Can't Hold Us Downfeaturing Lil'Kim
Christina's last attempt at a hip-hop single was with Dirrty, and that was a song you either loved or hated. This song features another rapper, but one that fits well in the theme of the song: Guys vs. Girls and their adventurous sex lives. Christina states that guys can have sex with girl and girl and not have to face any crap from society but if a girl has more than one guy, she's considering a whore. Lil'Kim backs her up by rapping "If a guy have three girls then he's the man...but if a girl do the same then she's a whore". She then says that the tables will turn and girls can be a whore without being called a whore... hmmm. Well, they both have your back if you want to do that. The beat is great on this track though. Superb! A09/13/03
Ain't No Other Man
Christina's return to music after a few years away and a brief appearance on a Nelly hit but she comes back strong with this, her first single from her upcoming double-release. She strikes it strong directly at the beginning without leading us on. This single definately furthers my theory that Christina is in the music biz for the long run. She can do a slick production over a hot hip-hop beat or a heartfelt ballad or a great dance track. This song has influences from the 20s and 30s and fuses it with todays hip-hop and pop production work and comes out with another strong Christina hit. This woman knows what she's doing and she's still only in the beginning stages of her career. Every step she takes is a wise step. A06/23/06
Hurt
Christina Aguilera's second single from her Back To Basics CD doesn't quite follow the 30s/40s style that she promised before the album came out, but that's fine because the song sounds fine as a 2000s styled ballad. It's not quite the type of ballad that the amazing Beautiful was. While that song was an uplifting hopeful song, Christina sings this one with a hint of pain in her voice and the simplicity of the music backing up her powerful vocals helps to provide a wonderful backdrop to let her voice truly shine. While not exactly radio friendly, this song will shine during the early winter, where it would easily do the most damage to the charts. Yet another ingenius move on Christina's part. A09/06/06
Candyman
Ever since the release of Christina's Back To Basics album, we've been hearing about how it was supposed to be a throwback to swing and jazz music of the 20s and 30s. Ain't No Other Man gave alittle indication of that but it's this song that really lends itself to the music of the old time. Christina showcases her vocals and the styles of the mid 20th century in the brassy swing beat. It may not be a big hit on the mainstream charts but it does the job, well. B2/5/07
Christina Aguilera's career started off with a modest #6 peak of her debut single Genie In A Bottle before she finally stormed into the depths at the top of the chart by hitting #1 three times in a row from her debut album. Her collaboration with Pink, Mya and Lil'Kim also gave her a #1 but it wasn't until Dirrty was released that Christina's career really took full force. Despite only peaking at #2, Dirrty remains the single that had the highest impact. Christina scored her fifth chart topper with Beautiful and continues to have Top 10 hits that is surely just the start of a lengthy successful career.