Omfg why was Jessica Simpson ever a thing?

She had about 3 hits and great tits!

Big business woman. Airhead

Still not as embarrassing as her sister.

I remember reading a Rolling Stone interview of hers back in the late 90's and it seemed Jessica was lethargic, she would rather sleep in and eat what she wants but her father was pushing her. Watching her weight and pushing her to perform.

R3 did that little minge just walk off?

r3 I remember watching that SNL 'performance' of her Asslee and going "did anybody see that?!". At the time I was posting on Fametracker and started a thread about it.

The only three "next Britneys" from the late 90s/early 2000s I remember are Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson. I'm sure there were more.

R4 the 00s. Her debut was 00

Remember when Poppa Joe tried to play straight by talking to reporters about what great titties she had?

I thought Pink was black for awhile because I had heard her Blackcent when she spoke on TRL back in the day

r8 you are right, it must have been 00 because I remember what job I worked at when I read the article

R10 she says most people thought she was black until they saw her. The guy who sings Never Gonna Give You Up was the same thing, people thought he was black.

I remember Ashlee's reality show and her "romance" with Ryan Cabrera (I think Joe was also managing him)

r12 she perpetuated that she was black with the blackcent she was using in interviews

[quote]the 00s. Her debut was 00

She released "I Wanna Love You Forever" in August 1999.

Never got the appeal of Jessica Simpson. I love Rey Ma, especially when she took Nicki Minaj down.

She somehow managed to combine all of Christina’s worst tendencies to over-sing and Britney’s worst “sexy baby” vocal affectations, while having neither Christina’s natural vocal talent or Britney’s natural charisma.

I wouldn't mind a nice sniff of Nick Lachey's cock back in the day

Nick Lachey said her dad used to try to play footsie with him under the table and would grab his ass sometimes.

My daddy is a God Fearing Straight Pastor!

Count me as another one who was surprised to learn Rick Astley was white

Her career was pretty much over and then her reality tv show became a hit. Chicken of the sea, y'all!

The father would spill rainbows and purses everywhere when he spoke I don't how he ever pulled off passing as straight.

Well he clearly did as he got his wife pregnant more than once.

R16 I will forever love Remy Ma for blessing us with Shether.

"I Think I'm In Love With You" by Jessica Simpson is on the May 2003 GapKids In-Store Playlist!

"Imagination" by Jessica Simpson is on the September 2001 GapKids In-Store Playlist!

Happy New Year!

Nick says the best thing about not having Joe Simpson as a father in law here.

Me thinks Joe wanted to fuck his son in law.

[quote]Still not as embarrassing as her sister.

She tried to brand herself as an Avril Lavigne-type "riot grrrl" -- my sides!

Remember when that nobody of a sister got drunk and berated a lowly McDonald's clerk?

That “nobody” of a sister accomplished something her sister never could, a #1 album and single.

[quote] Avril Lavigne-type "riot grrrl"

There are so many things wrong with all of this, I don't know where to begin.

Wow, I only just know reading this thread realized that Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson were two different people. I guess they had become conflated in my head.

Of all these chicks mentioned in this thread, who would have thought that Pink would end up having the most solid career and still be making hit songs 20 years later?!

Pink was the anti-Britney. She was promoted as the complete opposite of these blonde girls, even mentioning Britney in one song

Both Avril and Pink were promoted as the anti-Britney but only one of them managed to stick around for 20 years.

Avril screwed up when she decided to go from the Anti-Britney to doing songs like them and going super blonde and pink.

I couldn't stand that Alanis lite midget chick. Glad she has disappeared.

Hmm, apparently Jessica began dating Nick when she was 14 and he was 21. Interesting...

[quote]Hmm, apparently Jessica began dating Nick when she was 14 and he was 21. Interesting...

Her father approved because he liked having sexy Nick around.

Joe loved grabbing Nicks ass

Never realized how bad a singer she was till that video. 😳😳😳

Nicole Parker's Ashlee Simpson was, and I truly mean this, iconic.

[quote] Hmm, apparently Jessica began dating Nick when she was 14 and he was 21.

Wow. I'm surprised that wasn't a bigger deal, I had no idea they were that different in age.

r42, that was hilarious!!!!

I remember the controversy when Simon Cowell said she can’t sing. People were outraged he said she couldn’t sing even though she couldn’t.

He said he would say “no” to her if she auditioned on AI.

r42, that's amazing that it was done ONE WEEK before her SNL performance.

MADtv also spoofed the SNL appearance.

Both Pink and Avril were manufactured. They were not that different from Britney, Christina or Jessica. I would say Pink is the best singer and Avril writes her music so they are more talented.

Pink was R&B at first because she was working with Babyface and she is also from the Philly metro area which soul and hip hop music is a part of the big local scene. Her voice is certainly soulful enough and the R&B production is why many mistook her for black. Also Pink kind of looked like a light-skinned girl in her early videos. Funny enough, Madonna was also mistaken for black too at first because she was singing disco music on her debut album and it got airplay on R&B stations. It's not uncommon especially if you hear the song on the radio first and black radio stations are more colorblind in their choices and play whatever is hot at the moment.

