CULTURE

Christina Aguilera’s
Stripped: An Oral History
A deep dive into the game-changing early aughts album
that established Aguilera as an artist in control of her
own narrative.

by Gary Grimes
Oct. 24, 2022

Clockwise from left: Aguilera in black crocheted top photographed by Miranda Penn
Turin; a proof of the "Stripped" album cover photographed by Miranda Penn Turin;
Aguilera performing for MTV photographed by Getty; a tear sheet photographed by
Miranda Penn Turin; Aguilera wearing a denim mini skirt photographed by Getty; an
outtake from the "Fighter" music video photographed by Floria Sigismondi; Aguilera
wearing a white t-shirt photographed by Getty. Collage by Ashley Peña.

“Sorry, I ain’t a diva. Sorry, just know what I want. Sorry,

I’m not a virgin. Sorry, I’m not a slut. I won’t let you
break me, think what you want,” Christina Aguilera
declared on the final interlude of her sophomore
record, Stripped. Released 20 years ago, the record
was a moment of emancipation for Aguilera—who,
until that point, was best known as the blonde-
haired, blue-eyed girl next door with bubblegum
smash hits like “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl
Wants.”

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Wildly successful as it was, Aguilera’s early material

was not reflective of how the powerhouse vocalist
saw herself. After shedding her original
management, accusing them of overworking her as a
teen and suing them for fraud, the pop princess
enlisted industry veteran Irving Azoff to usher her
into the next era of her career.

Determined to reclaim her narrative, the artist spent

nearly two years burrowed in the studio with a host
of new collaborators including top hip-hop
producers Scott Storch and Rockwilder, 4 Non
Blondes frontwoman Linda Perry, Jane’s Addiction
frontman Dave Navarro, The Roots drummer
Questlove, Alicia Keys, and Jagged Little Pill producer
Glen Ballard. What emerged from these sessions was
Stripped, a truly eclectic, 20-track pop extravaganza
which saw the singer traverse soul, hip-hop, Latin,
R&B, gospel, and rock seamlessly. Aguilera also
broke her silence on topics she’d avoided throughout
her so-called “cookie cutter” era, from the
misogynistic double standards of the music industry
to her troubled childhood growing up in a violent
home.

Although ridiculed by many at the time for its sexual

themes and imagery (Time magazine referred to
Aguilera as a “hooker” and Entertainment Weekly
labeled her “the world’s skeeziest reptile woman”;
she was called a “slut” on national television by both
Conan O’Brien and Simon Cowell), the album has
gained recognition as an important feminist
statement from a young artist determined to take the
reins of her career. It’s regarded as a quintessential
“coming of age” record that laid a blueprint for
young artists who felt they needed a watershed
moment in their career, especially those graduating
from Disney, Nickelodeon, and other child star
machines.

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Christina Aguilera - Dirrty (O4ci…

Proving her naysayers of the time wrong, Stripped

eventually sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
The album went on to be nominated for five
Grammys (winning one), a BRIT Award, a MOBO
Award and a GLAAD Award for the “Beautiful”
video’s portrayal of two gay men kissing and a trans
woman getting dressed—groundbreaking imagery
for a pop star’s music video at that time, although
frequently imitated in the two decades since.

In celebration of this landmark album turning 20, we

dove deep into its history and spoke to a plethora of
the songwriters, producers, directors, and creatives
who helped a 21-year-old, newly christened “Xtina”
put this work together (Aguilera declined to
participate in this story). What we found was the
fascinating story of a young woman who possessed
such clarity and determination to create art that was
both meaningful and timeless.

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RON FAIR (Executive producer and one-time

A&R man who signed Aguilera to RCA): Stripped
was technically her fourth album—she had also
released a Christmas album and her Spanish album,
Mi Reflejo. They were all immensely successful so she
had earned control. I was already starting to move
into the backseat. By then, she was a fully hatched
recording beast with tremendous skills, a harmonic
subdividing genius, like Beethoven or something.

