Music / Christina Aguilera

Influences:

• Etta James, Nina Simone, Julio Iglesias, Cher, Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Julie Andrews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N' Roses, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Marilyn Monroe, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald

Influenced:

• Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Melanie Martinez, Charli XCX, Duffy, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga, Christina Grimmie, Jo Jo

If you wanna be with me
Baby, there's a price to pay
I'm a genie in a bottle
You gotta rub me the right way.

— "Genie in a Bottle"

Christina Maria Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) began her career in the spotlight as a former member of The Mickey Mouse Club revival as teenager. Known as a little girl with a big voice, she signed to a major label in the late '90s and became first marketed as a bubblegum pop singer before seeking more creative control thereafter musically and adopting a more 'dirrty' image on her sophomore album to continued commercial success.

Soon after, she started embracing a neo-Burlesque persona, by which time she finally found a lyrical constant, only to retire from touring in 2008 to look after her son Max. She returned to the music scene in 2010 with the album Bionic, which was poorly-received and led to speculation that her career was over, largely due to Bionic's sound and visuals drawing comparisons to the then rising Lady Gaga. Things recovered slightly later in the year as the official soundtrack for the musical film Burlesque (which she starred in alongside Cher) was released, which featured mostly Aguilera performances achieved a gold certification in the US.

She became a coach on the talent show The Voice in 2011, alternating between seasons to focus on her family and prevent herself from burning out. In the meantime, she released another album, Lotus, which had ever lower sales than Bionic, and subsequently became Canon Discontinuity. Aguilera made a return to The Voice, but has not appeared since season 10 in 2016.

In June 2018, Aguilera released her eighth studio album, Liberation, six years after Lotus. It debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 and received a much more positive reception than Lotus or Bionic.

She has featured her vocals on up to 25 vocal performances to date, by artists including, but not limited to, Maroon 5, Cee Lo Green, Nelly, Herbie Hancock, T.I., Diddy, Nicki Minaj, The Rolling Stones, P!nk, Ricky Martin, Mýa, Missy Elliott, Pitbull and A Great Big World. Aguilera is a six-time Grammy Award winner who has sold 50 million albums worldwide to date. Her number one hits include: "Come On Over" (2000), "What a Girl Wants" (1999), and the ever youthful, "Genie In a Bottle" (1999). Later hits have included "Beautiful", "Candyman", and "Ain't No Other Man".

Aguilera is considered to be among the most talented and critically acclaimed out of the late 1990s blonde teen pop singers trend that was kicked off by Britney Spears, and her peers also include Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore.

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Discography and tours

Discography

• Standard studio records
  • Christina Aguilera (1999)
    • Mi Reflejo [Spanish-language album] (2000)
    • My Kind of Christmas (2000)
    • Just Be Free (2001)(recorded 1994/1995)^note A demo album recorded while she was a pre-teen, released against her will after a long battle with the people who she recorded it with.
  • Stripped (2002)
  • Back to Basics (2006)
  • Bionic (2010)
  • Lotus (2012)
  • Liberation (2018)
  • AGUILERA (2022) ^note Consisting of all the songs in the EPs La Fuerza and La Tormenta including a new version of "Cuando Me Dé la Gana" featuring Christian Nodal.

• EPs and compilation albums
  • Justin and Christina (EP with Justin Timberlake) (2003)
  • Keeps Getting Better: A Decade Of Hits (2008)
  • Burlesque: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, with Cher. (2010)
  • La Fuerza (2022)
  • La Tormenta (2022)

Tours

• Christina Aguilera: In Concert (2000–01)
• Stripped World Tour (2003)
• Back to Basics Tour (2006–07)

• DVDs
  • Genie Gets Her Wish (1999)
  • My Reflection (2001)
  • Stripped: Live In The UK (2004)
  • Back To Basics: Live In Australia (2008)

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Tropes in a bottle:

Music and album tropes

• All Women Are Lustful: Is outspoken about her sexuality (See below), The Bionic and Stripped albums, and within Back To Basics: "Nasty Naughty Boy" and "I Got Trouble" prove it.
• Album Filler: Since she took back control of her career, her albums have had at least 18 tracks, most fans and casual listeners take at least 8 tracks off. She's known for overfilling her albums...
  • She also puts at least 4 interludes on her 18 track albums!
• Award-Bait Song: "Reflection", from the Mulan soundtrack. She's also re-recorded it for the 2020 live-action remake's soundtrack.
• Arc Words: "Me" & "I" in all her titles: "Army Of Me", "Sing For Me", "Best Of Me", "Save Me From Myself", "Loving Me 4 Me", "Keep On Singing My Song", "Mercy On Me", "Don't Make Me Love You"...
  • "All I Need, I Am", "I Turn To You", "I'm Okay", "I Got Trouble", "I Hate Boys", "I Come Undone", "I Will", "All I Wanna Do", "But I'm A Good Girl"...
• Author Tract: Her turn on Saturday Night Live during her "Dirrty" phrase spent a lot of time defending her right to do and say, anything she wants. She also wrote a thesis after Lotus under performed defending her choices to not tour since 2007 and telling her fans her music IS her priority.
• Bad Girl Song: "Dirrty" and "Still Dirrty"' Not Myself Tonight..
• Be Yourself: "The Voice Within", "Hello", "I Will Be" and "Reflection"
• Break Up Song: "Impossible", "Underappreciated", "Walk Away", "Fighter".
• Bowdlerization: The music video for "Dirrty" was censored in Thailand due to Thai-language posters that advertised its sex tourism (including mention of child prostitutes).
  • The Radio Disney version of "Genie in a Bottle" was heavily edited to be suitable for children, including changing the famous line from the chorus to "You gotta treat me the right way." The full version of the Radio Disney edit is lost, but part of it can be found here. The Dove Cameron cover of the song for Disney's Descendants was actually less edited then the version Christina recorded for Radio Disney.
• B-Side: "We're A Miracle", "Too Beautiful For Words".
• Call-Back: "Lotus" features a lot of lyrical and musical call backs to her earlier works: "Reflection" gets a shout out in the introduction, "I won't let you bring me down" in "Best Of Me" reminding people of "Beautiful", "I'm A Fighter" in "Army Of Me", pretty self explanatory, "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?." in "Around The World", reminds people of "Lady Marmalade", "Red Hot Kinda Love" refers to "Infatuation" on Stripped. "Let There Be Love" reminds many of her works on "Bionic".
• Canon Discontinuity: She never talks about Lotus. Period. She just changes the question or draws the topic back to her current projects.
• Careful with That Axe: Most of her music is this. The exceptions would be "Save Me From Myself", "I Am", "Cruz", and "All I Need".
• Chewing the Scenery: The lady can sing. See "Hurt", "You Lost Me" and "Mercy On Me" for prime examples.
• Circus Synths: Back to Basics features the songs "Hurt" and "Enter the Circus", which make great use of circus music.
• Compensating for Something: "Can't Hold Us Down" contains the following line:
  "You must talk so big, to make up for smaller things"
• Concept Album: Two major ones:
  • Stripped is her stripping her facade away and showing all that she can do in music.
  • Back To Basics is her doing an album with early 20th century sound backing and occasional contemporary twists.
  • Bionic is her trying to be creative with doing mostly electro-pop. Unfortunately, this album was unsuccessful due to the hype backlash and many comparisons to Lady Gaga, who was red-hot at the time.
• Cover Version: "Lady Marmalade" (originally recorded by Labelle), "I Turn To You" (originally recorded by Boy Band All-4-One), All Right Now (originally recorded by Free), Car Wash (originally recorded by Rose Royce), and her Christmas album.