Jessica Simpson is kind of like Beyonce, dull and impressionable church choir girl with an overpowering voice from Texas with an over-ambitious father who wanted to make her and her sister stars. The different is Joe was an incompetent Bible-thumper and could not figure out how to market Jessica. While Mathew Knowles was an evil mastermind with a business background who had the idea to form a girl group and put his daughter front-in-center and got the best producers and writers on board. Jessica apparently was supposed to be an R&B or pop soul singer in the vein of Mariah Carey but they changed her to be a teen pop singer to compete with Britney.

Jessica's voice is just dreadful. No control or nuance. Ear-bleeding. She was a hot blonde girl with big tits and a bimbo personality and very insecure. No confidence or charisma. But her childishness and lack of common sense which was highlighted on that Newlyweds show made her a national laughingstock and meme. Which upped her celebrity profile. Her sister Ashlee who was already doing some acting. Ended up with a much bigger music career that was over as soon as it started. She was not really talented either and made a bigger fool of herself on SNL.

Anyway, these two are still mentioned thanks to the power of social media and branding which keeps these washed up celebrities in the public consciousness.

[quote]but her father was pushing her. Watching her weight and pushing her to perform.

Did that old queen call her a "fat whore"?

Jessica is filthy rich now.

She was beloved by women after her reality show. Even my mom would go on about how cute she is.

It's crazy to thiknk that "I wanna love you forever" was one of the biggest selling songs in the year it was released. God, as someone who was a pre-teen and teenager during the late 90s and early 00s, I do NOT have any nostalgia for teen pop. It sounds just as horrible now as it did then. But so many of my friends get so pumped when they hear "I want it that way" or "Baby One More Time". Gross.

Beyoncé has that natural IT factor. Jessica didn’t.

The chicken of the sea incident. I'd forgotten about Nick Lachey's disappointment and deep concern.

Do we think this moment was fabricated, or was she seriously that dim?

R53 it wasn’t fabricated. Nick, who loathes her, has said nothing on their show was fake.

OMG! Nicole Parker’s sweater vest at R47 is from Gap’s Fall 2004 collection!!!

I wonder in 15 years will we wonder the same thing about Cardi B?

Cardi isn’t a singer though and I’m kind of sick of people not knowing the difference between rap and singing.

She always sounds like she's screaming. Just loud for no reason.

R57

Cardi isn't talented and like Jessica is famous for being stupid and having big boobs

Cardi is fun and outrageous. Some of the stuff she says is very true, she just doesn’t know how to be articulate.

R60 Then she should stick to reality TV and not be a rapper. It sucks that real talented female MCs who have good flow and positive and intelligent lyrics get shafted for an anti-black bimbo like Cardi (and no marrying and procreating with a black man don't mean shit).

The full version.

She clearly was trying to be a mix of both Britney and Christina, and failing miserably at both.

R7 There were tons. I remember Hoku and Willa Ford.

Her daddy had to suck a lot of dick to make his lil Jessica's dreams come true.

Is the dad still getting pounded by his twink boyfriend 1/4 his age?

Britney herself was just a Janet clone with a bit of Spice Girls and the Swedish pop sound thrown in.

Nick didn’t start dating Jessica until she was 19. He had only met her the year before.

In the early 2000s , the entertainment industry had a real hard-on for "I'm cute 'coz I'm stupid (giggle)!" blond girls.

98 Degrees is so forgotten. But to be fair that 80s/90s boy band sound was beyond embarrassing but The UK and South Korea keep trying to recreate it.

R62 That's such a manic performance for such a laidback sound. The way she alternates between power belter and Gerber baby talk is wild. What a blast from the past.

Omg I never realized how bad she was

Nick and Drew:

Cardi is anti-black? That's funny because she clearly is part black, being Domican and all. She's definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, is she?

I can't imagine Jessica's music even sold or was popular. In terms of that teen pop, she didn't stand out at all. There was nothing really fun or catchy about her songs at all. Her voice is just annoying.

I considered Mandy and Jessica in the same tier but in Mandy is actually a good actress even if her music sucks. Jessica is just a bimbo.

R73 You realize that many Caribbeans are part black but they do not identify as black because that's a US concept? If you are mixed and light-skinned in Caribbean countries then you are just considered mixed not black. Black people in Dominican Republic are actually dark-skinned. Many light-skinned Caribbeans are colorist and do not want their children to marry a darker skinned person. Cardi though is pretty Americanized, so it's not as much an issue I guess and plus she needed that street cred because her racist past has been called out.

Britney and Christina lucked out big time. As did Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. In terms of stars of the late 90s/early 00s teen pop era that survived past it.

The rest fell off into irrelevance, retirement, reality TV or other ventures. The Backstreet Boys still tour but only their aging fanbase gives a damn time.

