"This confirms that Britney’s “competition” is now taking place primarily in the history books, not the charts. The new argument should be about where she ranks amongst pop legends: others in her lane include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Madonna. Lady Gaga is in the rearview mirror, trying to outdo contemporaries like Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Ke$ha. (Compare Bad Romance’s first-day spins — 180 — with California Gurls’ — 200 — and Only Girl — 200.) All of these artists have been on the scene for only a few years. That Britney is even being compared to them is merely testimony to the fact that she is sublimely relevant this far into her career in a way that Celine Dion was not fifteen years into hers."
This is the part that I really take issue with. The fact that she is still being compared to the contemporary artists doesn't make her "sublimely relevant", it means that after all of this time she hasn't progressed out of that. The contemporaries like Rihanna/GaGa etc are basically never ever brought up around the names of Madonna and MJ...it is fact that the legends are just still so far beyond them
Britney has never advanced her music to the point of being a LEGEND on the level of Madonna/MJ, which is why she continues to be associated with the contemporaries. Sure, that means that she continues to stay current blah blah blah...the question remains whether once she stops being contemporary will anyone still think of her as a "legend" the way that old Madonna/MJ music is still looked at. My answer is a big ol N-O
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