• Distinct Double Album: The Back to Basics album. Disc one was standard pop with a throwback to jazz, funk and soul, and disc two comprised live music reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s.
• Double Entendre: Frequently. A notable one that caused controversy is in the song Genie In a Bottle where she sings "I'm a genie in a bottle/You gotta rub me the right way", considering she was barely legal at the time the song was released.
• Double Standard: "Can't Hold Us Down" is a Take That! on the assumption that it's okay for men to do certain things (such as having multiple sexual partners) but not for women to do the same.
• Ethical Slut: In songs like "Dirrty", "Can't Hold Us Down" and "Still Dirrty" and the Bionic record.
• Era-Specific Personality: Two very specific personalities are present in her work:
  • She was "Xtina" in her Bionic, Lotus, and Stripped eras.
  • "Baby Jane" was her personality for Back To Basics.
• Epic Rocking: "Keep On Singing My Song" is extremely long compared to the rest of the tracks on Stripped.
• Fading into the Next Song: "The Voice Within" fades into "I'm Ok".
• Fanservice: As seen here.◊
• Femme Fatale: Stripped has elements of this in songs like "Dirty" and "Get Mine Get Yours". "Your Body"'s music video has her killing heaps of men, and Bionic and Lotus have some songs which feature this as well.
• Friends with Benefits: "Get Mine, Get Yours" is about this. Shamelessly.
  "I want your body, not your heart."
• Follow Your Heart: "The Voice Within", "Keep On Singing My Song", "Hello", and "Reflection".
• Genre Roulette: If you played only her singles one after another you'd get a lot of different sounds: country ("Just A Fool"), dance pop ("Not Myself Tonight"), r&b ("Your Body"), '60s pop ("Ain't No Other Man"). This is even further developed in her albums, especially Stripped and Bionic, which are even more random with their variety of flavors in songs.
• Greatest Hits Album: Keeps Getting Better: A Decade Of Hits.
• Grief Song: "Hurt" is about the singer's loss of a loved one.
• Godiva Hair: In both the Stripped and Lotus album covers.
• Hotter and Sexier: While her early material was always a little suggestive, Stripped was when she turned up the sex in her music - as she was fed up with being portrayed as a squeaky-clean pop princess.
• Idol Singer: Her self-titled debut album sold 17 million copies worldwide and had 3 #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Incredibly Long Note: A feature of her songs. Especially notable: "On Our Way".
• Intercourse with You: "Sex For Breakfast", "Dynamite", "Get Mine Get Yours", "Desnudate", "Nasty Naughty Boy", "I Got Trouble", "Infatuation", "Woohoo", "Vanity", "Your Body" among others.
  • "Genie In A Bottle" subverts this, with An Aesop about not "giv(ing) it away" to a boy easily.
• I Approved This Message :Made a bunch of these for The Voice and her Lotus album.
• It's All About Me: "Vanity". (See Arche Words, for more).
• Large Ham: In You Lost Me:
  We had Magi-i-i-ic
  And this i-i-is tragic,
  YOU couldn't KEEP YOUR HANDS...to yourself...
  • Related to Chewing the Scenery above and Melismatic Vocals below.
• "Leaving the Nest" Song: "Cruz" is an ode to leaving behind familiar things that have been holding you back. Using the metaphor of driving away in a car, Aguilera sings of being "finally free" from "yesteryears and broken dreams," and "feeling like I've never felt before." As liberating as the song is, there is a tinge of reservation as the narrator acknowledges that she will miss her old life "one day."
• Lighter and Softer:
  • The sequel song to "Dirrty", Back to Basics's "Still Dirrty" is much more upbeat and light-hearted in tone than its predecessor.
  • Bionic was more fun than Back To Basics that was very dramatic and deep and Lotus has less apologetic ballads then Bionic.
• Loudness War: Bionic, according to the Dynamic Range Database, has "hideous sound quality" and is "extremely flat sounding and dead". To a lesser extent, Back to Basics and Lotus.

