It seems like just yesterday that we were introduced to Jessica Simpson’s younger sister, Ashlee, via her MTV reality show, ‘The Ashlee Simpson Show’. From the start, it was clear that Ashlee was her own person, in her own lane, determined to let the world know that she was ‘the anti-Jessica’. She was nineteen, unapologetic, heart broken, and unafraid to fight as an artist to produce a solid album that she could stand behind, proudly. Cut to ten years later, Simpson’s debut album, ‘Autobiography’ still resonates with millions and has become a staple in pop music.

‘Autobiography’ came out at the height of the MTV reality/TRL era. There was NO WAY this album wasn’t going to be a hit. It was launched with the folk tinged pop/rock single, ‘Pieces Of Me’ and had a major push via her reality show that was scheduled during a primetime spot on MTV’s nightly line up (of course right after Newlyweds, the biggest show on MTV at that time). Week in and week out, we saw Ashlee create ‘Autobiography’ as she drew inspiration from a bad break up, falling in love again, and her family. There were battles to dumb down her vision and have a super pop version of what she knew she wanted to be. It took a lot of fight and a lot of finding what works, but Ashlee found her musical soulmate in John Shanks on the show and the rest was history.

I don’t have to tell you that the Internet was abuzz this entire week with an interview Myspace conducted with John Shanks, the executive producer of ‘Autobiography’. It’s very hard for a lot of people to see who Ashlee really is as an artist due to unfortunate events that happened right after ‘Autobiography’ was released. It always make me happy to hear people speak highly of Ashlee because after all she’s been through (no matter how long ago it was) she deserves the recognition, she deserves to be heard, and she deserves to be happy. I was overjoyed and beyond elated to read the nicest things that I’ve ever read about Simpson ever in this interview, such as:

‘Here’s the thing: Ashlee is an artist. She is. She’s as much an artist as any one of these—I want to curse here, but… To me, I’ve been in the room with all these girls—all of them—every single one of them I’ve been lucky to be around. Ashlee earned her stripes on that record. She put in the time. She put in the effort. She was there eight, nine hours a day working her ass off, tweaking the lyrics and singing, singing, singing….To this day, she would have a big career. She’d still be doing it. She’s talented, she really is. People are just haters. Every time I’m out somewhere or speaking on some panel and people are like, “Fucking Ashlee Simpson,” I’m like: “Yeah, fuck you. Trust me, you come in my room and you work as hard as that girl did for 12 weeks.” That girl deserved every record that she sold. And she wrote every song. She was there and she was a part of it—some days more than others—[and] like all of us we all have good days and bad. She deserves the success on that record, and if it wasn’t for that one moment…’

She did. She absolutely did, and until this point, I felt like I was the only one who thought this. It’s nice to know that my thoughts about Ashlee’s career are in good company. (And thank you very much, John Shanks won a Grammy for ‘Producer of the Year’ which included his work on ‘Autobiography‘.)

Regardless of who she was, what happen during this album cycle, or who she is now, she was an idol to most teens during 2004. The thing about ‘Autobiography’ and why it resonated so much was because it was honest. You have this young girl singing unapologetically about having her heart broken and trying to find herself at the peak of her young adult life. What 14-17 couldn’t relate to that? Ashlee was hurting and she didn’t care who knew it. The record was therapy for her as well as the 400,000 people who bought it in it’s first week alone. She was the queen of pop/rock (sorry, Avril!), she knew what her audience wanted, and she knew what she wanted to be. It’s not that hard to buy into an artist that’s authentic. Would the album have been as successful without the reality show? No. It was the best promotional tool for it and without it, it wouldn’t have garnered her the commercial success and opportunities she had. But then again, things would have been different, wouldn’t they?

Despite the two bumps in the road, ‘Autobiography’ was a success. It went platinum in one week (which still chokes me up on the reality show to this day) and Ashlee got her first #1 pop single with ‘Pieces Of Me’, thanks to the success of the record. Ashlee was the Britney of 2004. Her breakout was huge and she was the ‘It-Girl’ on everyone’s lips. You can still say ten years later (get over it) that’s she’s a fraud, she’s a lipsyncer. That’s fine. But you’ll never be able to discredit the achievements and true talent this woman has.

‘Autobiography’ is a pop masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite records and without it, I would not be the person I am today. She taught me how to be fearless, how to be myself, and that no matter how alone I could feel, I wasn’t ever alone. I can’t even put into words what the record means to me and, frankly, we can be here all day talking about it. So I can leave it as just a simple thank you. Thank you, Ashlee Simpson, for putting out this record and becoming one of my idols with it. The record still sounds just as great as the first time I heard it and it makes me proud to be a fan.