The early 2000s was a truly remarkable era, because it signaled a period in pop music where it was all about the fun and excitement youthful energy brought. “Genie in a Bottle,” the song that put Christina Aguilera to the map, was a manifestation of this characteristic as the singer enthusiastically sang about the confusion of teenage infatuation. The late 1990s started the great era of bubblegum pop music, as the successor of youthful angst the early 90s has brought. The product was a mix of eccentrism, individuality and positive reinforcement that explain what the music of the early 2000s was. Now that contemporary music is filled with autotunes and monster fabrications, it’s great to remember the time when “Genie in a Bottle” along with other pop classics was dominating the airwaves.
As mentioned, the early 2000s talked so profoundly about the joy of being young and in love. Britney Spears, for her part, created a whole new trend of young girls showing what they were about in the confines of the school institution. “Baby One More Time” was such a classic that it was actually a form of youthful female empowerment without necessarily having to take clothes off. Though it was rather an individualist expression of identity, it still catered to the teens of the generation who were having a hard time finding their true self.
Other teen sensations back then also sang greatly about just being young and free. Mandy Moore, during this time, was a fashion-conscious-trying-her-best-to-be-beautiful in her debut hit “Candy.” Jessica Simpson showed how great it felt to discover love for that special someone in “I Think I’m In Love With You.” We also had the now almost forgotten Joy Enriquez singing her plead for the guy she loved in “Tell Me How You Feel.” Definitely, there was the coming-of-age anthem of Hilary Duff in “Come Clean,” where she demandingly asked to go back to the glorious beginning.
For the part of guys, we had the Latin infusion of Ricky Martin in the world of pop through his ballads like “Private Emotion” and “She’s All I Ever Had.” Enrique Iglesias was asserting how Spanish masculinity was not derogatory towards women through her massive hits like “Bailamos” and “Be With You.” Of course, we also had the good old days of boy bands, where guys were only up for romantic appreciation. On top of the list of boybands were Backstreet Boys in “Shape of My Heart,” N’Sync in “Pop” and 98 Degrees in “My Everything,” which by the way featured the happily in love Jessica Simpson with her then romance Nick Lachey. We also had A1 with “Same Old Brand New You” and Westlife with “My Love.”
The early 2000s was also a period of teenage angst redefinition with the arrival of Avril Lavigne, who became both a fashion and emotional icon through her unforgettable hit singles “Complicated,” “Losing Grip” and “I’m With You.” Lavigne was so influential that she managed to be assertive without actually being arrogant. What she did was so huge that it allowed girls during that time to be fearless in expressing who they were as individuals. Of course, it was also the time when Aguilera released her ultimate breakout album, Stripped, which spawned inspirational hits like “Fighter” and “The Voice Within,” plus the feminist anthem “Can’t Hold Us Down” that was released when it was not yet fun to be one. Along these great advancements was Pink who was singing like she owns the world in her songs “There You Go” and “Most Girls,” who questioned what it’s like to be a female in an era dominated by bling loving, girl objectifying hip-hop songs.
So many great things happened in the early 2000s that definitely would not be easily forgotten even in the decades to come. It was not only a period in music, but also a musical movement that paved the way for misunderstood youngsters to be heard. Now may not be a great time for music as several musical fabrications and image downsizing prevails, as exemplified in what Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea do. Some artists now downplay their individuality just to be heard, which only creates meaningless influence to several young people today. Until this period of personality fabrication and autotune musicality ends can we expect the same quality movement as that of the early 2000s.
FDRMX Eyes: Check out French artist Leon’s music video below. “Leon 2033” features an endless amount of colorful imagery.
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