GLEN BALLARD (Co-writer and producer of

“The Voice Within”): Ron Fair asked me to be
involved. I was enamored by the incredible vocal gift
she possessed, so an invitation to work with her was
interesting to me. She’d already been identified as
one of the greatest young singers, and she had the
protection of Irving, which was pretty powerful. She
walked into my Beverly Hills mansion with him and
I knew right away, she was special.

ROCKWILDER (Producer of “Dirrty”): Off the

back of ‘Lady Marmalade,’ which I produced, we
clicked and started hanging out. I didn’t know she
was breaking out of her shell and turning into ‘Xtina.’
We were out at a club, getting twisted with her
girlfriends, and she heard ‘Let’s Get Dirty’ by
Redman. She hops across the table and says, ‘Oh my
god, you make me a song like this and we’re outta
here!'. That’s why she sings “‘Let’s Get Dirty,’ that’s my
jam,” on the song. Before that, I actually wasn’t going
to submit for that album because I was a hip-hop
producer.

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REDMAN (Rapper on “Dirrty”): Christina loved

Rockwilder’s track and he was like, ‘Yo, Red should
be on it’, so she was like, ‘Go get him.’ I always
thought she was hot and could really sing. She was
pop but she was also felt in the Black community.

Redman and Christina Aguilera at the 2002 MTV Awards in Barcelona.

Photo by Brian Rasic/Getty Images

SCOTT STORCH (Producer of “Fighter,”

“Infatuation,” “Can’t Hold Us Down,” and more):
My first day working with Christina was crazy. I’d
traded music with Timbaland for a Bentley so I went
to pick it up. I was so excited to show up in this fancy
car, but it had the wrong license plates on. I got
pulled over by the cops, the car got impounded and I
had to hitchhike to the studio. Eventually I got there,
Christina and I ended up really vibing and started to
create something special.

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LINDA PERRY (Co-writer and producer of

“Beautiful,” “Make Over,” “Cruz” and “I’m OK”):
I’d met her, very briefly, rehearsing somewhere and I
knew immediately she had a certain darkness. Later
I saw her at some club. I thought, ‘God, this girl
could make a really great album if she just allowed
herself to be vulnerable.’ She was all by herself,
sitting behind a velvet rope with a big guy standing
there, protecting her. She waved to him to let me in
and I was like, ‘I’d use your depression and darkness
on this record. Everybody knows Christina Aguilera
can sing but I don’t think people understand you can
actually feel what you're singing’. She looked at me
like… what the f**k did you just say to me?

After I walked away my friend was like, ‘What did

you say to Christina Aguilera?’ And I’m like, ‘Why?’
He said, ‘Because her mouth is still open, and she’s
following you with her eyes.’ A week or two later, I
get a call saying Christina Aguilera wants to write
with you. It was the beginning of a very funny
relationship.

MATT MORRIS (Co-writer of “Infatuation,”

“Can’t Hold Us Down,” “Loving Me 4 Me,”
“Underappreciated,” and “Walk Away”): We were
both cast members on The Mickey Mouse Club. After
the show, I’d been on the backstage side of the
industry, writing songs in Nashville, and in Los
Angeles spending time with another colleague from
the show, Justin Timberlake, so we were in similar
circles. Being someone who knew her before
everything ended up being an important part of our
collaboration. Perhaps it allowed us to access more
vulnerable things together.

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STEVE MORALES (Co-writer and producer): I

was working on Enrique Iglesias’s album and I got a
call from Ron Fair. He liked my work and offered to
introduce me to Christina. He told me she was
working on her new album and set up a session for
us in L.A.

ROB HOFFMAN (Co-writer and producer of

“Soar” and b-side “I Will Be”’): Years previously,
my writing partner, Heather Holley, and I did
Christina’s demo and brought her to Ron Fair, which
helped her get her deal with RCA. When Christina
went on the tour for the first record, we gave her a
care package with a journal and things to take with
her on the road. We told her to write it all down
because her life was going to be crazy—and it was.
We said, ‘Don’t worry about writing songs, just
literally write everything down.’

