Once upon a time in 1999, a certain average teenager became a pop sensation. She had an OK voice, better dance skills, a great body and a reasonable personality. No, not Ke$ha (no personality) or Miley Cyrus (too much personality). Her name was Britney (bitch) Spears.
Although perfectly average, Spears was molded into a pop starlet from a young age, beginning with her Mouseketeer membership in 1992. Once she grew up, her innocence was played against her sweet, not-yet-a-woman-developing-a-woman’s-body appearance. Designed to sell, her image was strong enough to captivate young and old listeners.
With her huge boobs career blossoming, “Oops!… I Did it Again,” her follow-up album to “…Baby One More Time,” continues her love for ellipses. The album reflects Spears’ established sound, without much development.
The title track, “Oops!… I Did it Again,” displays Spears’ youthful naïveté and penchant for toying with men’s emotions without much frame of reference (being a virgin and all). Nostalgia may not truly hit until Spears quotes the quintessential movie of the decade (sadly, not “Good Burger”).
“But I thought the old lady dropped it in the ocean.” Britney inevitably dates herself, but it only adds to the album’s quirky charm.
“Lucky” is an underappreciated gem, catchy and sincere, foreshadowing Spears’ own spiral into fame’s side effects. In “Stronger,” early signs of her defiance toward her critics emerge, with lines like “You might think that I won’t make it on my own.”
Compared to the heavily manufactured sound of current pop and hip hop, all of Spears’ songs are composed of uncluttered beats, cumulating in the typical 90’s hip-hop sound, heard in acts like early Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys. Spears’ childish voice and innocent lyrics work well with the music’s simplicity and transport the listener’s ears through a time-capsule of unassuming pop.
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