2022 studio album by Christina Aguilera
Aguilera is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera. It was released through Sony Music Latin on May 31, 2022, as the follow-up to her first Spanish-language album, "Mi Reflejo" (2000), and her previous release, "Liberation" (2018). Titled after her Spanish surname, Aguilera created the album as a means to pay tribute to and connect herself and her children to their Latin American heritage. "Aguilera" is a trilogy album, consisting of three separately-released parts: "La Fuerza", "La Tormenta" and "La Luz". Each part deals with one of the album's central themes of empowerment, vulnerability, and healing.
Aiming to pay tribute to different genres of Latin music, "Aguilera" includes genres such as cumbia, tango, tropical music, guaracha and reggaeton, and features heavy dance-pop, Latin pop, and urbano influences. The album features collaborations with Becky G, Nicki Nicole, Nathy Peluso, Ozuna, Tini and Christian Nodal. To promote the album, five singles were released from the album, including "Pa Mis Muchachas" and "Santo", which both received platinum certifications (Latin field) from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Upon release, the album received generally favourable reviews from critics and reached the top-twenty on the US Latin Pop Albums chart. Aguilera embarked on the EU / UK Summer Series promotional tour in summer of 2022 which featured five festival shows and three standalone shows in the UK. "Aguilera" and its songs received a combined total of eight Latin Grammy Award nominations, with the album being nominated for Album of the Year, winning the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. The album also received two nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Latin Pop Album.
Development.
Background.
Aguilera's first Spanish-language release was "Mi Reflejo", which was released as her second studio album on September 12, 2000. After its release, Aguilera would continue release several collaborations in Spanish such as "Hoy Tengo Ganas de Ti" with Alejandro Fernández in 2013, as well as incorporating Latin themes and Spanish lyrics throughout her English-language albums including the songs "Infatuation" from "Stripped" (2002), and "Desnudate" from "Bionic" (2010).
While working on her eighth studio album, "Liberation" (2018), Aguilera took a trip to Ecuador in September 2015 as an ambassador for the World Food Programme. Being half-Ecuadorian herself, Aguilera revealed that the trip had inspired her and that she had begun accumulating ideas for a Spanish-language album. During her appearance on "Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen" in January 2019, Aguilera was asked about whether or not an album she had recently teased on Instagram was her Spanish album, to which she responded by saying, "It's definitely getting back to my roots again [...] the follow-up Spanish album has been on my to-do list forever".
Production.
Recording sessions on the album began in 2021 following the cancellation of Aguilera's Las Vegas residency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2020. In early 2021, Aguilera relocated to Miami, Florida to continue working on the album in a writing camp held by Sony Music Latin. Sessions were held at Criteria and Art House recording studios starting in February 2021, and continued into April 2021. Aguilera enlisted producers Federico Vindver, Rafa Arcaute, and DallasK to work on the album. The first song created in the first session was the album's lead single, "Pa Mis Muchachas". Aguilera conceived the idea of a multiple part album, after the album's first part, "La Fuerza", was completed four weeks into production. She stated that the album would be split into three "six song increments", released as themed EPs throughout 2022 until the album's final full release.
Among the songs recorded for "Aguilera" but not included on its final tracklist are "Lloras Por Na'" (featuring C. Tangana), "Segura", "Dolores", and "Teatro".
Composition.
Music, genres and themes.
Aguilera revealed that her goal with the album's musical direction was to pay tribute to Latin music genres. The genres featured on the album include guaracha, tango, ranchera, urbano, and pasillo. It also showcases heavy influences and elements of cumbia, dance-pop, Latin pop, reggaeton, and tropical music.
The album's lyrical content is separated into three parts, with each part dealing with its own theme. The album's first part, "La Fuerza" (transl. "The Strength"), is a six-track set which focuses on emotional strength and female empowerment. The second part of the album, "La Tormenta" (transl. "The Storm"), is made up of six tracks, and its main theme is vulnerability. The album's final part, "La Luz" (transl. "The Light"), features a spoken word intro and one song. "La Luz" is centered on forgiveness and closure, taking inspiration from Aguilera's own experience with domestic violence.
Content and lyrics.
The album's opening track, "Ya Llegué" (transl. "I'm Here"), is a "sultry futuristic track" which "gradually turns into a hard-hitting reggaeton". The song samples Aguilera's own 1999 song "Genie in a Bottle". The song is written in the key of E♭ Minor at a tempo of 95 beats-per-minute. The song is followed by "Pa Mis Muchachas" (transl. "For My Girls") with Becky G, Nicki Nicole and featuring Nathy Peluso and was described by Aguilera as "an homage to women". The song drew comparisons to Aguilera's 2001 "Lady Marmalade" with Mýa, Pink, and Lil' Kim. Aguilera revealed that she chose Becky G, Nicole and Peluso "because of the strength they exude". "Pa Mis Muchachas" is a guaracha song written in the key of A Minor at a tempo of 118 beats-per-minute.
"Somos Nada" (transl. "We Are Nothing") is a "stripped-down piano-led nostalgic ballad that puts [Aguilera's] deep, powerful tone at the forefront". Written in C Major at a moderately slow tempo of 50 beats-per-minute, the song was named a signature song of Aguilera's and its lyrics are about overcoming obstacles and trying to not lose faith in love. "Santo" (transl. "Saint") is a collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and is a perreo song which "later transitions to a hip-shaking cumbia". Lyrically it is about two people who are hooked on each other". It is written in the key of A minor at 96 beats-per-minute. "Como Yo" (transl. "Like Me") is a club-friendly experimental Latin pop song. The dance-pop influenced track has been described as exploring "a different side of Xtina's musical trajectory". It is written in the key of D♭ Major at 104 beats-per-minute. The album's first part ends with "La Reina" (transl. "The Queen"), a ranchera written in E Major at 174 beats-per-minute. The song was described by Aguilera as a "respectful response" to Vicente Fernández's 1973 rendition of "El Rey" (transl. "The King"). The song received widespread acclaim from critics, calling it the best song "La Fuerza", and being named the album's anthem.