Nobody gives a damn about BBmak, A*Teens or Dream

She is awful. Especially next to Jewel

R77 because they all died shortly after they started.

R76, I know that but that's still ridiculous to be anti-black when you yourself are part black. It makes no sense.

[quote] Nobody gives a damn about BBmak

I heard "Back Here" on the radio for the first time in like 19 years a month ago.

R79 They were the definition of bubblegum. Tasted sweet for a second but not meant to last. I never would have expected Beyonce to have lasted as long as she did, she outlasted JT, Christina and Britney (as all came around 1998/1999).

R78, Jessica looks like she's trying to bust out a verse with all those facial expressions. So fucking nasal too.

R82 that never shocked me. Beyoncé was a star.

Jessica had moments she was fine. Like here. Her style worked well with this song.

There's nothing effortless about Jessica's performances. I get exhausted watching her.

A lot of people famous in the 2000s look ridiculous nowadays.

Apart from Jessica and Ashlee,

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie Kim Kardashian (the public is waking up to this farce) Jennifer Lopez's music career (acting is fine though) Fergie (excluding Big Girls Don't Cry) Hilary Duff's music career (cute but anyone could sing her songs) Snookie (why?) New York/Tiffany Hulk Hogan and his family Bam Margera The Osbournes Tila Tequila

A lot of people famous in the 2000s look ridiculous nowadays.

Apart from Jessica and Ashlee,

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie

Kim Kardashian (the public is waking up to this farce)

Jennifer Lopez's music career (acting is fine though)

Fergie (excluding Big Girls Don't Cry)

Hilary Duff's music career (cute but anyone could sing her songs)

Snookie (why?)

New York/Tiffany

Hulk Hogan and his family

Bam Margera

The Osbournes

Tila Tequila

“Angels” seems to be the only song her singing style worked well with live. Every other song sounds messy. This one sounds fine at r84 and here

I've heard that one song her sister did but I couldn't name or recognize anything fro this girl.

Ashlee had her moment with "Pieces of Me" which was better than anything Jessica ever did. But both had their time in the spotlight and can enjoy the money they made.

Her sisters debut album and single was bigger than anything Jessica released. Jessica was probably lowkey pissed.

Say what you will about Britney, her AMA live performance 2 years prior was far superior.

But was Jessica ever booed?

We're both sisters gay and Nick too? I recall finding that out a few years ago.

R94 NOOOOO 🙄🙄🙄

[quote]She somehow managed to combine all of Christina’s worst tendencies to over-sing and Britney’s worst “sexy baby” vocal affectations, while having neither Christina’s natural vocal talent or Britney’s natural charisma.

R17 That's perfect!

Just saw this video for the first time. Britney Spears headlining some Festival in Italy back in like 2002. It’s a black tie event. Who would have thought to have her? That’s how big a star she was.

What I notice is her live singing isn’t bad, but the tone and style feels forced. Listen to her at first, doing that sex kitten baby sound and almost struggling but then there are moments she goes into a low register and sounds quite good!!! I was shocked how lovely her voice sounded in the lower notes and register.

I'm watching a Britney doc on YouTube (don't come for me!) and it mentioned that one of her influences was Whitney Houston. She used to sing in a lower, more soulful way, but Jive Records calibrated her style to that classic vocal fry for her record.

Lady Gaga also claimed Whitney was her biggest influence I think. She said she used to imitate Whitney's National Anthem rendition all the time.

You know why they call it chicken of the sea?????

Wasn’t her MTV show the first true candid reality tv show sensation?

Bitches, plee. Britney could Nevah sing like Jessie on her first/best single. Daddy taught her to open wide.

Skip to 2:15.

Jessica sucked

Jessica is an oversinger but at least she was always working and she was gorgeous!

^ omg Jeff Epstein IS alive!

Her rendition of Angel with Latin superstar David Bisbal was not bad thanks to his voice.

What is your source R67? Wikipedia says they married when she was 18, after four years of dating. And that her father (who ought to be a DL icon) gave her a purity ring when she was 12 - lol. That part fascinates me since everybody knows that dads who do that are creeps who want to fuck their daughter. AND he publicly made creepy comments about the size of her tits. Did he intentionally present himself as a would-be daughterfucker just to bolster his closet door? Amazing.

R17 hit the nail on the head

Was Papa Joe a top or a bottom in those days? Did he want Nick to give him a good pounding?

Well I doubt he expected Nick to bottom so...

[quote]Omfg why was Jessica Simpson ever a thing?

Papa Joe spent a lot of time on all fours.

r88 What a ridiculous outfit.

She happened because.... let’s see....maybe other people liked her even if OP doesn’t? Radical concept, I know.

