No matter where you stand on Christina Aguilera's leather chaps and disdain for white men's lack of "flava," you've got to admit — the girl can sing. On Stripped, the unofficial follow-up to Aguilera's pop-princess debut album, her chops are more apparent and more impressive than ever. Co-written primarily by Aguilera and Linda Perry (4 Non-Blondes), Stripped is a benign but enjoyable mix of pseudo-R&B, quasi-screamin' rock, watered-down hip-hop and Celine Dion-inspired ballads.
Clearly, Aguilera is trying to remake her image into something less Britney and more Lil' Kim-meets-Pink— coincidentally Perry was also the force behind Pink's "badass" hit album, Mizundastod. Aguilera's attempt at metamorphosis transpires mostly through less and less clothing, plus lyrics that address some weighty subject matter, including her own childhood abuse ("I'm OK") and wrenching journey toward self-definition("Loving Me 4 Me" and"Beautiful"). Women's Studies majors take notice, there is even some light feminist rhetoric in "Can't Hold Us Down."
But then Aguilera has to go and give us the album's first single, aptly titled "Dirrty." She reverts back to every frat boy's wet dream as she rhythmically grunts, "Ineed that uhhhh to get me off/ Sweat until my clothes come off." Though frighteningly catchy,"Dirrty" is fortunately not at all indicative of Stripped as a whole.
So, despite her fondness for crotch shots and her love of the kind of makeup fit only for a circus clown, Aguilera is talented. And when she opens her mouth to sing, the talent does shine through. If Stripped is any indication of Aguilera's true artistic potential, her voice should carry her, no matter how down and dirrty she appears.
