A teen idol died this week.

But a woman was born — no longer a teen, yet still an idol.

Britney Spears.

With the emergence of her new album, “In the Zone,” the former sugar-pop princess stakes a claim to funkier, hip-hop-inspired territory.

-That said, she does it well.

Unwrapping a Britney CD, the initial expectation simmers on the usual buttery-sweet pop ballads that made Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Hillary Duff famous.

However, Brit drops the candy-coated armor with subtle lines like, “I don’t want to be a tease/ Undo my zipper please.”

She distances herself even more hurriedly from the Catholic-girl routine of “Baby One More Time” with tantalizing tunes like “Breathe on Me” and “Showdown.”

She climaxes with perhaps the most controversial track on the album, “Touch of My Hand.”

In this jaw-droppingly sultry, self-indulgent treat, Spears dances around the subject of masturbation, noting that her thoughts are “flirting on the verge of obscene,” while going “another day without a lover.”

Another media-prepped issue surfacing in the album is her breakup with Justin Timberlake. But instead of lyrically denouncing him in a hateful or bitter spite, she pulls out nicely, ending the CD with an apologetic track, titled, “Everytime.”

Anyone who can relate to loathing the music of sweet-as-a-peach teen pop idols can turn a new cheek with Britney’s new CD.

From “Not a girl/ Not yet a woman,” she arrives as all woman in this album just as fiercely as she debuted five years ago as a sweet pop treat.

It’s about time. Go, Britney.