"Suéltame" (transl. "Let Me Go"), a collaboration with Argentine singer Tini, begins the album's second part, "La Tormenta" (transl. "The Storm"). The song is a "seducing, catchy mix of soft reggaetón and trap" with hints of bossa nova, written in F Minor at 138 beats-per-minute. "Suéltame" was called "a sultry tango-meets-urban collab where the lady takes matters into her own hands". The following track, "Brujería" (transl. "Witchcraft") is a slow song written in D♭ Major at 186 beats-per-minute. The following track, "Traguito" (transl. "A Little Drink") was described as orthodox pop. This is followed by the ranchera "Cuando Me Dé la Gana" (transl. "When I Want It"). A duet version of the song featuring Mexican singer Christian Nodal was also released as the closing track on the second disc of the album. The song is written in the key of D♭ Major at a tempo of 146 beats-per-minute. "La Tormenta" ends with "Te Deseo Lo Mejor" (transl. "I Wish You The Best"), a tropical song written in the key of D♭ Major at 186 beats-per-minute.
The final part begins with a spoken intro by Aguilera in which she noted in a "Billboard" interview saying that it is "about finding closure and understanding that everybody has a different story that leads us to why things happen the way that they do and it's not meant for us to understand it". This is followed by the song, "No Es Que Te Extrañe" (transl. "It's Not That I Miss You") in which Aguilera sings about finding peace, closure and forgiveness for her estranged abusive father. "No Es Que Te Extrañe" is a pasillo song. It is written in D♭ Major at 184 beats-per-minute.
Title and artwork.
The album title and original artwork were revealed on the day of the album's initial release on May 31, 2022. Naming the album after her father's surname, Aguilera expressed that she had the intention of "acknowledging, embracing and engaging with [her] roots "and with the intention to share "some closure in relation to [her] father", and to have her children reconnect with their heritage. On the album's title, Aguilera commented,
I am proud to be an Aguilera. This is a name that has been tried to be taken away from me on numerous occasions, you know, coming up in this business. But I was like 'No, I'm Aguilera.' I'm proud of who I am, I'm proud of my name, I'm proud of where I come from, my father being from Ecuador. It was important. I mean why not come full circle and on all of the EPs and close it on a name. My name I'm so proud to own.
The artwork used for the original release was a black and white image that portrayed Aguilera wearing a white dress, seen through a balcony archway with her face obscured by a shadow. On June 29, 2022, the artwork was changed to feature a front on view of Aguilera as a statue in a similar setting. The top of the archway displayed "Aguilera", in all caps. Nina Hernandez, writer for the "Houston Chronicle", noted comparisons between the album artwork for "Aguilera" and the Mother Guadalupe.
Release.
Following the completion of the album, Aguilera held an interview with "Insider" in September 2021, where she first revealed the plan to release the album in separate parts, saying: "We're going to spread the music out — like six different songs released within, you know, throughout the next year. So there will be new material consistently added. On October 4, 2021, Aguilera's website featured a black screen with the text "Redescubriendo raices. Nos vemos pronto!" (transl. "Rediscovering roots. See you soon!"). On October 18, she posted a teaser video of the album's lead single, "Pa Mis Muchachas", and its music video.
In an interview with the "Los Angeles Times" following the release of the lead single, Aguilera revealed that the first part of the album would be titled "La Fuerza" (transl. "The Strength"). "La Fuerza" was released as an EP on January 21, 2022, as a digital download and on streaming services. The album's second part, "La Tormenta" (transl. "The Storm"), was announced alongside the single "Suéltame", and was expected to be released as an EP on May 27, 2022. Days after the announcement, Aguilera took to her Instagram story to announce that the EP would be postponed following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. "La Tormenta" was eventually released on May 30.
"Aguilera" was released digitally by Sony Music Latin on May 31, 2022, featuring only the songs from "La Fuerza" and "La Tormenta" in organized separate discs, and an extra version of "Cuando Me Dé la Gana" with Christian Nodal included as the final track of the second disc. The following day, Aguilera confirmed that the album would have a final part, titled "La Luz" (transl. "The Light"). On September 27, 2022, she hosted "Premiere Party with Christina Aguilera" as part of "Billboard"'s Latin Music Week, where she premiered "No Es Que Te Extrañe". On September 30, "La Luz" was released as a dual single, consisting of a spoken word intro, and "No Es Que Te Extrañe". "La Luz" was simultaneously added as the third disc of the album's standard track list. The album was originally scheduled to be released in CD format on December 2, 2022, but was later pushed to June 2, 2023.
Promotion.
Singles and music videos.
"Pa Mis Muchachas" (transl. "For My Girls") was released on October 22, 2021, as the lead single from the album. The song is a collaboration with Becky G, Nicki Nicole and features Argentine singer-songwriter Nathy Peluso. "Pa Mis Muchachas" debuted and peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Latin Digital Song Sales on the chart issue dated November 6, 2021, and was certified platinum (Latin field) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"Somos Nada" (transl. "We Are Nothing") was released as the second single on November 18,