![]() More than once, she reaches out to grab my arm while making a point.Īguilera’s most recent hits have been collaborations, and they were decidedly pop: She joined A Great Big World on “Say Something,” a piano-driven monster ballad that hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, and Maroon 5 for the massive, and massively unhip, 2011 No. 1 “Moves Like Jagger.” And her last two albums, 2012’s ballad-heavy Lotus and 2010’s electro experiment Bionic, weren’t exactly edgy.īut this year’s comeback - which will include her first tour in a decade, an eternity for a star of her caliber - calls for the kind of “raw, gritty, grrr” that Aguilera says only R&B and hip-hop can give you. Given her undisputed diva status and distaste for daylight, I expected her to be reserved or aloof, but she’s warm - touchy-feely, even. Hanging in the nearby powder room, there’s a portrait of a shirtless 2Pac.Īguilera giggles a lot. She giggles and gestures around the studio, pointing perfectly manicured fingers at framed photos of Etta James, Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan. And as you can see, it’s what I’m inspired by.” “When you strip back the words ‘pop star’ and the many things that I’ve done, singing soulfully is where my core, my root and my heart really is. “At the end of the day, I am a soul singer,” she says. Though accusations of cultural appropriation have dogged many a pop star in recent years, Aguilera - whose new album also includes a fiery duet with Demi Lovato and a song written with Julia Michaels - is confident in her material, much of which she co-wrote. “To me, there’s nothing like an amazing hip-hop beat,” says Aguilera, taking a sip of her tea. Styling by Zoe Costello. Aguilera wears a Helmut Lang jacket and Luv AJ rings. Paak worked on two tracks, and Kanye West produced two others, including “Maria,” a pulsing, intricately orchestrated piece that includes a Michael Jackson sample and an extended introduction in which Aguilera sings from The Sound of Music.Ĭhristina Aguilera photographed April 10 at Line 204 in Los Angeles. Ty Dolla $ign and 2 Chainz appear on the record, Anderson. Out June 15, it’s a tight, 11-song set titled Liberation, and it bends more toward R&B and hip-hop than any of her previous efforts. Now clear of The Voice, a “churning hamster wheel” where she spent much of 2011 through 2016 as a coach, the 37-year-old is preparing to release her first album in six years. Lucky for Aguilera, she has been working nights in here. She climbs onto a fuzzy oversized couch and explains, “I’m not a big daylight girl.” She’s wearing black Adidas sweatpants, a black Balenciaga sweater and black, child-size Balenciaga slides on her teeny-tiny feet. “I like to keep it pretty moody and vibe-y,” says Aguilera when she materializes. ![]()
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