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The Curious Case Of Britney Spears: 5 Reasons Why The Princess of Pop Rules Interesting read...
Dissecting the unstoppable force that is Britney Spears is a complex and daunting task. Throughout her nearly 15-year career, there have been superior talents and performers (Christina Aguilera, Pink and Beyonce can easily sing the thin-voiced Spears under the table); cooler trend setters (stylish it-girl Rihanna); and more dynamic artists (The piano-tinkling Lady Gaga and the bubbly Katy Perry frequently write their own material, a skill set that Spears has yet to fully master). Indeed, despite such modest talent, a litany of scandals, and changing musical tastes, Britney’s fame and influence towers over them all to the tune of over 100 million records sold worldwide. This makes the eighth best-selling female music artist’s ongoing world-beating success all the more intriguing. If you were a betting individual in 2007, the sure money would have been on Britney becoming a cautionary pop music casualty. During that epic meltdown of a year, America’s Louisiana-born Sweetheart (way before Kanye West transformed future country megastar Taylor Swift into a modern day Joan of Ark) checked into a drug rehabilitation center; shaved her hair completely bald; physically threatened paparazzi with an umbrella; lost physical custody of her children to freeloading ex-husband Kevin Federline due to what was reported as mental instability; and was universally panned following an embarrassing zombie-like performance on the MTV Video Music Awards. By January of 2008, the wheels had completely fallen off for the former teen-idol who once led the frenzied pop revival a decade earlier with her mammoth 1997 debut …Baby One More Time—an album that went on to amass 25 million copies across the globe. For her troubles, Britney was placed under involuntary psychiatric hold as the courts gave her father James Spears complete conservatorship over his troubled daughter. Such a devastating freefall would have put a swift end to the careers of most mere music mortals. But just as everyone was scrambling to write her epitaph, the troubled singer was enjoying some of the most jubilant reviews of her roller coaster time in the spotlight with her fifth studio release Blackout. Rolling Stone gave the project a gaudy four-star rating, later calling the set, “Possibly the most influential pop album of the last five years.” The Observer proclaimed, “Britney has delivered the best album of her career.” Other glowing reviews followed as Blackout would go on to push over 3 million units, an astonishing feat for an act who had become a tabloid wet dream. Following 2008’s acclaimed follow-up Circus and a $131 million grossing tour in 2009, it’s clear that the world’s endearing and somewhat strange love affair with Britney won’t be ending anytime soon. Her latest single, the tongue-wagging techno-pop romp “Hold It Against Me,” has shot to no. 1 on the Billboard charts. And her upcoming release Femme Fatale, due out March 29, is already breaking records, as it recently landed in the all-time top 10 on Twitter’s longest running trending topics. Not to mention the news is still swirling on whether or not blondie will be performing at this year's Grammy Awards come Sunday (Her reps have shot down the idea...but with Brit-Brit, you never know.) So how does she do it? VIBE rounded up PopEater’s John Mitchell, Newsday’s Risa Dixon, pop and R&B songwriter/artist Keri Hilson and influential celebrity blogger Perez Hilton to find out why the controversial Spears continues to win. It’s Britney, bitches.--Keith Murphy
5 → BRITNEY + A TEAM = DOMINANCE Is there a stronger unit in popular music today than Britney Spears’ savvy roster of handlers? The no-nonsense team of publicists, lawyers, and producers headed up by two-fisted manager Larry Rudolph has guided the singer through a string of personal misfortunes and scandals, changing public taste and increasingly younger competition. Mitchell points to the break-away success of Spear’s ‘Hold It Against Me’ as continued proof of her team’s incalculable value. “Hold It Against Me” is a fun Britney Spears song,” Mitchell says of her current ubitquitous radio hit. “But there’s nothing super special about it like say a ‘Toxic’.” Yet it had a huge marketing campaign behind it on social networks. It was all over Twitter and Facebook. You can’t really underestimate marketing in this current pop environment. With record sales down so much and single sales being so important in connection with music downloads, having a team that’s up to speed on all that stuff is important.” Mitchell continues: “Artists like Christina Aguilera can learn from Britney on how to surround themselves with the right professional people. If you notice, Britney’s team cut off a lot of people like her old manager Larry Rudolph out of her life when she was having that public turmoil. But they were smart enough to bring him back. She has this incredible marketing machine behind her that really has a grasp of who she is and how to best market her music. You can definitely see Britney’s influence on someone like a Rihanna.”
