in the late 00s.

It's been five years her streaming numbers have been gradually getting better so the "she sold her catalogue" cop out isn't factual, I fear (always dissociating her from her achievement is type A exhibit of misogyny, btw). Most fans knew that when she'd start getting passable playlisting (not "good" just "passable"), her numbers would increase even more. They were 100% right!

People think her classics are worth more than what she's got which is pretty flattering, in a sense. Then, you also have the general belief that she's a vulnerable person that always gets the short end of the stick. This is not what happened here and Britney is quite savvy, even if she doesn't want people to think that of her and she makes it work in her favor.

Excited to see more and more pop acts sell their catalogue for people to realize a 150/200 millions deal is nothing to scoff at for a retired artist (especially since her share wasn't big, in the first place). Streaming giants such as JB and Katy had deals around 200 millions, even when they co-wrote more than her, are still active and benefit from recency.

All her collaborators said the opposite these past twenty years, we'll take their words above yours.

1st Hot take: Her discography is one of the greatest/smartest in pop music EVER (+ the most influential for the 21st century), yet she barely got any types of credit for that (even the fre*aking VMA's shunned her, at her peak). This total lack of respect, both from the industry and her family, must have taken its toll from 1998 to 2018. Ironically, her music has never been more celebrated, and her streams are smashing rn, but it might be too little too late, for her now. I'd advise reading her autobiography again because it's really enlightening. She's not some dumb bimbo, FAR FROM IT. She proved time and time again how her instincts were the best (asking to change the ...BOMT video for corniness, then changing the jean/t-shirt outfit the director had in mind, choosing Pharrell for Britney and Danja for Blackout, pushing for Toxic, often co-writing on her best songs, without always asking for credit, being strategic for creating Glory in spite of her "epic fail" team...). Yet, she was always second guessed as if she was a newbie, even after having sold 50 millions record before being of legal age ! 2nd Hot take: She's marked history, performed with her idols, recorded some of the most entertaining pop albums ever (Blackout alone will probably never be topped, let's be honest), created a bulletproof iconicity that still reverberates to this day and is one of the most successful popstar ever (if we take impact + clones WW into account, she's number one for the 21 st century). What's left for her to accomplish really ? She's like a champion who got the serotonin shoots of dozens of gold medals. How do you follow when you reached the apex of excellence in your field ? We all know the conservatorship ruined her passion for music and that she hates the Hollywood machine. But I truly think she's smart enough to know people (her rabbid fanbase, especially) would have unrealistic expectations if she ever came back (such as her confiding her most personal wounds when music is a place of escapism for her). All of this when she's got nothing left to prove, in the end.

"Generic", "dated"... All negative buzzwords that can't be attached to an artist that has always pushed pop music forward, in every way possible (vocal fry, baby voice, delocalized the pop industry from the US to Sweden, bombastic teen pop, electropop, Neptunes as pop producers, having produced 1/3 of In The Zone while "Umbrella", "Single Ladies" and "Baby" didn't exist yet, talk singing on 2008's "Trouble" on a similar musical progression as Tik Tok, Gaga as her songwriter before she made it big, dubstep before her peers all started to use it in their songs, wobble and the list goes on). Most pop albums bring us back to the year they were released. This time capsule is part of their charm. But pop artists have to evolve with the trends of their time or they are left behind. Britney actually experimented, while smartly remaining on trend, putting her ahead of the curve a lot of the time, with shockingly on point pop instincts (Britney, In The Zone, Blackout and Femme Fatale being the most obvious example of that). Glory is doing just that familiar sounds with a few, strange curveball thrown in ("Clumsy", "Do You Wanna Come Over", "What You Need" and "Private Show"). Then, the deluxe is going all out, trying so many new things, and I can't think of other major 2016 female pop albums that gave salsa/latin sounds a, year before Havana smashed hard (forward thinking icon, that's right) , spaghetti western pop bop, bonkers hyperpop oddity (even A.J Cook would have been jealous of that one) and minimalist French spoken, sultry electropop (mylene found stanning), ALL in the same album, 100% convincing and never sounding contrived!

"Just Luv Me" and "Make Me" were moments. In an ideal world, she's released an entire album following those templates.

The range, the versatility, the excellence... No one was/is doing it quite like her. We truly didn't how good we had it... PS/ Warming up and playing around right before making history (some nice harmonies toward the end) :

I don't find the album generic, honestly except for "Love Me Down", "Just Luv Me" (still different enough and better sung than "Good For You", obviously) and "Slumber Party" (for the "Hotline Bling" progression, but again many flourishes in the production that keeps it lush and distinct enough). As for the deluxe (now with streaming, the deluxe is basically the version most people will listen to and don't say the streams are bad, we're here for the art here ), we have "Liar" (the glorious western spaghetti experimental pop bop we didn't know we needed), No seas Cortes (doing the Havana sound before Camilla smashed with it, a year later), "Swimming in The Stars" (in all its ethereal, epic glory), "Coupure éléctrique" (minimalist dark electro with auto translated, french lyrics repeated, hypnotically) and the bonkers, hyperpop oddity that is "If I'm Dancing". Only "Better" was really generic (probably the most "by the number song" on the album). By the way, I remember one of the biggest complaint at the time was that the album was lacking HITS (which was true but again, she more than deserved to have her "artsy fartsy" era at this point), so calling it generic is contradictory if no surefire smash was recorded for the project. The normal version is adventurous enough, mixed with familiar sound of its time, but the deluxe was quite daring, for her to release in the face of her money hungry, and artistically challenged team con trying to grift money and f*cking up her legacy, at every turn! She said it herself in her memoir, the warrior in her came back recording this album, which ultimately led to her freedom 5 years later.