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12:01 pm - 10/21/2012

"Risk Taker" Christina Aguilera talks to RS about new album & on finally working w/ Max Martin




Christina Aguilera admits that her last album, 2010's Bionic, didn't connect with her fans. "It had a lot of amazing sounds and a futuristic twist to it," she says. "But if you weren't a music person, it was just going to go over your head. A lot of the collaborations were with people that were either very underground or weren't necessarily from the pop world. I really think it was far ahead of its time and it'll be fully appreciated in the years to come."



On her follow-up, Lotus – her first LP since getting a divorce and becoming a judge on The Voice – Aguilera goes for a sleeker mainstream pop sound, working with producers like Max Martin, Lucas Secon and Shellback. "I don't really push myself to have those formulaic commercial successes," Aguilera says. "It's dishonest and it starts lacking creativity. I embraced being a pop artist, but I like doing it on my own terms, at my own pace."

Aguilera sees Lotus (in stores on November 13th) as a companion piece of sorts to her 2002 album, Stripped. "It really takes me back to that time," she says. "I was shedding a skin in a sense. I had been pigeonholed as formula-pop driven, or molded or forced to be something I didn't feel was true to me. I was labeled from 'Genie in a Bottle,' and I had a lot of things to say and share as a 21-year-old woman. Now I've come full circle a decade later. I had a greatest hits album and I experienced a decade in this crazy business. It's a time of celebration, of embracing being a pop star."

The songs span a range of emotions, from the pain of loss through a spiritual rebirth to a celebration of life. "It's a very multi-layered, very heartfelt record," she says. "I wanted to share all the different sides of me, as a woman, and as a creator and an artist. Part of that is being a mom. Part of that is sexuality. Part of that is vulnerability. Part of that is aggression and angst. All those pieces make me who I am."

On the piano ballad "Blank Page," Aguilera vents her pain and regret. "Lord knows I've been no saint," she sings. "Regret choices I made . . . I was scared, unprepared for the things you said/I'm a blank page waiting for life to start." The club-ready "Army of Me" shows off her defiant side: "What you thought was your best decision became your worst mistake," she sings defiantly on the track. "That song is a 'Fighter 2.0,"" Aguilera says. "I want it to inspire a whole new generation. I have six-year-old fans that weren't even around for 'Genie in a Bottle' or even 'Fighter.'"

Lotus marks Aguilera's first time working with Swedish pop-radio wizard Max Martin. "I'm not sure we would have been able to create the same music had we connected earlier," she says. "He did all the Britney and N'Sync songs, and I was doing something a little more daring. But we've gained respect for each other."

The most shocking moment on Lotus is the bonus track "Shut Up," a furious screed against haters in which Aguilera repeatedly chants "If you don't like it you can suck my dick." "That's for my fans to blast in their cars," she says. "I know a lot of them get heated and pissed off whenever they hear some bullshit rumor or bullshit story, and it's a great venting song for anyone that is having a bad day or not liking their boss. It's playful and tongue in cheek."

Christina has been pulling double duty recently with her work on The Voice and her new album, and she's looking forward to temporarily handing off her rotating chair to Shakira for Season Four next spring. "They were going to do back-to-back seasons," she says. "I knew I had to get back in touch with myself as an artist. I really put myself on the back burner doing that show. I also worried that my advice would start to get stale and redundant. I have to go away for a second and live life. Being on The Voice has been amazing, but I need to see my friends and go on the road again."

Aguilera called off a planned 2010 tour in support of Bionic, but she hopes she will tour behind this album. "We are thinking about that," she says. " But with my schedule everything is complicated – and it's a whole different ballgame now that I have a son. So, again, we'll do that on my own terms and within due time."

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/christina-aguilera-says-lotus-lp-will-be-multi-layered-heartfelt-20121019#ixzz29xVpthX7

Can somebody clue her in that electronic beats/music =/= futuristic, ahead of its time? Please

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xzackb 21st-Oct-2012 08:44 pm (UTC)
The most shocking moment on Lotus is the bonus track "Shut Up," a furious screed against haters in which Aguilera repeatedly chants "If you don't like it you can suck my dick."

Give. Me. This. Song. N O W. Sounds like Vanity 2.0

Edited at 2012-10-21 08:46 pm (UTC)
her_aspirations 21st-Oct-2012 08:49 pm (UTC)
Vanity 2.0, seriously.
luckyluxk 21st-Oct-2012 09:12 pm (UTC)
Nicki Minaj inspired, lbr.
xzackb 21st-Oct-2012 09:52 pm (UTC)
candidcouture 21st-Oct-2012 09:44 pm (UTC)
agreed. album needs to leak rn
secretly 21st-Oct-2012 10:48 pm (UTC)
mte this shit's about to be my mothafuckin anthem
cavewoman00 21st-Oct-2012 08:44 pm (UTC)
this bitch lol
thrillisgone_89 21st-Oct-2012 08:45 pm (UTC)
i love her, but she needs to STOP making those statements. gurl, "bionic" was a mess. deal with it and move on.
jasmina12345 21st-Oct-2012 08:47 pm (UTC)
tbh all the ballads on bionic were so good it was the awful upbeat dance tracks that ruined it imo
fred2265 21st-Oct-2012 10:41 pm (UTC)
You are right, "But if you weren't a music person, it was just going to go over your head" is patronising and insulting....
jewdiful 21st-Oct-2012 10:53 pm (UTC)
exactly lol
people dislike things for all kinds of different reasons, and quality often has little to do with it. i like a heidi montag song, is it creative art? hell no. i don't enjoy classical, does that mean it sucks? of course not.

