Just visited Britney’s hometown of Kentwood, LA for the first time! Very weird experience.

[jordeezy river red]

50 minutes ago, queenofhearts said:

didn't the family's bankruptcy disappear when BOMT came out? that's very suspicious.

give us an update if you happen to make a trip there. I've only been there twice and it's literally so depressing. I know some friends who went about 12 years ago and ate at nyla's burger shack but I don't know if it's there any more.

I honestly don't think people realize when Britney says she was poor, that she was literally dirt poor. Like unless you live in that part of Louisiana/Mississippi you really don't know. I'm talking trailers and homeless people. I live about 2 hrs from kentwood and the difference from where I live to kentwood is night and day. Like it's kinda funny I can live in a nice suburb just 2 hrs away, but I guess for some people if you're born in poverty you're use to it and dont' wanna fight for a way out *shrugs*

When you grow up in a poor town, you have to fight hard to escape the mindset of "if you have a job you better never quit it". There are a lot of perks of living in a small town in some ways, tho. It depends on how you look at things. 

[Alexa James]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:18 AM, RedBloodedWoman said:

McComb is like 15 minutes from Kentwood, I know a lady who used to work at a restaurant in McComb & she said the family was struggling so bad before Brit got famous Lynn couldn't tip 

I’m guessing it was Nyla’s burger basket?

[Alexa James]

On 5/30/2022 at 10:11 AM, blissfuloutsider said:

Not surprised at all. Thats why they all have lived off her success.. Makes me sad they couldn't just let her be herself.. Even now, the GP won't let her just be herself we all evolve and change at different times and act certain ways at certain points of our lives depending on what we're living or going through.. or feeling.. 

 

Bless her. Bless GODNEY is all I can say.

 

**** that town and her parents and family tbh... For what they've done and caused and her evil father to the day who still is on a power trip and a sick disturbed troll.

So playing devil’s advocate here…Britney’s family were once very traditional humble southern folks who recognized her talent and sacrificed everything to help her achieve the dream. They wanted her to be successful and believed in her. When she became famous, I think it went to their heads. Jamie and Lynn might have felt more entitled to her wealth and life because they might have thought that she wouldn’t have succeeded had it not been for them. 

Now, I know I’m going to get yelled at for this. I do believe that Lynne genuinely loves Britney and wants the best for her. In a very warped way, Jamie does too. I do not condone anything that they have done. However, driving through that small southern gothic town creates a sense of empathy for the Spears family. They believed in Britney and did everything that most parents probably couldn’t do in those circumstances, to help her succeed. It could have easily fell apart and all been for nothing but they took that chance. Can we respect that part of the situation? 
 

 

 

[Alexa James]

41 minutes ago, Dirk said:

 

I mean, in Colorado when you§re travelling you see like abandoned cities with no one just ghosts and maybe hungry dogs that eat dead birdies and I imagine Kentwood like that, a creepy city with poor and **** people, I have no desire to visit that city specially now that Britney doesn't like there and doesn't like her family that still lives there

I'm actually surprised her family robbing her money still choose to live there, it feels so unsafe and vulnerable 

I can see why the family still lives there. I understand why Britney has gone back many times too. Living in a town like that makes you appreciate what you have and try to make the most of the circumstances.

I used to get so upset over little things not going my way. I now think of what Britney and her family went through in Kentwood. A girl who came from nothing but strength and a dream became the woman that she is today. 

[Alexa James]

On 5/29/2022 at 4:50 PM, Frankie8 said:

The way the OP worded it, I just pictured after sundown they sick dogs on you and sketchy people come out of the alleys with baseball bats and crowbars.

To be honest, that’s what it felt like. There were lots of sketchy characters walking around town at night. People congregating in corners of the road. It got a little scary. I totally would have stayed in the town longer but it started to scare me after dark. 