I disagree with the assessment that many people are making that Jessica lacked singing talent. She easily had the most powerful voice and widest tessitura of all the teen pop starlets from the late 90s/early 00s (she could go from E3 to Bb5 in full, connected voice). The problem is that she never received any formal training and lacked the intelligence to try to get it; eventually, her dismally bad technique utterly destroyed her vocal chords and what could have been a very promising career. She went from trying to belt to whispering and screaming, and eventually she lost all singing ability - however, instead of studying with a phoniatrician in order to recover her voice, she concentrated on reality TV and "designing" tacky crap, which will always be much easier.

Christina Aguilera has a much more beautiful and agile voice, but she barely manages to cover the tenor range before choking and straining. Anything higher than B4 is a challenge to her (which is downright insane for a "soprano"), and she screams, struggles and rasps her way through notes that are fairly easy for most females to sing. Also, her attempts to be "avant garde" have ruined her career, which at this point would need a miracle in order to return to what it once was.

Britney is an embarrassment and her delusional fans, deranged imbeciles. The proverbial "baby voice" that supposedly ruined her "real voice", never existed. She has always sounded like a chipmunk with a bad case of adenoidal enlargement, and there are no two ways about it. How this talentless slag managed to become a star, is one of the great mysteries of humanity.

As for Pink, she is definitely the dark horse of the bunch. She has more vocal talent than most people would have ever imagined, and she has proven to be intelligent enough to develop her voice. She has a huge range and much control, but I think that the fact that her voice isn't beautiful and she didn't sing standard balladry, made many people underestimate her. Still, she has basically been releasing the same record since 2006, so good for her on building a career on almost identical songs.

Regarding Beyoncé, she has worked extremely hard to develop what was a rather mediocre voice, and the results are stunning. She is the best singer of this group BY FAR, with fantastic technique and a perfectly controlled, agile and polished voice. However, it's only too bad that her music has always been mostly rubbish: her two first and two more recent albums are very much a matter of over-promotion and quantity over quality, and her best moments (Sasha Fierce and 4) seem to have been accidents, rather than signs of improvement.

As for the rest of the bunch... Mandy Moore is a great actress with a tiny little voice, Avril Lavigne is still a talentless little troll with an insufferable personality and Ashlee Simpson is back where she belongs: absolute obscurity.

For fans of this era of music, check out the September 2001 GapKids In-Store Playlist on my Spotify!

Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Pink, Angela Ammons, Jennifer Paige, 'NSYNC, Ashley Ballard, Steps, Phoenix Stone, Samantha Mumba, S Club 7, and many more fun artists of the era are on this playlist. Check it out!

Happy New Year!

[Quote] Britney is an embarrassment and her delusional fans, deranged imbeciles. The proverbial "baby voice" that supposedly ruined her "real voice", never existed. She has always sounded like a chipmunk with a bad case of adenoidal enlargement, and there are no two ways about it. How this talentless slag managed to become a star, is one of the great mysteries of humanity.

You don't sound bitter. At all.

[Quote] I remember Ashlee's reality show and her "romance" with Ryan Cabrera (I think Joe was also managing him)

Ryan was on a few different reality shows. One of them being The Hills where he "dated" Audrina.

[Quote] That “nobody” of a sister accomplished something her sister never could, a #1 album and single.

I still love Autobiography. And i think she should have stuck with acting. Ashlee got to date a few hotties during her 7th Heaven days. I feel like she gave up after the Melrose Place reboot bombed.

[Quote] Hmm, apparently Jessica began dating Nick when she was 14 and he was 21. Interesting...

Yet she somehow found the time to squeeze in Jensen??

[quote]Avril Lavigne is still a talentless little troll with an insufferable personality

So true!

I wonder why nobody has mentioned the movie that she did. Just like Britney and Mandy Moore she was also an actress.

More GapKids playlists? Sure!

The June 2001 GapKids In-Store Playlist features music from A*Teens, Destiny's Child, Samantha Mumba, Ashley Ballard, BBMAK, Westlife, Vitamin C, Aqua, Atomic Kitten, Savage Garden, Cleopatra, and many more fantastic artists of the era!

....

Yes, Troll-dar reveals to be the OP of this thread.

Dessert

R121 go to the Doctors, dear.

Britney and Christina were both better, eternally.

Pink was a product of LA Reid - she came out of an Atlanta girl group. Her first single There you go was co-written by Kandi Burress of no scrubs and ATL Housewives fame. As he progressed she got more and more say over what music she wanted to do. When she partnered with Linda Perry - she got her break out album Mizzundedastood - she was still getting shitty songs from Reid and Scott Storch - but she was working in more gritty stuff. Reid was not happy with her new musical direction because she had started out R&B. Fun fact. After she did Lady Marmalade with Christina Aguilera - Christina stole Linda Perry from here to do her break out album Stripped.

Jessica Simpson gained new fame doing the Nick and Jessica reality show - she was playing a dumb blonde character. The whole chicken of the sea thing. Nick even said "at the time I was not sure she was serious." By the time she got on the scene her shelflife was pretty much over - that show saved her career.

R124 both of their “breakout” albums were their debut albums. Stripped was not her breakout album, it was her successful sophomore album to her debut which made her a household name.

