How Britney Spears Changed Pop With ‘Baby One More Time’

It makes all the sense in the world Britney was aiming to sound like “Tainted Love” — the breathy New Wave decadence of a U.K. art poseur flouncing like a Motown diva. But she took that erotic-cabaret sound somewhere new, with her own down-home growl. “I was praying every night,” she said. “‘God, please, help them play it on just my radio station at home.’ And then they did. Then all of a sudden, it’s playing on all the big radio stations in New York. And everything just started happening for me, and I was just like, wow, you know?”

The title hit is such a classic, it’s easy to overlook how weird and disturbing it sounded when it first hit MTV in time for Christmas 1998 — so flamboyantly artificial, so post-Mentos inhuman. Who was this? Was she Swedish or Swiss or Icelandic? Was she just Not of This Earth? You could tell the lyrics were written by somebody who’d barely met the English language — oh, that irritating ellipsis in the title. (I ignore the ellipsis whenever possible, because as Brit would say, it’s my prerogative.) But there was something otherworldly about it. TLC later claimed they turned down the song, but it would have been all wrong for TLC or any other certified grown-ups. Can you imagine a worldly-wise adult like T-Boz selling a teen-psycho line like “When I’m not with you, I lose my mind”? No way. Only Britney.

The whole album was packed with hits. “Bops” and “bangers” were not invented yet, but I move that “Soda Pop” get grandfathered in as a bop — a bizarro reggae move as irie as Sugar Ray. “E-Mail My Heart” is the most-mocked track (justifiably, I admit), but it stands as the last great dial-up love song, a ballad of desktop-computer romance from the age of Angelfire and Geocities. Britney spends the song hitting refresh, looking for some sign of validation from her crush — is that so different from how we all spend our time now? Yet another future she predicted.

“(You Drive Me) Crazy” blatantly used the exact same backing track as the Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life” — Max Martin, have you no shame? — but somehow that just made us all love both songs even more. (“Larger Than Life,” the boy band’s girl-almighty salute to their fans, was the perfect feminist turf for them to share with their Brit-muse.) “Crazy” became the theme for the Melissa Joan Hart/Adrian Grenier rom-com and its MTV video, where she and Melissa immortalized their all-too-brief BFF status. (The world deserved more “Brit pretends to be a waitress” videos.) The ladies bonded in her iconic guest turn on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Sabrina: “You’re always surrounded by people!” Britney: “Sometimes that’s the loneliest place to be.” Too real.

But the lost classic is “Sometimes,” which became her all-important second hit. (In 1999, a year full of one-hit wonders, the jump from one-hit to two-hit status was tougher than the jump from zero to one.) “Sometimes” is weirdly forgotten today, but much more than “…Baby One More Time,” it defined the Britney persona the world would come to know and love over the years. She sings in the voice of an ordinary American girl with too many feelings — everything she spent her first hit pretending not to be. In the video, she mopes around the beach sighing over the cute guy (she creep-peeps him via tourist binoculars). Nobody understands except her squad of elfin dancers, who frolic around her in a heart-shape on the pier. “Sometimes” made her a mainstream star and pushed what could have been a one-shot into a franchise wearing Vegas plates. Blink-182 got famous parodying it in their career-making “All the Small Things.” This was also the hit where Brit debuted her signature video move, rolling up her eyes at the camera. The Sensitive Upblink became her trademark, and she owned it until Ariana Grande came along — in Ari’s “Problem” video, she finally shattered Britney’s record for upblinks-per-minute.

Britney ends the album perfectly by making her explicit claim on the grand pop tradition, covering Sonny & Cher’s “The Beat Goes On.” Brit and Cher had a deep connection — she was just a little kid when she started belting “If I Could Turn Back Time” on the state-fair circuit. It began the tradition of Brit’s awesomely sacreligious cover versions, from the Stones’ “Satisfaction” (on her next album, changing “how white my shirts could be” to “how tight my skirt should be”) to Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock & Roll.” “The Beat Goes On” sums up everything Britney does on this album — inserting herself (and her audience) into the story of pop music. Like the song says, “History has turned the page.” La-di-da-di-di. La-di-da-di-da. The beat goes on.

After “The Beat Goes On” fades out at the end of the CD, there’s a spoken-word thank-you from Brit. “It means so much to me that you enjoy listening to my songs as much as I love singing them!” Then she gives a preview of the upcoming release by her labelmates the Backstreet Boys: “Hit it, guys!” In other words, her debut album ends with an ad, which is perfect in itself. The CD single “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” had another message, one to put on your answering machine: “Hi, this is Britney Spears and sometimes my friend can’t come to the phone, and this is one of those times. So leave your message at the beep and baby, they’ll call you back one more time!”

