Potato chips in hand, a beverage on its way, Britney Spears is settling in for a long afternoon's rap.
     She just as easily could be the girl next door, talking excitedly about what's going on in her life, calling herself "dorky" when she catches herself in a misspeak, prefacing many of her comments with "Honestly," politely moving on to another subject when the one on the table seems a bit uncomfortable.
     But this IS Britney, pop icon for her generation, perhaps even, dare we suggest, her generation's Madonna. After all, Madonna herself is wearing Britney T-shirts, and her daughter is a major Britney fan.
     Still, Spears, just out of teendom at 20, probably could be the girl next door if the girl next door happened to have sold 40 million albums; wrote two books; hosted Saturday Night Live; just performed with Michael Jackson; signed the biggest soda pop-endorsement contract since the gloved one 15 years ago; released her third album, done her first HBO special and is starring in her first film (Crossroads, in February).
     And, oh yes, she happens to have 'N Sync heartthrob Justin Timberlake as her boyfriend.
     Spears is the first to tell anyone she realizes that she has been blessed—both in her life and her career.
     She senses she is at a turning point in both. If this girl is not yet a woman, she seems mighty close. She makes reference to "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," one of the songs on her new and third album, Britney. "There's where I am right now, in between stages in life," she says.
     For the first time, she has co-written five of the album's 12 songs. As to what it means to be "not a girl," but "not yet a woman," she says it all depends on what your definition of a girl and a woman is.
     "To me, 'not a girl and not yet a woman' means someone who hasn't experienced life to the fullest potential yet, and is still growing. A woman has grown and gained all the wisdom she needs. She knows herself in and out. I think I'm kind of right in between there. I'm on the verge of being a woman."
     That's not always the easiest place to be, she admits.
     "It's kind of hard growing up in the spotlight; people place things for you to be a certain way. People around you treat you in a certain way when you are 16-17. It's up to you to say, 'I need to do things on my own.' It's a matter of me standing up for myself."
     Spears believes a lot of teens can relate to that sentiment. "They may be going off to college and want to achieve some independence and their parents say, 'I want you to be my baby forever.'" That's not a superstar issue. "I think it's a teenage issue," she says.
     She is learning to say no, to be the one in control in her life and career, she says. "I used to hold things in. If I felt something, I wouldn't say it. I wanted to be nice. I'm still very nice and polite. But if I think someone is saying something to take advantage of me, I'm very open; I just speak up a little more and say what I feel."
     Spears says she really is just coming into her own in becoming the person she wants to be. "I don't like defining myself. I can't say what I will be, I just know who I am right now. Hopefully I'll always be a good person."
     Which brings her back again to that internal and external debate about being thrust into a "role model" mode, especially for young children who watch and seemingly want to emulate her every move.
     "I know when I was younger I looked up to people like Janet Jackson and Madonna. They were a major inspiration, but I also had my own identity and I knew who I was."
     Parents need to get involved in putting what she does in perspective for their children, she says, referring to her sexy moves onstage and videos and her sometimes revealing costumes.
     "It's very flattering that such young kids look up to me. The innocence is really beautiful," Spears says. "Honestly, though, it's up to their parents to explain that I'm a performer, and that onstage is my time to perform and express myself. I don't wear those clothes to the supermarket or ball game. It's like when little kids go into their mom's closet and dress up in mom's clothes. It's time to play, but it's not what they are supposed to wear in the real world."
     In her world, Britney Spears is more than ready to test the waters in expanding her audience and her possibilities. But she has no intention of leaving her younger fans behind. "Definitely not," she says. "I just want an older generation to maybe pick up on it as well. It would be nice to have it all," she laughs.
     As you grow as a person, you grow as an artist as well, she says. She felt she had to show creative growth for her third album. "I couldn't do Baby One More Time No. 3. I had to change it up a little bit and just pray people appreciate it and think it is cool."
     The first single, "I'm A Slave 4 U," received solid reviews. The song was written and produced by The Neptunes.
     "This album was inspired by a lot of hip-hop and R&B, going to clubs and stuff," she says. "It's music that is standing out to me. It suits me and who I am. The first single really just stood out."
     Spears admits that she was nervous when she entered the studio. "I thought, 'Can I even write?' But it was a lot simpler than what I thought. I got with people who made me feel really comfortable. I had a lot of time with this album. On the last two I didn't. This was the most laid-back process of making an album I ever had. I was blessed. It really wasn't that complicated, except for picking out songs."
     Spears says she does not think she will ever be hardcore R&B, "but who knows what I will be like tomorrow? For this album I was really inspired by JZ and the Neptunes. I just love their tracks. I wanted to incorporate something that was a little bit nastier and funkier."
     She is aware that major sales of the album are being predicted, but she is cautiously optimistic. "It's kind of hard to top something like Oops! ... I Did It Again [10 million-plus in sales] and Baby One More Time [13 millions copies sold so far]. I'm praying this album does something like that [in sales]. I know this album probably will be a growth record for me. I want people to buy it … and just have respect for it.
     "It's the first I ever really have written on and really took my time on. When I listen to the whole album it's just that more special. I put my whole self in it. It's like your baby," she says. "When I rehearse it and get to sing songs I wrote, it means so much more when it comes from you. I don't know if I'm the best songwriter in the world, but I've had a lot of fun doing it. I'm getting better and I've grown."
     Spears also hopes to display that growth onstage on her new concert tour.
     "This is my third album and I want people to see me in a different light. This music I'm singing right now is such a reflection of me and who I am," she says. "I really think people will come to the show and just get a really good idea of who I am, and just come and be inspired and have a lot of fun."
     She loves a show to be very theatrical. "That's my passion. I come from Broadway. That's the first thing I ever did. The whole process for me is just magical. The most fun thing in the whole world is to come up with a concept, have this vision and see it come to life onstage and have people be excited by it."