Britney Spears Did 4 ‘…Baby One More Time’ Rip-Offs as Singles
Britney Spears‘ “…Baby One More Time” is the teen pop song to end all teen pop songs. It was such a crucial part of the Princess of Pop’s discography that she recycled it four different times as four different singles. Here’s a look at the pop genius who might’ve gotten a little too repetitive while he was working with Spears.
Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’ influenced 4 more singles across 2 albums
The beat from “…Baby One More Time” is unforgettable. The mix of dance-pop, lite funk, and R&B is as potent and unmistakable now as it was in 1998. With that in mind, it’s not too surprising that Spears’ debut album has a second single that repeats that formula: “(You Drive Me) Crazy.” Arguably, the beat of the latter song is even better, as it hits a little harder.
Getting a second album off the ground can be difficult, so it’s easy to forgive Spears for copying her debut single again with “Oops!… I Did It Again.” That song displays some lyrical growth, replacing the submissiveness of “…Baby One More Time” with a femme fatale aura. Then, Spears turned “…Baby One More Time” into a ballad with the weepy “Lucky.” Finally, Spears reused the sound of “…Baby One More Time” one last time with her feminist anthem “Stronger.”
Why the beat of ‘…Baby One More Time’ might have been reused so much
All this repetition makes sense when you look at the credits on Spears’ first two albums. Each of the aforementioned songs was produced by the legendary Max Martin. Martin has been behind so many pop hits over the past 25 years that they would be impossible to name here. He brought Backstreet back, made Bon Jovi relevant to millennials, taught Taylor Swift that she should never, ever, ever get back together with some guy, and helped Katy Perry bring her teenage dreams to life.
With all the diversity of his catalog, it’s a little disappointing that he kept reusing the same production for Spears. But that only lasted so long. He worked with her throughout her career, giving us memorable, original tunes like “3,” “If U Seek Amy,” and “Hold It Against Me.”
Max Martin said Britney Spears is a genius
During a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Martin revealed his feelings about Spears. “She’s a genius,” he said. “So much had happened to her in that [early period] and she had to grow up quickly. We had conversations with her about what she wanted to do and what she wanted to say.”
While Martin’s songs are beat-driven, he described his approach to music in lyrical terms. “Growing up, I listened to songs by ABBA, Elton John, The Beatles, and I had no idea what they meant, so to me phonetics have always been important,” he explains. “I felt something hearing this music, and it meant something to me. If you can have a great lyric that also phonetically sounds amazing, then you’re golden. But it’s also kind of cool if you write a song and people are emotionally moved without understanding what’s being said. That, to me, is as powerful.”
Maybe that’s why Spears sang “ooh baby baby” over and over in Martin’s songs.