HOFFMAN: On the very first writing session for

Stripped, she walked into the studio with her
bodyguard who carried this huge Santa Claus-sized
bag filled with journals. She’d been documenting
everything in her life. There must have been 20 to 30
journals, it was an incredible amount of writing. The
person who returned from tour was like a new
person—a more mature and, in some ways, a more
scarred person as well. We sat on the floor, drank
wine, and started talking about ideas.

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HEATHER HOLLEY (Co-writer of “Soar,”

“Stripped Intro,” and “I Will Be”): She had one
idea that was very important to her which became
“Soar.” She’d gotten all these letters from fans feeling
a pressure to change themselves to fit in, and she
wanted to send them a message saying, you don’t
need to change a thing.

An outtake of Aguilera during the Stripped photoshoot.

Photographed by Miranda Penn Turin

HOFFMAN: She had very specific themes she

wanted to sing about. She even pretty much had the
producer roles laid out. She knew who was good at
what, and [the label] had given her carte blanche.
For the most part, she had a really defined vision for
it.

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FAIR: She chose the songs and the producers, she

wanted to use the hip-hop creators of the day to get
the beats. She collaborated on all the looks and
videos.

STORCH: She wanted something edgy, soulful, and

organic, different from everything on the radio. She
wanted to sit at the piano, come up with chords and
melodies from scratch to create a new sound. I
would just throw shit against the wall and see if I got
a reaction out of her. I’ve a lot of memories watching
her react to things; it was exciting when you saw
she’s excited about something because then the top
lines would come easy.

PERRY: Christina has her mood boards and she

already knows the look and sound before she even
starts going after the music. I don’t allow friends,
managers or any entourage in my studio, it’s just a
distraction. So she showed up the first day alone, I
think she was kind of nervous. She told me ‘I want to
call this record Stripped. I want to strip it back and
just write some great songs. I want to do something
that feels more vulnerable and less produced than
‘Genie in a Bottle’ and those songs I came from.’

STORCH: We wanted to do something rock-driven

and anthemic. I did my best impression of a guitar
player on the keyboard, these powerful barre chords,
and we made ‘Fighter.’ It’s almost like a rock opera
record. In the next studio at Conway was Dave Grohl
recording with Queens of the Stone Age—they
might have even been an influence. I suggested that
we bring someone in to add a guitar solo. I was a big
Jane’s Addiction fan so we had Dave Navarro come in
and he killed it.

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Christina Aguilera - Fighter (O4…

ROCKWILDER: When she first heard the track, she

felt like it sounded a little too like ‘Let’s Get Dirty,’ so
she was hesitant. But when it was time for her to
choose a record that introduced her new look and
vibe, the track ended up coming back up. The label
loved it and said, ‘This is the record that you need to
break out.’

HOLLEY: She played ‘Dirrty’ for us and we were

like, ‘Whoa, that’s… different from your past.’ She
had such a professional mind about it. She felt it was
what she had to do to set herself apart from Britney
and other young artists, to show something totally
different that surprises people.

BALLARD: The intention was to just write a song

that we felt. I sat at my piano and we just made it up
as we went along. When the smoke cleared, we had
this song called ‘The Voice Within.’ It’s about when
you’ve been abandoned in the real world, there’s still
this thing inside you that, if you listen to it, it’s your
best friend.

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PERRY: She had asked me to play something for her

and I had just finalized the lyrics of ‘Beautiful.’ She
was like, ‘Can you make a demo and give me the
lyrics?’ I was like, ‘Why?’ She said, ‘Because I want
that song for my album.’ I’m thinking, you can't sing
a song like this, you are beautiful—but when I heard
her sing the demo, I got goosebumps.

She came back to lay down the vocal and asked if she
could bring a friend ‘cos she was nervous. I think he
was one of her dancers. Anyway she put headphones
on, looked at her friend who was staring at her and
said: ‘Don't look at me.’ As soon as she said that, I
knew the song was for her because she was so
vulnerable. And I knew I was going to leave that at
the top of the song.

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful (O4

…

MORALES: I think she was in some sort of a

relationship with Dallas Austin at that point, and
something went wrong which I can’t speak on, but it