4 → SHE'S THE BFF YOU GREW UP WITH
The shelf life of a child star is usually short-lived. For every transcendent prodigy like late music giant Michael Jackson there’s Tiffany, a where-are-they-now Trivial Pursuit question. For fans who grew up with Spears from her pubescent early ‘90s days as a cutesy star on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club to her sexually-liberating 2001 set Britney, it’s become almost second nature to root her on. “She was making fun music for girls my age,” recalls Newsdays Dixon, who was 12-years-old when Spears kick started her record-breaking career. “When ‘Baby One More Time’ came out, I never had to worry about my parents saying, ‘I don’t want you listening to that.’ Britney grew up with her fans. As we got older and matured and went through different issues, she went through the same things and sang about it. When people said Britney was pushing the envelope and was being too sexy, she worked with the Neptunes and came out with ‘I’m A Slave 4 U.’ It was if she was saying, ‘What?!!! I’m over 21 and I’m having sex!’ There’s a strong relatable factor there.”
3 → WE CHEER FOR THE UNDERDOG
For years, Britney Spears has reigned as the poster child for the all-style-no-substance pop world. There has been the smoke-and-mirrors rebuke of the frequently lip-synching blond beauty. And while music critics have at times lauded the singer’s penchant for delivering the perfect pop masterpiece, most of the praise has been reserved for her team of songwriters and producers that have contributed greatly to her record-breaking career. But Perez Hilton says it’s that constant scrutiny of Spears’ talents coupled with her public stumbles that continues to draw in fans. “We love and root for her because she is still the underdog even though she is incredibly successful,” Perez says of Spears. “When she was at her low point I was very critical of Britney. But I am a fan and I have been for a long time. And I still remain a fan. There’s still a sense that she is still not 100 percent well. And people want her to be well. That’s why we are rooting for her.” Britney’s down-to-earth persona has also proven to be a true selling point for fans. “Britney always came off as a sweet, simple girl, whereas someone like a Christina Aguilera can come across as cold and a bitch,” Perez says of the bubbly singer’s longtime nemesis who is currently going through her own career turbulence after disappointing sales of 2010 Bionic album and much-talked about “National Anthem” flubbing at the Super Bowl. Given what Britney has gone through, people want her to be happy.”
2 → SHE'S A PRODUCER'S DREAM GIRL
Since the late 90’s, no other performer has been more responsible for introducing new pop production and songwriting talent to the masses. Swedish studio wizard Max Martin, who since 2010 has written or co-written a cavalry of radio anthems that includes Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Pink’s “Raise Your Glass,” Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite,” and Usher’s “DJ Got Me Falling in Love” solidified his superstar hit-making rep after crafting the heavy mechanical pop of “Baby One More Time.” And Dr. Luke has seen his stock rise dramatically following his work on the Circus album. “Some of Britney’s past work really introduced the whole European sound that’s popular today,” points out Mitchell. “Britney was sort of ahead of that in some ways. You think back to ‘Toxic’ and ‘Breath On Me’—collaborations with Bloodshy & Avant and other Swedish producers—she was ahead of the curve on that. All you have to do is look at the Grammy’s this Sunday and see the influence Britney’s songwriters and producers have had. Both Martin and Dr. Luke are up for awards for Katy Perry’s album.” Keri Hilson, who co-wrote Spears’ 2007 racy track “Gimme More,” says the singer’s global sound has also had a huge impact on R&B. “Pop used to be only Britney, the Backstreet Boys and N’ Sync,” Hilson says. “But today it has evolved into so much more. I love how R&B has become pop music. I don’t take offense to being called a pop artist because R&B is different now. The success of an artist like Britney made it cool to be a pop artist.”
