Roaring 90s: Britney Spears’ growing pains, awkward phases made her stronger

The world of mainstream music is constantly transforming as new artists, styles and trends are embraced with each passing year. In spite of these changes, some musicians have maintained their popularity across decades, reinventing their sounds and careers. Each week, A&E columnist Emily McCormick will discuss the evolution of ’90s artists who have carried the spirit of their decade into today’s music scene.

I had a pink Barbie karaoke machine when I was in elementary school. One song in my repertoire was “Oops!… I Did It Again.” If you asked my seven-year-old self my favorite musician, Britney Spears would have been the only name I could come up with.

I think I speak for many millennials when I say Spears helped define my childhood. I was always enchanted by the glitzy wonderland Spears inhabited, and her glossy songs gave me a peek into her glamorous world.

The best part was that Spears was dancing through teen queendom just as I was making my way through middle school: She was growing up alongside me, an ultra-popular older sister to admire. She was at the forefront of a wave of ’90s mega-famous teen pop stars who grew up before our ordinary eyes, seizing our veneration young and holding on ever since.

Like with most teens, though, Spears has had growing pains, awkward phases and meltdowns like the rest of us – all of hers have just been placed under a magnifying glass. But as is often the case, her struggles only made her stronger.

There were others, of course, who caught the fame train as teens and are still equally operative today. Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera immediately come to mind; they are two other musicians who captivated the denim-donning and Kool-Aid-hair-dyed teenage demographic of the ‘90s. But none encapsulated the quintessential pop persona like Spears did, the perfect image of a singing, dancing platinum blonde princess.

And none achieved quite the exposure that Spears did. Her 1999 debut studio album “…Baby One More Time” was certified double platinum in just one month and became the biggest-selling album ever by a teen artist. She became known for a sound that was commercial pop at its finest, an easy-to-digest blend of adolescent trifles, heavily-processed vocals and simple, but unforgettable hooks even a non-Britney devotee could hum along to. To this day, anyone could instantly recognize the piano vamp from the intro to the title track on “…Baby One More Time.”

While she may be most associated for cheerful bubblegum pop songs, they really only tell half her story, sugar-coating a darker side of her incredible stardom.

From the late ’90s to the early 2000s, Spears was center stage with a thousand-watt spotlight illuminating her every move. The constant limelight, unrelenting paparazzi and pressure from adoring fans drove Spears over the edge in a heavily-publicized 2007 meltdown – and now-notorious “bald Britney” era. It’s been estimated that during that year, Spears-related media alone fueled 20 percent of the paparazzi industry.

Dealing with the constant scrutiny of the public eye has played a big role in Spears’ music. This is a much deeper theme than is often associated with the bedazzled blonde pop artist. In fact, these media-related themes actually started emerging long before her 2007 debacle. The song “Lucky” from 2000 is an obvious allusion to Spears herself and recounts a Hollywood girl who is secretly miserable despite there being “nothing missing” from her perfect life.

Likewise, the 2007 album “Blackout” contains the powerful song “Piece of Me,” where Britney – “Miss American Dream since (she) was seventeen” – outright challenges the media with a bold, “You want a piece of me?” In “Gimme More” from the same album, Spears reveals her frustration with the fans and paparazzi who are always making demands of her.

The songs her name is built on, though, are not her earnest anthems, but her heavily-produced dance tracks like “I’m a Slave 4 U” and “Womanizer.” Spears’ music is a teetering seesaw, constantly vacillating between hyper-sexualized and easy-to-market pop and more deep-seated pieces revealing her personal struggles.

On the 2008 album “Circus,” the song “If U Seek Amy,” for instance, is a lyrically explicit number riddled with sexual innuendo. In stark contrast, the track directly preceding it is “Shattered Glass,” a song that is seemingly about a romantic relationship, but really reflects Spears’ feelings of entrapment in her relationship with fame.

Even during rough patches in her personal life, Spears has released new albums at a healthy rate of one every couple years, and she’s recording her latest now. She released the single “Pretty Girls” with Iggy Azalea earlier this year, proving Spears’ willingness to stay relevant by working with today’s young pop stars. Plus, she’s currently in residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas with a contract that won’t expire until 2017. Clearly, she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Navigating ultra-stardom may come with its ups and downs, but Spears has never completely been lost in the game.

– Emily McCormick

What do you think of Britney Spears’ career? Email McCormick at [email protected].