Her debut sold more than Stripped and had more hits. Stripped was just more critically acclaimed and awarded.

R118, Private Valentine? I'm thinking Papa Joe knew the movie title made the movie sound like porn which is why he wanted Jessica to star in it...so creepy.

She was barely an actress. And Britney, once again, started that trend with those young pop girls.

Pink’s voice is amazing, rich and distinctive. I’d love to hear her do an album of old standards.

Jessica was sexy as hell, I remember my teenage nephews going on about how hot she was

After dumping Jessica, Nick was at his peak of hotness in early 2006.

She dumped him.

[quote]Funny enough, Madonna was also mistaken for black too at first because she was singing disco music on her debut album and it got airplay on R&B stations.

The first song of hers I heard was "Holiday" and I really did think it was a Black girl singing.

Remember her Dukes of Hazzard era?

Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville were pretty hot.

Britney Spears did Crossroads. After that all the pop girls had to do it too. Anything Britney did the other Blondies had to do to.

Madonna and Janet did movies. Pop tarts acting in movies wasn't anything new.

It was with that new generation r136

Um.. Britney didn't influence pop stars to pursue acting. That's always existed and the whole idea of a pop idol was to be cross-promoted on different platforms since the days of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. The Monkees and Partridge Family were sitcoms created with a fake band to promote and sell to a young audience.

Britney Spears herself began on TV with the 90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club which was an established institution designed to train kids to become pop idols.

R37

Cher, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Tina Turner, Janet, Madonna and Prince all were in movies and Britney was not far behind them.

AGAIN, she was the first of the new crop

Was Britney the first? How about Mandy Moore, whose Walk to Remember came out a month before Crossroads did?

Now I'm curious about all those pop stars film careers. What was Justin Timberlake's first prominent film role? Did any of the Backstreet Boys try to act?

Lance Bass’ ON THE LINE came out before CROSSROADS.

Mandy Moore was never A List until years later.

R141 and FLOPPED. No one cared about Lance Bass.

It also went into production after Britney’s Crossroads, and was rushed to be released before it.

Britney didn't legitimize her body of work until In The Zone and Blackout (and for some Circus). Before those she was just seen as a pop tart and the adult radio didn't play a lot of her music until "Slave 4 U", "Toxic", "Everytime" and "Womanizer". She was big on MTV, Disney and with the teen crowd but it took a while for her to reach any acclaim. Madonna and Janet (excluding her first two albums) were embraced by an older audience, made socially conscious music with a message and never marketed themselves purely for teens either. And that's why they outlived New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul who just made cutesy teen party music.

If Britney kept making albums like In The Zone and Blackout, she would have probably gained a lot more respect from people outside of the pophead demographic and not be still associated with her teen pop debut era.

ON THE LINE!

I never saw it, but definitely remember when it came out. Joey Fatone's also in it.

The Spice Girls beat them all to the punch.

R144 almost 50 million albums sold worldwide with just her first 2 albums.

What were you saying about her not being big until In The Zone?

R147

I meant that she wasn't taken seriously by all of the public until In The Zone. Children, teenage girls and gay boys with disposable income were her main audience for her first three albums. She was basically a Tiffany/Paula Abdul 2.0 that could have easily gone away after her second album but her team was smart and hired Pharrell and urban producers for her third album. "Slave 4 U" is when she started getting more radio airplay because it was a hip-hop song and reflected what was actually popular at the time. In The Zone was her first "adult" album that got really acclaim and "Everytime" and "Toxic" were hits.

All you heard on the radio in 1999 was BOMT, on all stations

R149 Yes and all you heard in 1990 was probably "Step by Step" by New Kids On The Block. It was a huge hit.

But after Baby... One More Time which was her huge signature song. She stopped getting a lot of radio airplay. Check the Billboard Charts of 2001 to 2003 and you will see this. "Toxic" and "Everytime" revived her career and helped her transition to actual adult stardom though I would argue "Slave 4 U" planted the seeds for that.

Tracing Britney's evolution through VMA performances is fun.

Then there's the Madonna kiss in 2003. Everyone forgets that she also kissed Christina Aguilera.

Ummmm one year later Oops was a massive radio hit r150, and what solidified her as not being a one hit album wonder.

The album sold over 1 million copies its first week, making her the first female to ever accomplish that.

Mandy Moore sings on the ON THE LINE title theme song with Lance and Joey.

R153

You don't read or comprehend well. She was popular with the kid and teen crowd and internationally too but was not taken seriously until her fourth album because it was the first one she was released targeted to an older audience. And I said that she didn't get any hits on the radio between [bold] 2001[/bold] and [bold]2003[/bold]. It was In The Zone that seriously revived her career and legitimized her for an older audience with "Toxic" and "Everytime" and she kept getting adult radio hits afterward especially with the Circus era.

But be real can you honestly say with a straight face that anyone over the age of 21 would have bought her first three albums which were extremely teen girl-oriented?