“So much attitude in that song,” Britney told me in 2000, recalling the moment she first heard the demo of her first hit. “I was so happy because there’s a lot of good songs out there, but it’s rare when you can take a song and really put your name all over it and put your personality into it.” That’s what she achieved on her debut. She’d go on to make more albums, score more hits, inspire more scandalous headlines. But on …Baby One More Time, she proved she was here to stay.

Bach, Beethoven, Britney.

Yes, of course.

The pandemic is stimulating such brilliance.

She was absolutely as sweet as apple pie and so silly/goofy, but there was just something so undeniably fierce and badass about her at the same time. She's always been such a walking contradiction. I loved her at first sight and I always will.

Rolling Stone sezs wha?

"The lost classic is 'Sometimes'"

My sides!

She's not Joni fucking Mitchell

I don't get it. I don't like them, but I understand why the hits of Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé were popular. But "Baby One More Time" sounds like a generic Max Martin song. In fact, I don't thiknk any of that late 90s teen pop has aged well and it all tends to blend together

Britney should be remembered for Blackout - completed when she was blotto - a toxic cynical industrial brew with a couple standout tracks. Even the author of the DUMB piece above appreciates Blackout, the most.

"Avant-garde?" I love Britney, bitch but this reads like an Onion article.

R10 she is avant garde. Every song on the radio sounded "Blackout" (but not as good) two years after "Blackout" came out.

R8 You might not agree, but I think Britney has some interesting songs that are something other than generic pop songs. I agree with you about her early music—although I think “Hit Me Baby One More Time” is peculiar enough phrasing, like “I Want It That Way” (what way??) that it creates a kind of je ne sais quoi that makes it less generic.

But a lot of Britney songs that followed are melancholic, romantic but kind of dark and sad and downtrodden, and that really does make her different than a lot of pop singers. Usually it’s sassy diva, romantic come-ons, sweet romance, etc. Not a lot of pop singers put out somber pop, but Britney has consistently released some emotionally edgy and fragile songs that match her emotionally unstable and fragile persona.

Is OP insane? Changed pop?

Made it worse maybe.

OP didn't say that. The Rolling Stone writer sezs so. Slow music cycle I guess.

This song was so bizarre coming from a Britney album called “Blackout” that followed a major emotional breakdown and institutionalization. I was never sure if it was exploitation or a product of her going batty, but the song sounds like some kind of gloriously deranged manic episode to me. Laugh at me for saying so, but whomever was really responsible for this album as it is created a real work of pop art. It’s so weird and yet accessible.

R13, that's another song I've always hated--"I Wanted it that Way". It feels like it's one of those songs that's overexposed in the media. And yes, the song makes no sense which irritates the fuck out of me, even though I don't care if other pop songs are nonsensical too.

That article had to be a parody. She became popular because she was 16 and dressed like a slut.

Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Drake, Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey are the only artists to debut multiple songs at #1 on the Hot 100.

Another good one from Blackout. These should be among her hits.

Sounds like a stalker letter:

Oh baby, baby Oh baby, baby

Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know That something wasn't right here? Oh baby, baby, I shouldn't have let you go And now you're out of sight, yeah Show me how want it to be Tell me, baby, 'cause I need to know now, oh because

My loneliness is killing me (and I) I must confess I still believe (still believe) When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign Hit me, baby, one more time

Oh baby, baby The reason I breathe is you Boy, you got me blinded Oh, pretty baby There's nothing that I wouldn't do It's not the way I planned it Show me how you want it to be Tell me, baby, 'cause I need to know now, oh because

My loneliness is killing me (and I) I must confess I still believe (still believe) When I'm not with you I lose my mind…

Oh baby, baby (oh oh) Oh baby, baby (yeah)

Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know? Oh pretty baby, I shouldn't have let you go I must confess, that my loneliness is killing me now Don't you know I still believe That you will be here And give me a sign Hit me, baby, one more time

My loneliness is killing me (and I) I must confess I still believe (still believe) When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign Hit me, baby

I must confess, that my loneliness is killing

Britney Stans would do best NOT to overthink Britney. She's to be consumed as a Baudrillardian spectacle.

Changed pop? I don’t know her.

R16 i love that song but the croaking in the background reminds me of The Grudge.

R13, I am not a Britney fan at all. I had a roommate years ago who was. And he'd always play Unusual You. I fucking LOVE that song! That should have been a huge hit.

