Why Britney Spears is the most important pop artist of the 21st century (article)
 

Ignore the Cheryl Cole thing - I think it's a joke :s
also this was posted yesterday but the page isn't there anymore for some reason

Why Britney Spears is the most important pop artist of the 21st century (and how she predicted the recession)

This week sees the release of Britney Jean, the eighth studio album by Britney Spears, to go with her six greatest hits compilations.
(graphic in link)

This is the story of how a girl from Kentwood, Louisiana, changed pop music forever.

But first, a quiz. Can you name the five biggest-selling female artists of 1998?
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...8_2750478a.gif
Of course you can. They're Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Janet Jackson, Paula Cole and Celine Dion.


Preeeeeeetty boring. Now, here are the five biggest-selling female artists of 2003.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...3_2750549a.gif
That's Beyonce, Aaliyah (RIP), J-Lo, Christina Aguilera (Career RIP) and Avril Lavigne. Not necessarily better, of course - but different. And better.

So what happened in those five short years to inspire this seismic cultural shift? This happened.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...e_2750571a.gif

In January 1999, Britney Spears released her debut single, ...Baby One More Time. The ellipsis replaced the words 'Hit Me', which were removed because of their potentially sadomasochistic interpretation. "It doesn't mean physically hit me," she said later. "It means just give me a sign."

Britney changed everything. Politically, she held a mirror to the rapidly-changing fin-de-siecle America. As the screenwriter and novelist Tom Perrotta wrote:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...n_2752132a.gif



Britney had her finger on the pulse of modern America. While pop icons of the past generally tried to disturb the established cultural order, Britney was perfectly happy the existing cultural order as it was, thank you very much.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...e_2753271a.gif
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...e_2753272a.gif

Musically, pop changed forever. Let's have a look at how those stars of '98 turned out.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...8_2753362a.gif


Shania Twain vamped herself up. LeAnn Rimes stripped herself down. Janet Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction. Celine Dion is currently going through her own mildlly saucy reinvention. Meanwhile, Paula Cole changed her name to Cheryl and enjoyed a string of popular hits. All products of the new, Britney-fied pop universe.

As pop adapted, so did Britney. A lot. In so doing, she created some of the most enduring images of the decade.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...s_2753619a.gif

Even today's pop stars, from Miley Cyrus to Lady Gaga to Lana del Rey, have recognised their debt.

Still not convinced of Britney's influence? Look at this graph, which plots Britney album sales against annual US GDP growth.
(see link for graphic)

The evidence is clear. When Britney sneezes, America catches a cold. The story of Britney is the story of America.

So let's cut a long story short.
Britney Spears is single-handedly responsible for the reinvention of popular music...
...recording some of the greatest songs of all time...
...redefining US culture in the early 2000s...
...continuing to influence the music of today...
...and surviving for 15 years in the world's most cut-throat industry.
Oh, and she predicted the recession.
THE END.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...g_2753694a.gif

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...recession.html

it is true tbh, she definitely was one of the best pop artists of the 00s and had huge cultural influence, I mean those images really are iconic. It's a shame she had to ruin her legacy though with Femme *****tale and Sh!tney Jean

All of her discography has been perfect except some of the teen pop songs at the start, Britney remains untouched http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/...r/67d90ee8.gif

Queen B - there is no other like her, like it or lump it.

Femme Fatale was a good album and so is most of Britney Jean :D

2007 :laugh2:, I do agree with this know

tldr

just a shame she has absolutely no talent

LOL @ "single-handedly"... yeah... forget all the songwriters, producers, choreographers, video directors and collaborators... she did this all on her own

http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/...r/67d90ee8.gif

http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/...72_cry_gif.gif

buy britney jean

Bought Britney Jean yesterday, it is amazing :love:

:love:

:love:

Aaliyah

http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/...72_cry_gif.gif

Still wont stop the flop.

wow you give Britney way more credit than she deserves. Britney is a puppet, all of the other women in those pics you posted, at least they have some credibility in their vocals or writing or performance, Britney is by far the most manufactured of all of the pop stars you posted.

She didn't even sing on her records.

You should be posting pictures of Milli Vanilli, that would be the only fair comparison for Britney you can make. She is just as fake as them.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lli_album).jpg

Madonna is STILL the Queen Empress of Pop. No one is even close to Madonna's title, not Britney, or Kylie, or Gaga, or Bey, or Rihanna.

Madonna is still HBIC.