Christina Aguilera breaks her six-year album drought
The multiple Grammy winner finally breaks her six-year musical drought with a new album, Liberation
On Liberation “I wanted to have a title that meant freeing myself from anything that wasn’t my truth,” the 37-year-old singer told Entertainment Weekly. “I kind of felt like I was on autopilot for the past few years, not living up to my full potential and the purpose of why I’m on this Earth: to sing and make music. So I’m getting back to that and to my own personal truth. It’s like a new shedding of skin.” Christina compares this moment in her career to 2002 when she released Stripped and ditched her bubblegum image for a raunchy one.
Hip-hop vibes Liberation contains more R&B and hip-hop sounds than her previous releases. Rappers Tya Dolla $ign and 2 Chainz make an appearance while Kanye West produced two tracks – Accelerate and Maria, which includes a Michael Jackson sample. “To me there’s nothing like an amazing hip-hop beat.” Christina says she’s always been a huge fan of Kanye. “He’s a great artist.”
Demi hook-up She teams up with Demi Lovato – the first time she’s joined forces with a female singer on a track since 2001’s Lady Marmalade – on the empowerment anthem Fall in Line. “I respect women who are no-nonsense and ballsy,” she says of working with Demi. “She’s also been vocal about how I’ve been an inspiration to her and I find that so endearing . . . I needed a badass girl who could really blow and own the song with me!”
Quitting The Voice Christina was one of the first judges to join the show in 2011 but left in 2016. In a recent interview with Billboard she explained why she quit: “I was longing for freedom. It became something that I didn’t feel was what I’d signed up for in season one. You realise it’s not about music; it’s about making good TV moments. I didn’t get into this business to be a TV show host.”