Britney Spears |
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Fri. November 21.2003 12:00 AM EST |
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Britney Spears: It's My LifePop's leading lady speaks to the press about her sexy new lyrics, her lip-syncing, and making peace with the anti-Britneys. by VH1 Staff |
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Britney Spears probably isnt used to falling behind. But in this year of teen idol reinvention, where everyone from Justin Timberlake to Jessica Simpson has managed to amend their public persona for the better, shes somehow stayed the same. The hot
At last, were getting some answers with her fourth album In the Zone - and it turns out that when she grows up, Britney wants to be & well, a bit of everything. Shes naughty like Christina Aguilera, asking for help with her zipper on Showdown and saluting masturbation on Touch of My Hand. Like Justin, she also calls in the A-list hit-makers. R. Kelly bumps up the saucy Outrageous and Moby contributes the blissed-out trance of Early Mornin. She doesnt take her old boyfriends Cry Me a River diss lying down, either, but rather than getting mad, the ballad Everytime begs his forgiveness. Maybe for this 21-year-old, growing up means maturing emotionally as well as sexually. In a recent press conference, Spears responded to criticism of her image and lip syncing, shared some of her favorite reading, and revealed what she takes from Avril Lavigne. Is it getting harder or easier to keep reinventing yourself? Britney Spears: No, that's the funnest part about what I do. I get to direct my shows, and come up with different outfits. It's like being an art director. It's called being an artist. I don't find it hard to do. I mean, I pray to God I don't have writer's block, and thankfully I haven't. What inspired you to be more open about the subject of sex and relationships this time around? BS: I'm getting older, and I think its a natural thing to indulge in yourself and have those thoughts. Are you afraid youll lose your younger fans because of the albums sexual material? BS: I don't want to be responsible for young people. I love kids and I think they're great. But I'm getting older, so the things that I talk about arent going to relate to a seven-year-old. Your career seems to be putting more emphasis on your sexuality and publicity stunts like the MTV Awards kiss. BS: Well, I can't help that. I'm out there doing my thing, and people are like, Do you think she's trying to make this big publicity thing? No. I'm just doing my job. I'm performing. I'm not the one putting it all over the papers. So if you think it's me trying to make a publicity stunt - hell no, I'm just doing my job. It's you guys making a big deal out of it. Your pastor recently said he was disappointed with your image. What did you think of his reaction? BS: You can't go around pleasing everyone. That's his opinion. I don't understand what exactly about my image that he's taken aback with. I'm just a person and I have to express myself that way. He has his beliefs and I have mine. His belief system is Baptist. If you think about [it], religion is the thing that's causing wars right now. What songs are most meaningful to you on In the Zone? BS: Touch of My Hand, because it was one of the first songs. It and Everytime really laid the foundation for the rest of the album. I really love the vibe of Touch of My Hand. I love the subject, because no one's really talked about some of those things. People are scared to go there. I think it's an empowering thing for girls. Everytime is a really nice song, because it's personal in a weird way. It's one of the songs that when you hear [it], it's like when you go to heaven. It takes you away. Can you share with us an emotional high and low that you were going through while creating this album? BS: I was going through a bunch of weird stuff. Sometimes you get overwhelmed with being able to do whatever you want to do. You're like, Oh my gosh, what direction do I want to take? It was such an emotional journey doing the whole record, but it's like therapy being able to put it out there right now and share it with people. How else do you get through low emotional periods other than writing songs? BS: I love doing yoga. I'm like a stretch-a-holic. I love to paint and do art. And swim as well. And I read a lot of books. I love to read. What are some of the books youve read recently? BS: I love [Eckhart Tolles] The Power of Now and [Don Miguel Ruizs] The Four Agreements. One of my favorites is a Kabbalah book called Taming Chaos [by Rav P.S. Berg]. It's kind of deep and dark, but I like weird books like that. That's one of my favorites, so go get it! Everytime talks about the downsides of relationships when you're living life in the fast lane. Do you get tired of short-lived flirtations? BS: Its a downside, but its reality. We all have those points in our lives, but you have to learn from those experiences to help you better yourself. I'm trying to learn right now to be a little bit more open, and do the dating thing. People are trying to teach me, but its a hard process. I think opening up to a different person, letting yourself go and being vulnerable is hard for some people. What kind of things were you looking for in your collaborators? BS: Well, the Moby thing kind of fell in to my lap. I was excited about that because I've heard of stuff that he's done with Gwen Stefani. He really works well with women. Sometimes, you don't want to be in reality and music takes us out of it. He has a good way of doing that on a spiritual level, so I was really excited about working with him. Given R. Kelly's legal situation, did you hesitate to work with him? BS: I know he has the personal thing going on. But I think he's a very talented guy, and I thought the song was cute. I really didn't pay attention to the controversy because that's not what it's about. I like to flirt. Do you lip sync when youre performing? BS: No, I don't lip sync. I think the reason why people say that is because I am dancing a lot. There are parts where the background vocals and the chorus definitely come up, but that doesn't mean that I'm not singing. It's just you're dancing so much that you have to have support in the choruses. I think sometimes people like to pick people apart because they're jealous or whatever - you tell me. Is In the Zone part of a backlash against the old Britney Spears? BS: No. I'm always going to be me, but we change everyday and express ourselves in different ways. I'm not anti-Britney at all. I totally love everything that I've ever done. That was me at that moment in that time, and that's what I believed in. So I don't regret the things that I did in the past. What do you think of other artists who represent themselves as the anti-Britney? BS: Avril Lavigne and those girls all have their game and what they do. But at the end of the day we're all the same. When I see Avril Lavigne or Gwen Stefani or Christina Aguilera on TV, I take pieces from them. I don't copy their music, but I see emotions in their music that inspire me. Instead of girls being like anti-this or anti-that, we should support and inspire each other. |
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