Paula Abdul was mainstream Pop in her 1989 to 1992 heyday, not teen girl music.

And if anything Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake transitioned into adult stardom first with "Stripped" and "Justified". They took on an R&B/hip-hop sound and sang more explicit lyrics. Britney only had "Slave 4 U" on her third album but the rest was very teen pop-ish. But she got it right with In The Zone because she had to compete with Beyonce, Christina, Kelly Clarkson and Pink.

R157 Britney wanted to change her sound sooner but her label wouldn’t budge. She wanted a more mature sound but she was outselling everyone with a more mature sound so her label wasn’t having it.

Justin Timberlake’s “Justified” is hardly that mature. The topics, maybe, but the songs play out like super radio friendly tunes

Britney wasn't always a chipmunk. She was similar to Madonna, stronger in the alto range but she never developed it because the money was in the penthouse.

Britney used her natural tone for most of her first album. Listen to Email My Heart. She doesn’t have that otherworldly, sex kitten baby tone she sang with on every follow-up album to BOMT

Jessica as Cassie Broadway!

The podcast You're Wrong About did a great 3-part walkthrough of Jessica's Open Book memoir. She went through some shit and you end up feeling bad for her and just identifying with her fuckups and insecurities. She knew all along she couldn't really compete with Britney or Christina (musically or image-wise), she would have probably been a lot happier pursing a religious or country music career, which were the styles she was much more comfortable with.

R163 she wanted to be a Gospel singer, but no label would take her because of what she looked like. He father said one of them straight out said “she’s too pretty, too blonde, and her boobs are too big with a small waist. She is better fit for pop music”. After that they switched to pop because the Christian music world didn’t accept her.

I don't know why people feel the need to defend Britney so much. It doesn't matter "what could have been" at this point! Yes she had a decent voice as a child but not anymore and she's an adult now and never tried to learn or improve it. She's a victim of the music industry but we need to be objective and talk about the quality of the [bold]MUSIC[/bold]. It does not matter if Britney wanted to make more mature music or couldn't sing in her deeper tone. And it certainly doesn't matter if she sold a shit ton early on when she was cute young thing. The final product of her music is still there and we must judge that.

And Justin Timberlake actually had more appeal than Britney because he had a black female audience and straight male audience and was being played on R&B stations. Christina also had a black audience who were impressed by her singing ability and her emotionally deep songs ("Emotion", "Turn to You", "Beautiful"). Britney was still mostly making suburban white teen girl music with her artificial pitched up voice. And the point I am trying to make is that it was In The Zone (which she had more creative freedom) when she finally put out a cohesive album with a more mature sound that won critics over and finally gave her some radio hits after 3 years.

People like Britney. Justin Timberlake was never likable (c.f. Punk'd.).

Justin's likability peaked when he became an SNL fixture.

Justin Timberlake was well-liked then and is still well-liked now. He would not have a major pop music career and still get acting roles if nobody liked him.

Also plenty of people hated Britney and called her the worst thing to happen to music and those people would say the same of Timberlake too.

Timberlakes debut single was flopping. His solo career took off because he exploited and used Britney. She was the star.

Faye Dunaway acted for three decades solid. Nobody liked her.

[Quote] Also plenty of people hated Britney and called her the worst thing to happen to music and those people would say the same of Timberlake too.

And those people cancel each other out, so how are they pertinent to a discussion of Britney and Timberlake's likeability?

That vid made my dog bark - not kidding.

However, give her credit, she got a tit...or a leg up, and left singing for fashion and whatever else. thanks be to god she is no longer singing.

R169 He had four successful albums and is still acting in films. One album flopping is not the end of the world for him and he can recover and sort of did with the song he with SZA for Trolls 2. And most people do not know or care about what he did to Britney or Janet.

R171 How? They would find them unlikable because they feel they took the spot of hardworking musicians with talent who should have been famous instead.

Also, the Britney comparisons are stupid. they are both horrible singers and were more about image. Britney has a terrible thin voice. she gets by on image and dancing alone.

You can still get work while not liked. If you make them $$$ you will get hired. JT is a known asshole and phony, but he made studios and Execs etc. money.

No. Britney's voice is distinctive. She's like Rihanna, in that sense. Neither is a competent singer.

R175 He made money because people [italic]liked[/italic] him. So he is likable to his audience. He is not a known asshole unlike Justin Bieber or Chris Brown. Most people do not know or give a damn about JT's behind the scenes shadiness.

Britney and Justin's denim get up.

People like the classic Timbaland sound. That's why people bought Timberlake's records (and Nelly Furtado's third).

Britney has the IT factor and was HUGE in popular. She, at her peak, was the only one that was dangerously close to Madonna status

R177 people liked what he was selling, music, brand and image. Not HIM. Those who actually meet him say many nasty things. Thanks to social media, many nasty stories have been shared about him. Meanwhile most people then and now speak of how sweet Britney is.

