Britney Spears’ ‘...Baby, One More Time,’ 20 Years Later

The OG bubblegum pop trailblazer turns 20 this month.

Written by Elizabeth Braaten

Oh baby, baby, how were we supposed to know?

On January 12, 1999, a bottle-blonde popstar by the name of Britney Spears released her debut album, ...Baby, One More Time –– and the world, quite frankly, hasn’t been the same since.

In 2019, any mention of the pop star is sure to trigger an immediate response, whether it’s shock, laughter, or well-disguised admiration. Twenty years later, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time Britney Spears was not a household name. But, prior to the release of her debut album, Spears was relatively unknown.

...Baby, One More Time not only solidified Spears’ place as a titan of pop music, but shaped the genre as we know it today.

Pop music in the 1990s was dominated by the heart-wrenching lyricism of soft rock, the thumping beat of West Coast gangsta rap, and the catchy hooks characteristic of R&B. More specifically, the space designated for female artists within the genre seemed to be even more set in stone. If you weren’t a Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, or Shania Twain willing to make deep, vocal-heavy declarations of love, you most likely weren’t going to make it big in the industry. There was no place for the sweet, disarming nature of bubblegum pop –– especially not from a female solo artist.

Prior to meeting with industry giant Max Martin, Spears had already been rejected by multiple labels. They held she would never make it in a pop climate that was ditching solo artists for groups like the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, and TLC. Then sixteen-year-old Britney Spears was introduced to Martin in New York, after which the pair traveled to Sweden, Martin’s birthplace, to produce for her debut album.

But with “...Baby, One More Time,” the lead single and namesake of her debut album, everything changed. The song, written and produced by Martin, was originally meant for R&B girl group TLC, who passed on it. After also being passed on by British boy band Five, Martin was left without a singer for the track.

Spears, however, as she later told Billboard, knew the song would be a hit from the first time Martin played it for her. “...Baby, One More Time” was released as Britney Spears’ debut single on October 23, 1998, by Jive Records, selling 500,000 copies on its first day and topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The song also landed Spears a Grammy nod for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while ensuring the success of her debut album, which was released not even three months later.

...Baby, One More Time” music video. Photo courtesy of Bustle

...Baby, One More Time, the album, is characterized by the thumping, head-bopping production of “(You Drive Me) Crazy,” and “Soda Pop,” the sweet, soul-bearing innocence of “Sometimes,” and the now-nostalgia-inducing “E-Mail My Heart.”

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, sold over 10 million copies in its first year, and would go on to become the highest selling album ever released by a teenage artist –– not to mention one of the highest selling albums of all time. ...Baby, One More Time also earned Spears a highly-publicized Rolling Stone cover and a headlining tour, all but solidifying her continued success as a pop artist.

Today, upbeat, bubblegum pop has defined the skyrocketing careers of female solo artists such as Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Sky Ferreira. Their careers, however, would not have been possible without the trail blazed by Britney Spears and the bold nature of ...Baby, One More Time.

In her hit song “1999,” Charli XCX said she’d like to go back to 1999 and “sing hit me, baby, one more time.” From the bottom of our hearts –– so would we.

Afterglow ATXJanuary 28, 2019