• Lyrical Tic: She has a reputation for slipping random "Wah"s and "Ooh Oooh"s all over her songs.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: Sorry I'm not a virgin/Sorry I'm not a slut. from Stripped.
• Melismatic Vocals: Well known for fitting 7 note melismas into her songs live. Especially in the "Back to Basics" tour!
• Motor Mouth: Bionic is a good example. as she borderline raps the verses.

• My Girl Is Not a Slut: She points out the Double Standard constantly. "The guy gets all the glory the more he can score, and the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore." — "Can't Hold Us Down"
• Mystical Lotus: Lotus centers around the flower as a symbolism of "rebirth" following the singer's divorce.
• Narcissist: The narrator of "Vanity", and how. (See Arch Words)
• New Sound Album: She does this every album, but Bionic and Back To Basics have the biggest evolution of sound from "'50s inspired jazz pop" to "electronic dance pop from the future". Also her debut Self-Titled Album and Stripped both have an R&B/Sexy/Personal edge which unites them together thematically. Bionic and Lotus are both electric pop albums aimed at her haters.
• Not Staying for Breakfast: Pretty heavily implied in "Your Body", "I Got Trouble" and "Nasty Naught Boy".

• Piss-Take Rap: "Bobblehead" is a heavy rap about how all her haters are bobbleheads, somewhat tongue in cheek.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "Make Over" is a major example of this, but this sort of singing is seen all over her live performances and most of her albums besides Bionic.
• The Prima Donna: "Prima Donna", "Bionic", "Not Myself Tonight", "Glam"... really, her image since Back To Basics.
• Rage Quit: Her rather long breaks are forms of this (4 years average), but the most notable instance of this was the Bionic tour, which was cancelled due to her marriage falling apart, the music being not reviewed positively, and a laser-like focus on her movie coming later on in the year. She also quit The Voice to tour but then quit her tour to stay at home with her kid.
• Red Pill, Blue Pill: Used in "Birds Of Prey".
  Taking the blue pill only made you cry
  And all that the red pill did was make you forget why
• Rule of Symbolism: Bionic and Lotus concepts and covers.
• Running Gag: Her first couple of albums had this theme of "Just Me" to their titles, Self-Titled Album, Stripped, and Back to Basics'', all refer to the bare simple part of art/life.
• Rock-Star Song: Just a couple of songs here and there in her discography: "Welcome", "Bionic", "Still Dirrty", "Here To Stay", "Keep On Singing My Song", "Make Over", "Vanity", "Keeps Getting Better", "Not Myself Tonight", "Glam", "Prima Donna", "I Am", "Loving Me 4 Me", "Mercy On Me", "Save Me From Myself", "Army Of Me", "Sing For Me", "Best Of Me", "Shut Up", "Empty Words" "Circles", "Lotus", among others.
• Screw Yourself: "Vanity"....Something about touching herself..
• Seduction Lyric: "Your Body" is all about a woman seducing a man as an act of sending the message that Sex Is Good. The song has been described as sex-positive feminism. Explicit and censored versions of the song exist.
  Hey boy, I don't need to know where you've been
  All I need to know is you in, no need for talkin' [...]
  All I wanna do is fuck your body
  Tonight's your lucky night, I know you want it
• Sequel Song: "Still Dirrty" from Back to Basics to "Dirrty" from Stripped.
• Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Stated in "Stripped"
• Sex Is Good: "Your Body" is basically a Seduction Lyric, which says "all I want to do is" Intercourse with You, appearing as only having genuinly good intentions and meaning no threat.

• Singer Name Drop: "Bionic", "Intro (Back To Basics), "Thank You (Dedication To Fans)", and others.
• Slut-Shaming: Has actively fought against this.
• Strictly Formula: Ever since Stripped her singles have been released, upbeat party song ("Dirrty", "Ain't No Other Man", "Not Myself Tonight", "Your Body") and then a ballad ("Beautiful", "Hurt", "You Lost Me", "Just a Fool").
• Studio Chatter: Used extensively on Stripped, particularly on "Impossible" and "Keep On Singing My Song".
• Take That, Critics!: Present in Aguilera's lyrics to her critics
  If I wanna be provocative, well that ain't a sin, / Maybe you're not comfortable in your own skin." —"Still Dirrty".
  • Her song "Here to Stay" also counts very, very much. The ultimate Take That song. And "Keep on Singing My Song".
• Take That!: "F. U. S. S." on Back To Basics, to Scott Storch, a former producer and she also referred to Britney Spears and Madonna as performers and considered herself a "Real Artist". She also had a feud with Kelly Osbourne, for over 10 years and outright didn't acknowledge Lady Gaga when she was new in 2008.
  • And her above songs about the Madonna-Whore Complex, My Girl Is Not a Slut and other feminist issues.
• Talking Down the Suicidal: "Talked me down from every ledge" in "Ain't No Other Man".
• Translated Cover Version: Aguilera has done covers of her own English-language songs in Spanish.
• True Art Is Angsty: Invoked. It's the reason why Stripped was created.
• Tsundere: "Keeps Getting Better" is a Type A.
  "Some days I'm a super bitch/Up to my old tricks/but it won't last forever."
  "Next day I'm your super girl/Out to save the world/and it keeps getting better"
• Unusual Euphemism: "Woohoo", a collaboration with Nicki Minaj, uses "woohoo" as a term for oral sex.
• Vocal Evolution: Her voice mellowed artistically, during the Bionic album and "Moves Like Jagger". Despite this she started using belting and wailing more in public appearances and live gigs, to mixed results.
• Wolverine Publicity: She's done 25 features and collaborations, often to great success.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: "Dirrty", Xtina (because "X" is used as an abbreviation for "Christ" (as in "Xmas") for reasons dating back to Greek times), and "Loving Me 4 Me".
• You Are Not Alone: "Beautiful" is a very notable example of this trope in song form. "The Voice Within", "Hello" and "Little Dreamer" are other examples. This is a theme in Stripped.