Even Mary J Blige said Britney is very humble, and kind to everyone, especially her fans. She used that as an example because she can’t stand Christina and said she’s very rude and nasty to everyone, even fans.

Britney sounds fine here, but the audio as a whole sounds bad. Her band sounds very off, and you can’t hear many of the instruments while too much of others.

R179 People like pop music and pretty faces and hard bodies help sell that product. Nelly Furtado was sexy and Justin Timberlake was a heartthrob. They helped sell that sound. Britney helped sell Max Martin's sound by being sexy too.

A girl on tiktok went viral recently for sharing her awful experience meeting Justin Timberlake and him spitting water at a girl.

There are many awful stories about him all over the internet.

Yes, but people go to see Britney in concert even though the vocals are canned and she kind of sort of dances. Why? Because they like her. Because they're rooting for her.

Britney sold whatever sound she was selling until a few years ago.

Britney has a hardcore fanbase.

She also is doing well despite no new album in soon to be 5 years. Her Spotify streams in 2019 were over 800 million and went up to over 1 billion in 2020.

R181

I'm sorry and I hate to burst your bubble but It doesn't matter how rude stars may be in their private lives and what people in the industry say. If people like their music, they will still listen to it. Madonna is nasty but she was the biggest female pop star of all time.

Most people do not care about these anecdotes and most people are not seeking out every detail of these pop stars' personal lives and conduct.

To most people, they just want the MUSIC

Britney Spears averages 27.1 million listeners a month on Spotify.

JT averages 24 million.

Christina averages 22 million.

She still beats them on streaming platforms like she did with album sales.

R189

YOU HAVE CONVERTED ME. I REPENT MY SINS!! I WILL SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF MY PRECIOUS LORD BRITNEY!

R169 I despise Timberlake, but that just isn't accurate. His first solo album had a slow but solid start, the first single did fine (#11 in the US) and did much better sales and singles-wise than Britney's Britney album that year and In the Zone the following year. (But I do agree his video for "Cry Me a River" was pretty shamelessly exploiting Britney's fame, and he had the nerve to deny it.)

If you actually look at Britney's singles chart history, it's not very impressive--in the US she's had all of 5 #1s, and very few more top 10s. As for album sales, her first 2 were huge but nothing after that came even close. And no chart/sales-wise she was never even close to Madonna status--Madonna sustained huge albums sales and single chart success across decades. Britney's impact was image, cultural, and tabloid/press coverage, which was way outsized compared to her actual sales.

If we wanna get into the C-D list Britney/Christina clones,

Mandy Moore averages 3 million listeners a month on Spotify.

Jessica Simpson averages 2 million listeners a month.

Willa Ford averages 95k a month.

As for the other big names from around that time who were more the Anti-Britney etc.

Pink averages 22 million a month.

Avril averages 11 million.

Beyoncé averages 33 million solo. So she’s the most listened out of that group of late 90s/early 00s pop stars.

Destiny’s Child gets 13 million.

Britney is the first female artist to have her first 4 albums debut at number 1.

R191 Wikipedia isn’t kept up to date on sales.

Did Clear Channel ban Britney from their radio stations? And the label didn't issue many of her singles outside of their respective albums.

Is the Britney Loon related to the Jessica Lange Loon? The thread has gone off the rails

R193 I was responding to your comment about Timberlake's sales at the point of release. And there's no updating the singles chart. So stop trying to move the goalposts.

Britney always sold albums more than singles as opposed to Christina who sold more singles than albums.

Britney has sold more than double the amount of albums as Christina, but Christina has more number 1 singles.

There was an article that gave Britney’s 2020 up to date album sales. BOMT is at over 25 million albums sold (but the number may be off and it’s predicted even more were sold than that), Oops over 20 million, Britney was around 16 million, In The Zone around 11 million and then Blackout is when the numbers truly dropped. However, Wikipedia doesn’t have the right numbers.

Blackout sold over 3 million copies by the end of 2008, yet Wikipedia still shows only 3.1 million copies sold. This is why you can’t rely on Wikipedia. That would mean after 2008 Blackout did not sell anymore albums. Nonsense.

Can the Britney stan(s) just shut up? How insecure are you?

Also.

Beyoncé, like it or not, had the best team and evolved throughout the times. I'm not a diehard stan but I can't help but praise her team for knowing how to keep her relevance in pop culture. Beyoncé is definitely one of the most talented performers of this generation, can sing and dance like no other. Her media hype is annoying but she does back it up in the talent area though her quality of music is regressing.

Britney had good pop albums and was charismatic and a pretty good dancer in her prime. She has plenty of signature songs. But her biggest issue is she has no legitimacy to her work. Where is her Velvet Rope, Ray of Light, The Bodyguard, Butterfly, ANTI, Lemonade, Folklore or Melodrama? Blackout was great but hardly on par with any of those albums because it didn't create any type of critical discussion or social impact. It was a sleeper hit and a step in maturity but she regressed right after it.

R199 it’s called Blackout, her one album to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and considered a work of art by many.

