Rolling Stone considers Britney Spears not recording and releasing “Umbrella” one of the 50 Worst Decisions in Music History

[Justaboy]

12 minutes ago, Isla said:

I'm pretty sure the song was written before that happened. Iirc Tricky Stewart said he wrote the song to be about Britney's relationship with her children.

In that case it probably would have sounded like Oh La La part 1.

[Style.]

Just now, Justaboy said:

In that case it probably would have sounded like Oh La La part 1.

[Alexa]

I don’t think anyone else could’ve done Umbrella like Rihanna, same as how nobody could do Toxic or Baby One More Time like Britney did.

I do wish she’d gotten this one though 

 

[Body ache]

Trash song. Rihanna can keep it.

[UnbrokenExaholic]

I can't see Britney singing Umbrella at all, but I can imagine her singing:

- Question Existing, Disturbia, Push Up On Me (from GGGB)

- Speakerphone, Nu-di-ty, Heart Beat Rock, Like a ****, Rippin Up the Disco, Cherry Bomb, Sensitized, The One (from Kylie's X)

[Body ache]

I thought Kylie minogue turning down Toxic would be on there. That was my first thought.

[Body ache]

2 minutes ago, UnbrokenExaholic said:

I can't see Britney singing Umbrella at all, but I can imagine her singing:

- Question Existing, Disturbia, Push Up On Me (from GGGB)

- Speakerphone, Nu-di-ty, Heart Beat Rock, Like a ****, Rippin Up the Disco, Cherry Bomb, Sensitized, The One (from Kylie's X)

Nu-di-ty is basically a Britney feature so at least we have that.

 

[Kiss my]

Umbrella is an amazing song for Rihanna but she’s had plenty of other hits. I don’t think her career would have looked vastly different without it. 

[Stefani]

I mean there's no guarantee that it would've been as big as Rih's version tbh. Rih was really well-liked by the GP when she released it, but Brit was treated as public enemy number one by the media in 2007, so it's possible that the song would've done worse if she'd recorded and released it that year.

[rik]

41 minutes ago, Kiss my said:

Umbrella is an amazing song for Rihanna but she’s had plenty of other hits. I don’t think her career would have looked vastly different without it. 

It’s the thing that started it all. Even though Pon de Replay and SOS were hits, Def Jam was ready to drop her if Good Girl Gone Bad wasn’t a success. It changed the entire trajectory of her career 

[BlackoutITZ]

What is crazy is that Umbrella definitely set Rihanna's career on a completely different trajectory. She was a big artist and had hits before, but it was Umbrella that turned her into a global superstar and set the foundation for the future of her career. Britney (or her team) turning the song down kinda changed Rihanna's career forever.

I don't know if I would say it was a mistake for Britney not to record it, as Britney isn't short of hits herself and the song worked perfectly for Rihanna, but I'm sure it would have been a huge hit for Britney too as the song's quality is undeniable.

[Wendy Williams]

5 hours ago, GlitterRain said:

I’ve always wondered what it would have sounded like with Britney signing it.

I can imagine it well in knowing her voice perfectly. I think it could be smaller hit with her.

[BlackoutITZ]

11 minutes ago, Stefani said:

I mean there's no guarantee that it would've been as big as Rih's version tbh. Rih was really well-liked by the GP when she released it, but Brit was treated as public enemy number one by the media in 2007, so it's possible that the song would've done worse if she'd recorded and released it that year.

Gimme More peaking at #3, becoming her highest charting single since BOMT in the US, despite all of the negative media attention and backlash from the VMA's, proved that the GP were still very open and receptive to Britney as an artist in 2007, no matter what her public image was at the time.

[Almost Mystical]

But she’s turning it down for Gimme More. It’s a no brainer for me. 

[madara]

Never liked Umbrella, never will. Britney made a good decision. 

[A.a.A]

9 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

the thing with these things, is that we'll never know.

Probably if Britney recorded it, it would've remained an album track in Blackout or something, and nothing would've happened with it. 

 

It's like when we think about TLC passing on BOMT. Or Kylie Minogue with Toxic, we just can't assume that the songs would have the same fate, because it's obvious that they would sound very different to begin with. Perhaps they wouldn't get the single treatment, or maybe they would've gotten the wrong promo. Even without the iconic music videos they wouldn't be the same. 

 

And as much as I'm a believer of "every song would sound better if sung by Britney",  I'm really not sure about Umbrella. I can hear the choruses in Britney's voice, but the verses would sound weird, or maybe I just have Rihanna's vocal style too ingrained in my head.

You took the words out of my mouth. I came here to say this. It’s virtually impossible to assume what would have happened. Thousands of variables are involved in a successful single. 

Great job articulating your point!

[super.nova]

but then we wouldn’t have Rihanna and that is a bigger loss than Britney not recording the song.

[Spicechinodiva]

I read rumors this is about the ode to squirting.

 

And come and let the rain pour, is literally she wants the man to make her rain and more. 

[Spicechinodiva]

6 hours ago, UnbrokenExaholic said:

I can't see Britney singing Umbrella at all, but I can imagine her singing:

- Question Existing, Disturbia, Push Up On Me (from GGGB)

- Speakerphone, Nu-di-ty, Heart Beat Rock, Like a ****, Rippin Up the Disco, Cherry Bomb, Sensitized, The One (from Kylie's X)

The one was written by the freemasons and Richard Stannard,  and Kylie herself said that was written with her in mind. 

 

Richard Stannard doesn't work with American artists,  he's British and in his late 50s, and like he said, he wasn't huge til he was 30 when wannabe came out, so he knew he could only work with the best of the British music industry,  cos that's all he knows is British Music 

[Leolileinstein]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:30 PM, BlackoutITZ said:

What is crazy is that Umbrella definitely set Rihanna's career on a completely different trajectory. She was a big artist and had hits before, but it was Umbrella that turned her into a global superstar and set the foundation for the future of her career. Britney (or her team) turning the song down kinda changed Rihanna's career forever.

I don't know if I would say it was a mistake for Britney not to record it, as Britney isn't short of hits herself and the song worked perfectly for Rihanna, but I'm sure it would have been a huge hit for Britney too as the song's quality is undeniable.

Rih's career depended on other artists rejects lol (not only umbrella, tons of her hits were rejects from other artists). If she didn't had Umbrella she wouldn't be where sge is today. So Rih needs to thank Brit lol.