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American Morning

Could Current U.S. Concert Tour be Britney Spears' Last Dance?

Aired July 24, 2002 - 09:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: Could her current U.S. concert tour be Britney Spears' last dance? She may seem as popular as ever, but it appears fans are not buying Britney like they used to. Compare her smash-hit record, "Oops, I Did It Again" that sold 8.9 million copies in 2000 with her current release, "Britney," which has sold 3.7 million copies in the U.S.

So is the queen of teen still a superstar? Joining us now with his idea and opinion on this, we're talking about the one and only Toure.

Good morning, Toure. Nice to see you again.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": Thank you. Thank you.

NEVILLE: I mean, 3.7 million copies. That's not bad, so I'm saying, she's not losing her steam.

TOURE: Yes, yes, yes, I'm not willing to go and say Britney's over, not yet. I mean, she didn't get the sympathy vote out of her breakup with Justin, but the entire record business is slumping a little bit. She still has got this amazing showmanship. She is still as cute as she was before. Like last night, right, we're sitting there thinking, how can we say Britney is over? And then that "Slave For You" piece came on from MTV last year with the snake.

NEVILLE: That's hot.

TOURE: We couldn't stop watching.

NEVILLE: That's hot.

TOURE: I'm not saying she's over.

NEVILLE: Let's just look at the whole group. Pink, that's my girl. I love Pink. I love Pink.

TOURE: Because she's black, right?

NEVILLE: I think Pink is...

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: She is one of those white girls who is kind of black. I think so.

NEVILLE: And Christina Aguilera, let's see Destiny's Child, B2K, 'Nsync, Backstreet Boys.

TOURE: The breakout start out of that group is going to be Justin Timberlake. He has got Timberlake (sic) working on the album, the Neptunes, Alicia Keyes.

NEVILLE: He's from 'Nsync.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Just to be clear, he's from Memphis, Tennessee. He has got that soul in him, right, right? He's been eating ribs all his life. He talks about his grandmother's peach cobbler that he loves.

NEVILLE: Not to get off subject, but do you think there is anything to the Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake deal?

TOURE: I don't know. It's such a delicious rumor.

NEVILLE: I love it. I want to believe it. I love that. I say, go, Janet.

TOURE: How about go, Justin?

NEVILLE: Well, both of them, both of them. Absolutely, he did come up on that one.

Let's talk about who to keep an eye on.

TOURE: Who to keep -- I mean, the Eminem record is selling like crazy. OK, and it's a really good record. He's a truth teller. He's a rebel. He's anti-PC. That's a great record. Nelly is selling some reports.

NEVILLE: I love Nelly.

TOURE: You would.

NEVILLE: Wait, wait, what does that mean? What does that mean?

TOURE: The Ashanti record is hot. Here's a record that I can't wait until everybody hears it, Cody Chestnut, this guy from Atlanta. He made a report, 36 songs, $10,000 of equipment in his bedroom. It's total low-fi. It's totally mellow. It's good sound, so you're going to love, Paula's going to love it -- everybody in America is going to love it.

NEVILLE: Really? So he's got this whole crossover appeal going?

TOURE: He's accessible. He's fun. It's soul music, like we heard in the '70s. This is going to be blockbuster. And it's a small teeny-weeny label, so it's going to take a while for people to discover it.

NEVILLE: It can happen. In this day and age, it can happen.

Let's talk about Britney Spears again, because she's doing a little cameo in "Austin Powers" movie "Goldfinger," and then she also worked on the soundtrack, so, I mean, she's diversifying.

TOURE: She's actually got a hot song on this soundtrack.

NEVILLE: When I say "Goldfinger."

TOURE: It's "Goldmember."

NEVILLE: Hello, "Goldfinger" from like James Bond. Hello, "Goldmember." That's the whole idea. Anyway.

TOURE: I mean, you see her on the commercial, got the great commercial that everyone loves. She's got a great new song, great new video with Pharell from the Neptunes. I mean, she's still giving you -- she's had a long, long run so far. She doesn't go away like other people. They do an album, then you don't see for a while. She's got the showmanship. America loves its blonds.

NEVILLE: Ain't that the truth.

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