R200

You're lying if you think Blackout is on par with any of Madonna or Janet's works. And nobody gives a damn about the RRHF.

If anything, Blackout is probably on par with Kylie Minogue's trance music or Lady Gaga's dark electropop work. Great concept and album and it was trendsetting in terms of musical production. But it didn't really have anything to say socially or made a broader cultural impact.

R201 you love bringing up Kylie. When has she EVER sold Britney’s album sales???

R202

OK why do obsess over sales? You realize that popularity doesn't say much about quality?

Do you even know how to have a critical conversation about music like a grown-up?

Omfg, I thought this thread was about me!!

Jessica, you should be used to being overshadowed by Britney by now. I am R204

The Britney loon and anti-JT/Xtina troll is more mentally disturbed than Britney is and way more stupid than Jessica.

The numbers speak for themself

[quote] And Justin Timberlake actually had more appeal than Britney because he had a black female audience and straight male audience

I have never met a single black person that has a good word to say about Justin. And I don't think heterosexual males were listening to Justin until his second album came out. Sexy Back, My Love and What Goes Around Comes Around were huge hits with everyone

Most black people cant stand JT because of what happened with Janet.

R209, agreed. And I don't blame them. They probably knew Justin was a poser from the beginning.

Actually many black people didn't really care about the Janet thing. That's exaggerated. In fact many of us blamed Janet for it because we knew it was a publicity stunt gone wrong and while backlash was harsh. Most of us just felt her musical quality declined and hooking up with Dupri was a mistake. We still supported her and she was still getting airplay on BET and black stations anyway.

What really happened was black people got tired of JT and that Man of the Woods nonsense left a bad taste in black people's mouth. He just stale and boring and we ditched him.

And Black people made Justin Timberlake's career take off. Just like we did with NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, New Kids On The Block, Fergie, Cardi B, Pink and Ariana Grande. Black producers and songwriters willingly participated in this. And JT never lied about this either and he repped Memphis and said he always had an appreciation of black music which you can see during his MMC and NSYNC days. He's an asshole sure but you can't blame him for profiting off it with black musicians who helped him do it. Why is no one going after rich black men like Timbaland, LA Reid, Babyface, Will.I.Am, Irv Gotti and Pharrell who enabled this?

It's not the same as literally copying from poor black musicians and getting all the credit and profit like Elvis Presley, Robert Plant or Mick Jagger.

Jesshica Shimpshon!

Her album Shweet Kisshesh ish my favorite!

R205 I have really big, natural boobs and a fashion line worth billions, Mandy, and you have a hit TV series. Britney dances in spinning circles while under conservatorship, 'Nuff said!

tits and oblivion.

If Britney, Jessica and Mandy had been my daughters, they wouldn't have made it past six. Blonde harlots.

Ashlee is married to Diana Ross' gay son

R217 Evan is a slight upgrade from Pete.

You can’t be a gay man in his 30s without appreciating “A Public Affair.”

It’s the gospel, according to Christina Applegate.

I miss the 2000-2005. It was the best time , frivolous and great celebrity gossip.

Unpopular opinion, I don't think Jessica is or was ever that cute. If she didn't have the hooters, the alleged voice and was allowed to blow out to her natural size, she'd be just another dime a dozen frau pushing a cart full of screaming spawn through her local Target.

Check out this clip of a teenaged, pre-fame Jessica Simpson auditioning for some production of "A Chorus Line". She obviously had singing & dancing talent at one point, but unfortunately picked up several bad singing habits from the wrong people.

Like Britney Spears (who also showed promise as a singer when she was a child), she was young and not yet confident in her vocal abilities when she got her first record deal with a major label. That left her vulnerable to musically-illiterate producers and record execs who were hell bent on completely dumbing her down vocally.

In Jessica's case, the dumbing-down consisted of having her mimic (another victim of bad vocal production/direction) Britney Spears and also picking up every vocal cliche of popular Pop/Ballad singers on the charts at that time. As shitty as they made her sound, they succeeded in making her the star they promised and also got the handful of hits they were after. As opposed to a long-lasting career in music.

And It's obvious that at some point Jess became less interested in becoming a good singer/musician, than being a celebrity/successful business woman. That's showbiz!

Don't black folks make up on 15% of the population in the USA? Timberlake's success is down to Timbaland, not "black people."

[Quote] That left her vulnerable to musically-illiterate producers and record execs who were hell bent on completely dumbing her down vocally.

That's not true. A famous plotline on her show involved her label asking her to re-record the vocals for her cover of "Angels" to make them more "singable" (i.e. "Stop oversinging!").

Poor Jessica. Pregnancy was not a good look for her. Thankfully she’s lost the weight these days.

She should have her tubes tied.

Ashlee is bearding for Evan Ross. I wonder what Diana thinks of her daughter in law?

R222- Her boobs weren't THAT big.

Omfg she was soooo bad

R55 I love you, GapPlaylistsGuy.

White trash deplorable heroine .