That said, I never really got Britney in the way I got Gaga, Riri, Pink and SIa. But, I wasn't her target audience.

Op Ace of Base was first half of the 90’s.

R26, I don't know why this is, but Ace of Base's debut sounds less cheap to me than the teen pop from the late 90s. Apparently, "Vogue" was a very cheap song to make but it doesn't sound like it to me. But ALL of that teen pop from the late 90s era sounds like it was purchased at the dollar store.

[Quote] But ALL of that teen pop from the late 90s era sounds like it was purchased at the dollar store.

That's how i feel about most of the pop music that comes out now.

Britney and Max Martin in the studio back in those days:

Max talking about Baby One More Time at 4:15:

When Britney first came out she was totally copying the sound of the Swedish singer Robyn.

R29 don't even need to watch the video to know those 2 fucked 🤢

Britney talking about working with Max - "it's hard, because I'm always scared of doing something wrong":

BOMT was pop gold you rarely see. The way it took over the radio, and the album sold like crazy.

25 million albums sold.

May I kindly request Stans stop typing the word "bop"?

Rarely, but that’s what singles out a pop star from someone who has a singing career.

And the people who have sold the most are not Britney and Madonna. They are:

1. Michael Jackson

2. AC/DC

3. Pink Floyd

4. Meat Loaf

5. Eagles

6. Fleetwood Mac

7. Shania Twain

8. Led Zeppelin

9. Michael Jackson again

10. Eminem

When Stockhausen and Boulez heard ‘Baby One More Time’ they knew their career was over.

LOL. Like she had *anything* to do with "her" sound or looks. It's a catchy tune -- the kind that pop thrives on -- and it would've been a hit for whoever recorded it.

R38 read the article. It says how she was involved in her sound.

I read it. If you think she had anything to do with it, I have a virgin hole to sell you.

R32 get your mind out of the gutter!

Britney was a label designed by others. There is no there there.

She did have say on her sound at the beginning. She also is the one who came up with the idea to wear a school girl outfit in the video. And then she is the one who decided to make it look slutty.

Fun fact.

The song would have tanked in the wrong persons hand. People forget that before Britney music of that time was very different. Britney, NSYNC and BSB are who brought bubblegum pop back, and there is a reason every female after her was compared to her and tried copying her sound.

Bullshit - it was the Swedish producer who did BOTH songs - I Want It That Way and Hit Me Baby One More Time.

She didn't do shit. It was Max Martin.

And Britney Spears basically COPIED Robyn's vocal style from her earlier songs - again, probably prodded by Max Martin.

R41 it's been discussed on here before.

Well she did effectively kill Lilith Fair and the female singer-songwriters who were dominating the pop charts in ‘97 and ‘98.

Believe what you want, but, Ms. Spears was the catalyst for a lot of young girls' first realization that they might not be straight.

Indeed. It is well-known she purposefully added lezlez backmasking to a number of tracks without Martin's knowledge or consent.

BLACKOUT really changed pop music. Britney always hated SOMETIMES.

R49 Budding baby dykes were no match for the Kentwood songstress. She lured them out of confusion & closets by the thousands.

R36 Stupid argument. Lots of people had a huge album. It doesn't mean they sold more OVERALL than others.

Britney was just incredibly untalented. Like Janet, the same old dance routines over and over. Horrible singing voice. No one was compared to her after. Everybody was still compared to Madonna and everybody still is.

For some reason, gays just took to her like stink on shit. Gays love their damaged divas. The more damaged the more they will defend them. See Lady Gaga's utter sociopathic behavior.

Britney hit big early because, yes, the song was catchy but she dressed like a Lolita and had the pedos in a tizzy.

R12 I was talking about the "...Baby One More Time" album, which is largely generic cheese. "Blackout" is definitely a masterpiece and deserves it's place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

R52, it's really creepy in retrospect how racy that photoshoot she did for Rolling Stone was back in the late 90s. She was still a teenager I think? I was only 12 at the time and didn't think that much of it but it's so creepy how she was sold as jail bait.

I can't believe that slutty video was filmed in the same hallway Rizzo strutted into after belting out There Are Worse Things I Can Do.

[quote]On the surface, it might not sound like Britney was the most hands on, but what many people don’t know about Blackout is that, for the first and only time in her career, Britney took on the role of executive producer for the record; her public life might have been unmanageable, but when it came to her work, Britney was the boss. So, like an expert curator, she shaped and plotted the album with her deftness for pop music. Flooding the record with studio trickery and electronics – from Danja’s fusion of hip hop and house music to Bloodshy and Avant’s amalgamation of Scandinavian pop sensibilities and underground European dance experimentation – she picked producers who were plucking at genres and melding them together to create a Frankenstein musical behemoth threaded together by Britney’s idiosyncratic vocal touches. As her A&R, Teresa LaBarbera Whites, said at the time, “It’s her magic that turns these songs into what they are.”