1 → BRITNEY IS THE CLOSEST THING TO OUR MATERIAL GIRL It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when Madonna held the same light artistic weight as Britney. If you were to believe all the talk in the mid-‘80s, the reigning Queen of Pop would not have lasted beyond her “Like A Virgin” era. Sounds familiar? “You look at the pop landscape and you always want to compare Britney to Madonna,” Mitchell says of the two pop behemoths who collaborated on the uber successful 2003 event single “Me Against The World.” “People were down on Madonna’s talents for years. But there are some differences there. Madonna writes and produces a lot of her own material. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s still there. But the connection comes in the celebrity and fame aspect.” Perez, however, cautions such talk. He believes that while Britney is a legitimate icon, she needs to show more work ethic before she can dream of even being in the same zip code as Madge. “She has not done one single piece of promotion for her new single or her upcoming album,” Perez worries of Britney’s current marketing run. “She’s not performing at the Grammy awards, and it just makes no sense to me. She’s had months and months to prepare. If you are not ready to come out, you shouldn’t release your single or album. When you expect success and don’t work hard you are headed for failure. Madonna has never done that. To me there is a general laissez faire attitude about Britney right now. It could backfire.” Dixon, however, says she’s learned to never bet against Britney Spears. “There are the people who say that she has no talent and that she is washed up,” Dixon says. “Then there are the fans who say that Britney still has it and that the new record is great. But for some reason drama seems to help her come out with better music. Britney continues to win no matter what.”
http://www.vibe.com/conte...op-rules-0 [Edited 2/11/11 15:58pm] | |
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Even after reading all of that, I still wonder why Britney. Why not all that stuff behind someone with stronger vocals? I've been a Britney fan since day one because I really think the music is catchy and cool and of-the-moment, but I still don't know why people chose to make Britney a megabrand and not someone else. | |
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^^^ i see what you're saying , britney came out when i was in kindergarden and all the kids at my school loved her music i couldn't see then b/c back then i was a christnia fan but when i heard lucky i started to listen to her music, it was fun pop music but she's a really sweet person and her girl next door personality appeals to alot of people, but she has an "it" factor not really her voice but something that has that click and she established her name as a brand with endorsements, perfumes, dolls, multiplatnum album so she made a mark in the pop music 2000's era [Edited 2/11/11 17:17pm] | |
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Yeah, that makes sense. In that regard, I guess she is a lot like Madonna. Her vocals weren't so much her strong suit but she had that "it" factor. | |
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But heres the double standard, POP stars and great voices arent a hand in hand thing, and they almost never have been, i think its a bit more than just a "good team" behind her, its also to do with MAX MARTIN who made alot of stars in his big days, i mean he is responsible for that whole teen movement which really was the whole industry for years. I mean its the same thing in the UK, take a girl group like GIRLS ALOUD they are the biggest girl group of all time in the uk with 20 straight top 10hits, now, they dont possess aretha like vocals, but why should they? I mean does the a big star like a Bruce Springsteen in the 80's did he have this amazing voice? ok yeah he had great songs, but different times different public etc.... "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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I doubt that Britney eclipses Lady Gaga at the moment. Gaga's new single "Born this way" was been abuzz all over the clubs and radio, and is currently being talked about.
Britney's singles for the last 5 or 6 years get a nod, sure. But it's what they're bumping in the clubs, and what kids are talking about that shows the trent.
Gaga's sold 15 million on her debut album and garnered 12 nominations between various awards--on her debut alone.
I'm not diminishing Britney's fame of course--there's no doubt she's famous. I just don't think her fame "towers" over some of the others. It's Gagaville everywhere I look now.  Hey, it's time to jam! Nastyarse, dance, dance, dance!!!   | |
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Britney is just really, really likeable.
I don't even own any of her music and there's probably less than a handful of songs she's done that I like, but I just think she's awesome.
I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's like...no one dislikes this woman lol. [Edited 2/11/11 19:32pm] "I don't think you'd do well in captivity." - random person's comment to me the other day | |
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"Get up off that grey line" | |
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Plus, she's a really, really great performer. Stuff like this is why she's adored.
"I don't think you'd do well in captivity." - random person's comment to me the other day | |
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i actually am not familiar with britney spears' music (i think i have heard half of two songs in my entire life, and wasn't into it... but her story seems interesting enough for people to be compelled. i think she's one of the many who got used up by the brainwashing mashine of the industry. she was an experiment, and she snapped. it's not unlike michael, whitney houston, and many sensitive types who felt trapped by the pressure of the environment.
nevertheless, here is footage of her when she was younger. she's actually not a bad singer. i'm sure when she got big, they told her to sing like a baby and dumb down her voice, not unlike janet jackson, mariah carey and many others who can sing much better than the work they officially produce. a lot of pop music's effects are numbing. if spears continued to use her actual voice (and maybe she has, i don't know)- she may be able to sing standards, or jazz or something. just watching this footage, i think she had a lot of potential... you don't have to strip (or do the 'naughty schoolgirl' thing) to show how much talent you have.
