Are you familiar with the ORIGINAL DOLL saga? It's an active urban legend. Apparently Britney Spears was trying to put together a mature and stripped-down album before BLACKOUT was released. The album was to be titled ORIGINAL DOLL and it was Spears' intention to be very involved in the the album's creation. But it would never come to light.

As the lore goes, Spears walked into an LA radio station to play live in the air a song she recently recorded called "Mona Lisa." The song is about Mona Lisa, a stand-in for Spears, who everyone knows and loves but who is about to go through a downward spiral. In the chorus there's a line "she wants you to know/she's been cloned" that can be mistaken for "she's been gone" but if you listen closely you can hear her say "cloned."

The album was never released, and, as she seemed to have predicted, Spears went through a public breakdown and BLACKOUT, her most iconic and influential album largely steered by producer Danja, was recorded and released.

Over ten years later, what ORIGINAL DOLL could have been is still a hot topic among Britney fans. Youtube and spotify are full of playlists and fan-made albums, created from leaks and unused songs Spears recorded in that era. I found this playlist today and really enjoyed this particular fan's vision of ORIGINAL DOLL.

PS - You still have time to send in a piece to BE ABOUT IT ZINE for the BRITNEY SPEARS BLACKOUT issue. Send it soon! Be About It press/zine/reading series - zinebeaboutit@gmail.com