Britney did musical theatre ad a child so she can sing.

So why does she lip synch her concerts 100%?

Britney Spears was a lesser influence on global pop music than the Spice Girls, who were less than 3 years ahead of her.

Wannabe was the first pure pop Billboard #1 since Ace Of Base's The Sign, and was quickly followed up by Mmmbop.

Then came Cher with Believe, Britney with Baby One More Time and the arrival of the Ricky, Enrique, Christina and J Lo.

Then 2000 came and pure pop took a back seat making rare returns to the top of the US chart with Pop Idol people, although in the UK Britney carried on having #1s (including Born To Make You Happy which wasn't released in the US), Kylie, Steps, Atomic Kitten, S Club 7, solo Spices, Samantha Mumba, All Saints and the original Britney, Billie Piper.

Beyonce and Mariah have been far more successful and influential than Britney over the last 20 years.

[Quote] So why does she lip synch her concerts 100%?

Laziness?? I mean it's not like she enjoys performing these days.

Mouseketeer/cheerleader/stripper.

Nothing to see or listen to here.

She was so fuckable back then.

Everyone loves Baby One More Time!

Travis

Young Brit

Brit Brit was so charming and adorable <3

R66 and a total dork.

Is she Zak Spears' daughter?

R68, No.

So now she's calling JT a genius on her Instagram and he tweeted about it 😑

Britney didn't change pop. Swedish producers did!! Thank Max Martin and his colleagues for that. Britney had charisma and was a great dancer which helped a lot. Robyn who was Max's solo girl original project flopped.

I loved A-Teens as a little gay boy in the early 2000s. I swear these kids looked like they were in their 20s to me when I was younger. Now they really do look like 16 year olds. Also, I thought they were American as a kid but watching this again. The Swedish accents and broken English lyrics are more noticeable.

The original Britney prototype. You can hear Max's production and vocal direction all over this.

Another Max Martin joint. You see his love of having pretty blondes (Robyn, Nick, Britney, JT) sing in a nasally tone to his broken English lyrics.

, now you’re resurrecting posts you made on an earlier red-tagged account? That seems breathtakingly pitiable, even for you.

R74 I revived the thread because I was thinking of that A-Teens song all of a sudden and this thread. I wanted to make a point that it was the work of Swedish producers that gave late 90s-early 2000s pop it's distinctive sound. Britney was just a vessel for Max Martin. No different than Brandy with Rodney Jerkins, Toni Braxton with Babyface and Nelly Furtado with Neptunes. Producers should be given more credit than the performers because it's really their work.

You mean how she ruined it, the no-talent tacky hick!

Britney had a big pop culture mark. In The Zone and Blackout were great albums. She had a ton of clones like Christina, Mandy, Willa, Jessica, Hilary and Pink. But after 2008. She has been pretty irrelevant outside of her gay and female millennial fanbase. I would say she's an icon but not legend.

She simply isn't influential as Aretha, Cher, Grace Jones, Madonna, Janet, Whitney, Mariah, Alicia Keys and Fiona Apple. But to be fair I don't think Gaga, Katy, Beyonce and Rihanna are legendary either.

I think Lorde, Billie, HER and SZA have potential because they have raw talent.

Isn't Britney a homophobe? I seem to remember she has said some offensive things in the past.

R78

I always thought she was a fag hag who was good friends with Lance Bass. But if she said homophobic stuff it wouldn't stop some gay men from supporting her. Look at Donna Summer (though Britney isn't as talented so she may not get a pass)

[Quote] She simply isn't influential as Aretha, Cher, Grace Jones, Madonna, Janet, Whitney, Mariah, Alicia Keys and Fiona Apple. But to be fair I don't think Gaga, Katy, Beyonce and Rihanna are legendary either. I think Lorde, Billie, HER and SZA have potential because they have raw talent.

I like Alicia, but influential how?? And where the hell did Lorde go?

I think Alicia helped open doors for singer-songwriters again especially in fields of jazz and R&B type pop in the early 2000s. She wasn't groundbreaking honestly (Patrice Rushen is underrated, also influential and played piano better) but she was really big during her debut. I think Adele, Corrine Bailey Rae, Vanessa Carlton, James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, John Legend, H.E.R., Solange, Leon Bridges and Janelle Monae all took inspiration from Alicia.