Did Blackout walk the The Fame could run?

[HeavyCapiLover 4,177]

So I've seen this conversation recently online saying that the 2007 britney's album "Blackout" was the real door opener for the dance pop music rise into the mainstream in the late 2000's. 

I'm not even a fan of Britney, but as LMs we must recognize that that album had huge impact on pop music and had a very avant guarde production for 2007. 

The music industry was already starting to evolve fast at that time and electro-dance genres were about to blow up anyway, even without the existence of Blackout.

But to what point did it influence gaga's work when she was making The Fame? Bc I realised that you can clearly hear a bit of Blackout's influence in The Fame. 

I'm not saying that to minimize the obvious impact that TF had, but was Britney the true pionneer for the 2010's dance pop music? 

[elegidadedios 2,615]

I don't know if Blackout particularly influenced Gaga on the TF making, but it's clear as water to me that Blackout was and will always be the real deal when it comes to making EDM in pop a thing. The Fame consolidated it. And I'm sure even Gaga would in a way agree with that

Edited December 31, 2025 by elegidadedios

[hELXIG 44,036]

I would say it primed the world for dance pop music in general. So yeah I guess Britney lubricated the hole before Gaga mad her big entrance. But it was still Gaga's very unique style of music and presentation that gave her that edge and star power to make a name for herself. Gaga brought something very different and new at the time that peaked the world's interest

[Starmie25 20,337]

With THE FAME and even today it feels like it wasn't afraid to have GRIT and EDGE and be DIRECTLY in your face sonically, lyrically, visually and vocally 

I sort of group Blackout with JT/Nelly Furtado/TimotheeChalamet era

Edited December 31, 2025 by Starmie25

[MountainMonster 1,198]

No. I loved Blackout. But it was nothing compared to the Fame. And there were other artists doing it at the time too (see X by Kylie Minogue) but none of them performed like The Fame did, and candidly, it’s because none of them had music of the same caliber. 

[PartySick 164,312]

It feels so weird that Blackout is only a year older than The Fame. Britney's a total legacy act in my mind I guess. When I think of her music, despite the fact that my favorite stuff is from her later albums, I just think "90s and early 00s"  

Anyway, no  The Fame was pretty unique and still scratched the itch that everyone had for pop music at the time.

[27monster27 14,527]

I personally like to say that both albums worked hand in hand to change the pop landscape. Blackout made people want to experiment with electronic and dance styles more, and The Fame perfected it.

[Anderson123 39,894]

I don't think Blackout influenced The Fame because Gaga had been working on that since 2006, completed probably half of it by early 2008. David Bowie, New York, Lady Starlight, Freddie Mercury and RedOne said that Leila K influenced The Fame sound.

Spoiler

 

I think between Gaga, Britney, Black Eyed Peas and Kylie Minogue, they all helped each other push the electro pop sound into mainstream with more artists like Pitbull, Jason Derulo, Usher, Kesha and DJs like David Guetta, Zedd, Calvin Harris just completely take over the charts.

Edited December 31, 2025 by Anderson123

[HotLikeMexico 5,554]

No. It’s apples to oranges honestly. 

[Sylvia Browne 2,675]

Britney was definitely one of the first artists to transition from the R&B/Hip-hop influences of the 2002-2006 era and reintroduce electronic dance music to the pop landscape.  I can’t say I remember a big pop album with such heavy electronic sounds before Blackout. 

[Anderson123 39,894]

I'd even say that Confessions On A Dance Floor and Future Sex/Love Sounds also had a big influence in pop music.

[vanna shintuyu 11,300]

It's a big fat example of "it's not what you said, it's how you said it"

Britney and Madonna were tired to the GP at that point for different reasons. As great as Blackout and COADF were, they just didn't hit right. Justin was still doing singles that sounded like Timbaland's production for the last decade. The dance pop influx needed someone new to say and perform the right thing. It wouldn't have happened without Just Dance, period.

Edited December 31, 2025 by vanna shintuyu

[robotvoiceinalice 1,906]

No. Britney stans love to say it did but it didn't. The thing is, Blackout sounds very 2007 with similar sounding tracks reminiscent of Timbaland. It didn't have that big an impact on pop culture and if i remember correctly, Britney was dragged during that era and was panned 

It took her until Womanizer to reclaim that. Nonetheless, to say Blackout was influential in the 2010s dance trend in music is a complete overstatement and borderline delusional. 

Gaga was unique in her sound and was the first one to bring 4 on the floor beats to radio again, and it was after Gaga's succes and the popularity of The Fame that we had dance influences back in pop music.

I mean literally without Just Dance, Kesha wouldn't have had a career as she was brought on by her label to rival Gaga with Tik Tok. There would also be no Evacuate The Dance Floor by Kascada. Blackout didn't influence these artists and/or songs, Gaga did with The Fame.

[faysalaaa 5,093]

Im a Britney fan, but I dont see the similarities. The Fame isnt even a good album, its just an interesting album.

[Bronco 15,063]

Nah.

The Fame was certainly not the first dance pop album of the era. As others have said, Confessions arguably kickstarted the move to dance pop, Timberland embeded it. 

The Fame, however, was the album that cemented dance pop's dominance for that era of pop music. And it set the style rulebook for it.