There was a time when teenybopper fans voted for their videos on MTV’s “Total Request Live” five days a week. They bought their dolls, posters, CDs-everything and anything that had their pictures on it. Now that the pop craze is over, what are Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, ‘NSYNC’s Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez and Backstreet Boy Nick Carter suppose to do? Aguilera finally released her long-awaited sophomore CD Stripped in October, and each of the aforementoined boy band guys are doing solo projects. Spears, however, has recently released a new DVD and book titled “Stages.” It takes her fans through a very personal journey during her “Dream Within a Dream” tour. “Stages” will be released on Spears’ 21st birthday, Dec. 2, and includes personalized birthday cards from her fans.
The DVD also gives a behind-the-scenes look of her concert in Mexico (which received a lot of bad publicity) and stories from family and friends. Viewers get an extremely personal look into who Spears is and what she was going through, including her break-up with Timberlake. Spears is now taking a break from music, but her Web site, www.britneyspears.com, lists that she has recorded a few new tracks for an upcoming album.
Next month, her voice can also be heard in Christmas cartoon “Robbie the Reindeer” where Spears plays Donner.
The other blonde bombshell claims to have lost her virginal image, which many people say Aguilera never had. She appeared at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards wearing a scarf for a shirt, leaving little to the imagination.
That does not seem too surprising now since she appears on the latest Rolling Stone cover naked with only a carefully placed guitar and her hand positioned just decently enough to ward off the censors.
In the article, she curses the thought of being pretty. While many people call her a “skank” or a “diva,” there is no denying her musical voice. Her new CD, Stripped, is nothing like her last album that featured songs like “Genie in a Bottle,” “What a Girl Wants” and “I Turn to You.” Stripped is soulful with an R&B and rock edge. Aguilera wrote many of the songs and even produced a few as well.
She teamed up with rappers Lil’ Kim and Red Man, former 4 Non Blonde Linda Perry for four songs, and Alicia Keys, who wrote and produced “Impossible.” Scott Storch co-wrote and produced the majority of Stripped and is one of the big collaborators on Dr. Dre’s albums.
Many of the songs talk about “What a Girl Wants,” but this time it is not just love but sex, control and getting all her feelings out. In one song she talks about smoking marijuana, but in the Rolling Stone interview she said it was a joke. Aguilera definitely dove deep into her soul to write some of these songs.
She uses vivid lyrics in “I’m OK,” which she wrote about her father who abused her mother.
“Hurt me to see the pain across my mother’s face/Every time my father’s fist would put her in her place/Hearing all the yelling, I would cry up in my room/Hoping it would be over soon/Bruises fade, Father/But the pain remains the same/And I still remember how you kept me so afraid.”
It is safe to say the cute Christina the world was introduced to is gone. Xtina, a nickname Aguilera says friends call her darker, dirty side, is here to stay.
Nick Carter titled his new CD Now or Never, stating in interviews that this seemed like the only time he could turn out his first solo project. Carter even wrote songs and played the drums on this rock-influenced album.
Though his first single “Help Me” has not received a lot of airtime, Carson Daly and other critics give the over-all CD the thumbs-up.
The boy band tag line seems to be a tougher monster to fight than the pop princesses do. On a VH1 news show, Carter claimed there were a lot of times he felt lonely, confused and fed up with is boy band image. He put all that energy and negativity into Now or Never.
It is sure to win over his girl fan-base with his raspy vocals and growls, and even some guys may like songs like “Girls in the USA” which MTVAsia.com describes as a rock anthem. Carter should continue to work on solo projects finding where he fits in, and definitely leave the other boys on the Backstreet never to return.
Nsync’s last album Celebrity proved they had more to offer than pretty faces and good dance moves. The fab-five tapped into R&B and European-style club beats for a few songs and Chasez and Timberlake co-wrote and produced songs as well. It is no wonder that the two of them are working on solo projects too.
Chasez will have a new song on the soundtrack to the movie “Drumline” due out next month. Chasez teamed up with TLC producer Dallas Austin for the song “Blowin’ Me Up.”
Timberlake has stated many times that his CD Justified is all him. He teamed up with Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D., the Neptunes, Timbaland, Bubba Sparxxx, Janet Jackson, and Brian McKnight just to name a few. Justified is arguably the most awaited album of 2002. Timberlake coordinates a sensual and sexy voice with new up-beat tempos and dance beats. Listening to this CD the R&B and hip-hop influence is clearly seen. Despite rumors about dating Jackson, Timberlake teamed up with her on the song, “(And She Said) Take Me Now,” which the CD’s most sexually driven songs.
The first song he recorded, “Like I love You,” ended up being his first single. Williams helped produced this song and it features new rap group Clipse. One of the best songs on Justified is “Cry Me A River.” It can be heard on radio stations now and many seem to think he wrote it about his ex, Spears.
The song implies that she cheated and the beats behind the ballad and the sounds of water flowing prove Timbaland made a hit with this one. Overall this is the best CD that has emerged from the teenybopper troupe. Aguilera’s is second with Carter’s just behind.
Do not expect them to all sound the same. Each album is completely different from each and their previous works. Some of Chasez’s songs can be downloaded for free and hopefully Spears will have the same luck when she completes her fourth album.
Though the teenybopper craze is over, the talent still shines and proves that it is there. In various new press outlets, Timberlake and Chasez both claim a new Nsync album will be in the works sometime in the late Spring of 2003. I guess we will have to wait and see.