Music video and tour tropes

• All Women Love Shoes: She has a shoe room in her house.
• Animal Motifs: Insects in "Fighter". Her costumes undergo a metamorphosis like butterflies and moths.

• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Multiple times in the video for Candyman, though most obviously in the callout to The Andrews Sisters, where Aguilera clones are shown with hair of each color simultaneously.
• Broken Aesop: The video for "Can't Hold Us Down" undermines the song's message that women shouldn't be silenced for speaking their minds or viewed as sluts for promiscuous behaviour - by turning the conflict into a straight-up battle of the sexes in the street. This greatly simplifies a larger conflict - ignoring Female Misogynists who slut shame as well and male feminists who defend women. What's more is that the song calls out males enjoying double standards when it comes to sexuality, yet the video ends with the women on the street spraying all the men with a hose thereby exploiting a female double standard.
• Combat Stilettos: Sports them in "Fighter".
• Celebrity Endorsement: She started showing her perfume in her music videos since 2010 and she also endorsed everything in Your Body.

• Darker and Edgier: For her early videos, it was usually just a fun, typical, lighthearted video of her and some dancers doing a routine (one exception is "I Turn To You", which depicted a girl surviving a car crash). Then starting with the Stripped era, they became edgier. The videos for "Dirrty" and "Can't Hold Us Down" are her raunchiest to date. The video for "Beautiful" addresses the song's message of loving yourself for who you are. "The Voice Within" is very bleak-looking (see Deliberately Monochrome). "Fighter" is pure Nightmare Fuel. She still makes some lighter videos like "Candyman", but for the most part, they have depth and edge to them that her first few lacked. Could also count as Growing the Beard.
• Deliberately Monochrome:
  • The music video for "The Voice Within" is entirely in black-and-white.
  • The introduction to "Ain't No Other Man" is in black-and-white, matching the 1940s aesthetic.

• The Fashionista: She has a big wardrobe and likes to talk about her clothes.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: All the time except for in "The Voice Within".
• Fairy Tale Wedding Dress: In her wedding to her first husband, shown in her "Save Me From Myself" video.

• Denser and Wackier: Her videos since Back to Basics have been odd and unthematic. "Not Myself Tonight" has odd symbolism, "You Lost Me" is spacey, "Your Body" has blue blood and random endorsements which don't make sense.
• Depraved Bisexual: A certain scene in "Not Myself Tonight" outright states this, as Aguilera's character kisses a bound Jenna Dewan and boasts about taking shots in the club and "kissing all the boys and the girls".

• Glamorous Wartime Singer: Her persona in the "Candyman" music video, which also includes numerous Shout Outs to famous pin-up paintings of the era as well.

• Overcrank: Random moments in her "Stripped: Live From London" performances.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Back To Basics tour second act.
• Painted-On Pants: Live and during the "Your Body" video.
• Pretty in Mink: Aguilera wore a few furs, including a white rabbit coat in the video for rapper Nelly's "Tilt Ya Head Back". Often in Back To Basics era.

• Rage Against the Reflection: One of the music videos for "Beautiful" features, among other scenes, an anorexic teen looking at herself in the mirror disapprovingly, then punching the mirror to shatter it, symbolizing her refusal to agonize over her body.
• Retraux/Genre Throwback: The music video "Candyman" is a raunchy love letter to the styles of the 30's and 40's.

• Screw Yourself: She says outright she turns herself on in "Vanity".
• Showgirl Skirt: In her concerts, some of her "Lady Marmalade" performances have her wearing a black lace outfit with a train of red feathers.

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You got soul, you got class, you got style