[Alexa James]

On 5/30/2022 at 4:53 PM, queenofhearts said:

I mean, she probably spent equal amounts of time in both states. Considering she went to parklane, I bet most of her friends were from Mississippi. I remember in for the record, she said she liked to do spontaneous things and one time her family went to biloxi for the weekend. Biloxi is the beach in Mississippi (although I don't know why you'd go there, because that beach is disgusting, but I suppose back then it was nicer)

Biloxi is so gross. It’s a very racist hillbilly city. People in Louisiana rave about Biloxi but there’s literally nothing there. 

[Forever222]

Britney truly came from nothing. People didn’t think she would blow up the way she did. Britney is hard working and gave her life for this. Literally. They worked her to the bone and when she went of line they trapped her. 

Jive and her management (Larry) kept the truth of her upbringing and Jamie’s issues from the public. He was barely mentioned in interviews. Lynne’s job was to keep him in line. Kind of ironic when the conservatorship happens. Just goes to show how far they got it wrong with that. 

[Lucky☆]

Thanks god she made it out of that place .

If she never got famous , she would probably be a redneck missing 5 teeth by now 😭

[Alexa James]

6 hours ago, Lucky☆ said:

Thanks god she made it out of that place .

If she never got famous , she would probably be a redneck missing 5 teeth by now 😭

True! 

[PickleSpears]

On 5/29/2022 at 10:21 PM, sunny_liston said:

I've never been to Kentwood but part of the reason why I've been such a big fan from the very beginning was precisely because she came from a place like that.

It's just so much more impressive that she became who she was having emerged from a broken home from a broken part of America. Music aside, I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in the person if her background was middle class northeast/west coast (like me). 

OP - I am curious, when you say it felt unsafe, what do you mean exactly? It's the south so you're driving around in your car the whole time right? Did you feel like you'd get shot or something?

 

I felt unsafe for a few reasons. The town is so small and quiet that it seemed like an "everyone knows everyone" kind of place where people definitely recognized and didn't seem to take kindly to outsiders. It didn't seem very open-minded to minorities. It felt like the kind of place where everyone probably had a gun. I loved seeing where Britney was from but driving past her old house and Serenity felt a little sketchy and I didn't want people to think I was up to no good. I literally just drove by.

It wasn't a very welcoming place plus I went in the fall of last year at the height of Free Britney and I know the town probably knows her parents well and it just felt uncomfortable in general, not knowing what side people were on - I'm sure a lot of them support her parents. I'm sure the town folk knew we weren't from there and were just there for Britney and it felt like that was annoying to people, but maybe that was just in my head. I didn't really talk to anyone except the girl that worked at Sonic who was younger and very sweet. But we were happy to leave lol.

[Alexa James]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:21 AM, PickleSpears said:

I felt unsafe for a few reasons. The town is so small and quiet that it seemed like an "everyone knows everyone" kind of place where people definitely recognized and didn't seem to take kindly to outsiders. It didn't seem very open-minded to minorities. It felt like the kind of place where everyone probably had a gun. I loved seeing where Britney was from but driving past her old house and Serenity felt a little sketchy and I didn't want people to think I was up to no good. I literally just drove by.

It wasn't a very welcoming place plus I went in the fall of last year at the height of Free Britney and I know the town probably knows her parents well and it just felt uncomfortable in general, not knowing what side people were on - I'm sure a lot of them support her parents. I'm sure the town folk knew we weren't from there and were just there for Britney and it felt like that was annoying to people, but maybe that was just in my head. I didn't really talk to anyone except the girl that worked at Sonic who was younger and very sweet. But we were happy to leave lol.

I felt the same way too! It seemed that people in that town can instantly detect outsiders. My license plates were out of state, so I think that’s why people approached me and automatically figured that I was there for Britney. Whenever, I was driving near Britney’s old house, it seemed like I was being trailed by other cars and the paranoia became worse when I saw the kentwood cop car pull out of the corner of the road near Serenity. 
 

It is dangerous not necessarily because of the crime but the backwards thinking and closed mindedness. The people make the city in my opinion. Most Louisiana cities are very warm and friendly. I’m guessing Kentwood is very hostile due to its close proximity to Mississippi, which is not a friendly state by any means!