[Edited 2/12/11 1:43am] | |
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A rich spoiled no-talented brat who fucked up her OWN life/career by her own choice because she couldn't handle the success, and I'm supposed to cheer for her.
Fuck a Britney and whoever wrote that garbage,,,,,I'll cheer for the people of New Orleans, those are the real "underdogs" in my book. | |
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@ "underdog".
The underdog of Hollywood that is
It worked for me, before her meltdown i didn't thought she was interesting at all....but than came the meltdown and Blackout. I'm not a fan, but you just gotta love her! | |
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I really believe it's a "right time, right place" kinda thing. It's just there. | |
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that's the whole thing... again, the point of a lot of this popular culture is to numb the population. there are some who aren't numb who may like her. however, the intention of this product is to distract from what is going on. | |
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Britney reminds me nothing of Madonna. If anything to me she is like a very generic Kylie. I do like a lot of her music but it has no real personality. They are just good pop songs. I completely dislike her fashion sense and her shows suck. | |
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REASON NUMBER 1 : COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT
I do agree with reasons number 2,3 and 5, though... reason number 4, hmmm, not really...
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The thing is that you can break every artist down and none are original, you can find influence, copying whatever you want to call it in every single aritst. I personally dont see madonna,kylie or janet in Britney at all, its 20 years later, Britney isnt "original" but neither is a new singer picking up an acoustic guitar and writing a song, thats been done since the guitar was invented. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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For The life of me, Icant understnad why they keep comparing her to Madonna.Especially when she forever imitated Janet
But anyways GOOD FOR HER, Shoot she's better than whats out now.
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It is sad but it's nothing new. The media is always acting like she never existed. [Edited 2/12/11 18:22pm] | |
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^^Exactly! If Britney Spears is like anybody it's Janet. She's Janet 2.0. Whether it's because Janet is a black woman, and the media wouldn't possibly link her as being influenced by a black woman or whatever, the truth remains that she is much more visually on a par with Janet than Madonna. That's the bottom line. "Get up off that grey line" | |
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Agreed. In my honest opinion The only reason why they compare Madonna and Britney is because They're both caucasion Blonde females that do pop/dance pop
Madonna's influence
Janet's Influence=
You can easily tell A janet influence from a Madonna influence.
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You all are SO on point with these examples. Madonna gets all the media props when it comes to the influence of the younger generation of female performers, when Janet is just as much of an influence, if not more in some instances. This is the reason the younger generation isn't as acutely aware of just how much Janet has accomplished. When they see Britney doing sexy, intricate choreography, or performing a dance routine with a chair, Janet has already done it. When they see Rihanna sporting bright red curly hair and tatts, Janet has already done it. When they see Mya dance-battling male dancers in a desert, or Ciara moving seductively while exposing her midrif, or Beyonce performing militant choreography on-stage, or Cassie dancing in front of mirrors in a warehouse, Janet has already done it. When they see Kelly Rowland in a space suit and ponytail, Janet has already done it. When they see Usher or Chris Brown dancing in the streets wearing pinstriped zoot suits, Janet has already done that, too. If the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame would open its biased eyes and see who the real nucleus for a lot of these younger performers really is, then maybe they would finally get up off their duffs and induct her. "Get up off that grey line" | |
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Thanks
But anywho, I get pretty fed up with people downplaying her. People need to remember that for Females that incorporate Singing AND dancing in their performances. It all started with This.
And as Far as I'm concerned Britney is ONE OF the closest things to Ms.Janet if you're nasty:) | |
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.To be honest with you, Madonna's a good artist but nonetheless one of the most Controversial female artist ever. Janet kept her life private and tried to stay away from that type of stuff. Had Janet done something like Kiss britney spears, she would've called a lesbian in a heartbeat. But when Madonna and Britney do it, it's considered "Sexy" 
WOW! ms. spears really IS influenced by ms. jackson. i am certainly convinced of this, after looking at some of the images people posted. again, i know nothing about britney spears. artistically, i'd say her main influence is janet and michael jackson. for sure. moreso janet. | |
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I guess Beyonce, Lady Gaga, & Rihanna didn't get the memo. The dance-pop world moved on without waiting on Britney with the car keys.
And the industry already decided that Gaga owned Madonna's torch, not Britney or Christina. | |
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I was angry for years janet was not getting credit for influencing her, from day one. | |
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i got to give it up to britney she has a dedicated fanbase that stuck with her through thick and thin the same with madonna | |
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you have a point. | |
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