[danielgeismas]

just realized that britney must be of french origin since she's from louisiana... (right? )

[ThisMeowBiteback]

Kentwood wasn’t like that when Britney was growing up so I wouldn’t say she was eager to leave. The city has been through quite a number of hurricanes, so that’s why it might appear to look weird now especially hurricane Katrina the storm that rearranged Louisiana forever 

[rik]

On 5/29/2022 at 11:18 AM, Alexa James said:

I have encountered Jamie in central Louisiana while at a gas station. He’s kind of creepy and doesn’t look well at all.

🍇

[IsraeliMatt]

3 hours ago, etherealcat said:

just realized that britney must be of french origin since she's from louisiana... (right? )

I'm not aware of any French heritage. A lot of her bloodline comes from Britain, which is partly why she occasionally speaks in a British accent. 

[Lorenm]

On 6/1/2022 at 1:09 AM, Lucky☆ said:

Thanks god she made it out of that place .

If she never got famous , she would probably be a redneck missing 5 teeth by now 😭

I think she would've succeeded anyway. I do believe Britney plays dumb.

[RebellionSparkles]

6 hours ago, Alexa James said:

I felt the same way too! It seemed that people in that town can instantly detect outsiders. My license plates were out of state, so I think that’s why people approached me and automatically figured that I was there for Britney. Whenever, I was driving near Britney’s old house, it seemed like I was being trailed by other cars and the paranoia became worse when I saw the kentwood cop car pull out of the corner of the road near Serenity. 
 

It is dangerous not necessarily because of the crime but the backwards thinking and closed mindedness. The people make the city in my opinion. Most Louisiana cities are very warm and friendly. I’m guessing Kentwood is very hostile due to its close proximity to Mississippi, which is not a friendly state by any means!

I loved reading about your adventures to Kentwood 

You inspired me to do a little reading about Kentwood’s history 😁…it seems like Kentwood was once home to timber and dairy industries, but those industries are mostly gone, leaving Kentwood a near ghost town.

// 

Kentwood, a one-time sawmill boom town, was literally saved from becoming a ghost town by early twentieth century growth in the dairying industry Kentwood’s sawmill boom began in the 1880’s and died out in the late teens-early twenties. The burgeoning dairy industry provided the necessary “shot-in-the-arm” for the town’s economy. By the 1950’s Kentwood was being referred to as the “Dairy Center of the South,” and dairying continues to he the area’s principal industry.

// https://myhammond.com/tangi/historic/kent-house/

[PickleSpears]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:54 AM, Alexa James said:

I felt the same way too! It seemed that people in that town can instantly detect outsiders. My license plates were out of state, so I think that’s why people approached me and automatically figured that I was there for Britney. Whenever, I was driving near Britney’s old house, it seemed like I was being trailed by other cars and the paranoia became worse when I saw the kentwood cop car pull out of the corner of the road near Serenity. 
 

It is dangerous not necessarily because of the crime but the backwards thinking and closed mindedness. The people make the city in my opinion. Most Louisiana cities are very warm and friendly. I’m guessing Kentwood is very hostile due to its close proximity to Mississippi, which is not a friendly state by any means!

I agree with that! It was an interesting experience.

[RebellionSparkles]

14 minutes ago, PickleSpears said:

I agree with that! It was an interesting experience.

How is Britney’s childhood home not an AirBnB for Britney tourists? I feel like this should be a Graceland-esque destination.

[PickleSpears]

18 minutes ago, RebellionSparkles said:

How is Britney’s childhood home not an AirBnB for Britney tourists? I feel like this should be a Graceland-esque destination.

If I felt unsafe just driving around for an hour I can only imagine how uncomfortable spending the night in her old house would be lol. But that would be cool. I was hoping at least the "museum" would be open so I could see the FF Tour wings and what not but I'm sure it gets so little traffic that they just don't bother with it on most days.