this girl needs to rein in that ego, she cares too much what people think... and tbh, i LOVE electronic music from portishead, to mouse on mars, the knife, a pretty wide variety of artists and subgenres tbh. and i disliked her album and sort of laugh at her comment because there was nothing groundbreaking or original about her album. doesn't mean it sucks, but people disliking it cannot be explained simply by their "not getting it."
winninglondon 21st-Oct-2012 11:38 pm (UTC)
You can't blame her. Both she and her team expected Bionic to be a huge smash, so it was a major blow to her ego to have it bomb the way it did. This is her way of coping
janeeyre 21st-Oct-2012 08:46 pm (UTC)
IDGAF, I loved Bionic.
cricketgrl 21st-Oct-2012 10:29 pm (UTC)
Bionic is so underrated. I loved it too.
baboona 21st-Oct-2012 08:48 pm (UTC)
"That's for my fans to blast in their cars," she says. "I know a lot of them get heated and pissed off whenever they hear some bullshit rumor or bullshit story, and it's a great venting song for anyone that is having a bad day or not liking their boss. It's playful and tongue in cheek."

aww, a "stans go in" anthem <3
plugmebaby 21st-Oct-2012 08:48 pm (UTC)
i wish xtina would just rock her new body instead of trying to look like xtina at 22.

hair, tan, and makeup here are nagl.
jasmina12345 21st-Oct-2012 08:50 pm (UTC)
I wish she would go dress like she did in the Back to Basics era I feel that old schoool pin up look would suit her well with a curvier figure
sassandthecity 21st-Oct-2012 09:03 pm (UTC)
I think she'd maybe even look better now with the retro look than she did during Back to Basics since the retro look really works on a curvy body. Give me some Joan Holloway.
plugmebaby 21st-Oct-2012 09:58 pm (UTC)
meh i kinda grew out of xtina (and britney) after their first two albums or something. i just remember that one song xtina had with the pin up look, and yeah ia she would look good with that.

idk why she is looking so frumpy :/ she's naturally petite but she's massive now
cricketgrl 21st-Oct-2012 10:30 pm (UTC)
I loved her Baby Jane look.
winninglondon 21st-Oct-2012 11:45 pm (UTC)
Yeah, that was her best look. The public responded so well to that era, I never understood why she didn't just go back to it instead of rehashing Stripped.
fuck_of_nature 22nd-Oct-2012 12:14 am (UTC)
I loved that era. The music and the clothes. I especially hate her hair right now.
robertsbox_xo 21st-Oct-2012 08:48 pm (UTC)
lol these kind of interviews are why nobody likes her
argyle_strikes 21st-Oct-2012 08:53 pm (UTC)
ikr
i love chrissy, but it's crazy when her stans pretend like there's no good reason for people to dislike her/that it's misogyny/that it's because they're threatened by her. she can be goddamned irritating sometimes.
drunkagron 21st-Oct-2012 08:48 pm (UTC)
If her other tour fails, we may just see her on the Voice again.
bondagebarbiee 21st-Oct-2012 08:50 pm (UTC)
It will tbh, I think her leaving The Voice is a bad idea.

Edited at 2012-10-21 08:52 pm (UTC)
drunkagron 21st-Oct-2012 08:58 pm (UTC)
ikr the viewers may fall in love with shakira and beg for her back!
so_chic_doll 21st-Oct-2012 08:48 pm (UTC)
lmao @ Bionic being "ahead" of its time.
flawlessglitch 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
came here to say this
supernature_971 21st-Oct-2012 09:03 pm (UTC)
ikr

All the upbeat songs sounded like everything released 3 years prior. Girl plz.
zombieland 21st-Oct-2012 09:37 pm (UTC)
she really needs to stop embarrassing herself by saying that
saltonmycuts 21st-Oct-2012 09:55 pm (UTC)
smh i can't.
rctshack 23rd-Oct-2012 03:49 pm (UTC)
she was so ahead of her time that she channelled the end of her career.
distant_lines 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
How is her new music doing anyway?
bbgood 21st-Oct-2012 09:44 pm (UTC)
bad
saltonmycuts 21st-Oct-2012 09:55 pm (UTC)
Your Body flopped.
gayporn 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
Okay but Monday Morning > anything released to radio in the last two years.
cluelessraf 21st-Oct-2012 09:02 pm (UTC)
im amazed by ur icon.
redaodai 21st-Oct-2012 10:04 pm (UTC)
My favorite song on Bionic. Well, one of. The bonus tracks were great.
snuffyqui45 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
Gurl, stop.
her_aspirations 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
I feel like she does zero promotion for her album. If not for The Voice, I feel like no one would even know about Lotus.

Please re-release Stripped and remind everyone why you deserve to be famous.

otempora541 21st-Oct-2012 09:25 pm (UTC)
I swear, she's been doing less and less and less promotion. I remember when stripped came out and she was all over VH1 and MTV and all over magazines talking.
crazyfirecrotch 22nd-Oct-2012 06:14 am (UTC)
that was when vh1 and mtv has music programming. now mtv is catering shows to tweens & vh1 is showing awesome ass shows: love & hip hop atl & basketball wives is my shit bet's programming.
ch33rylips 21st-Oct-2012 10:09 pm (UTC)
Britney taught her
cricketgrl 21st-Oct-2012 10:32 pm (UTC)
She's doing ZILCH on promoting this album. RCA is equally doing zero with the marketing. I don't know how she expects her album to sell if she and the marketing teams are not doing anything on promotion.

Even Madonna's team goes out and spends on her albums.
ponpiri 21st-Oct-2012 08:51 pm (UTC)
People are so bitter about xtina for no reason
gayporn 21st-Oct-2012 08:54 pm (UTC)
Self hate. She's chunky and sassy like the people that bitch about her here.
juanitatequila 21st-Oct-2012 08:53 pm (UTC)
at this point taylor swift is taking more risks than she is.
ritaamber 21st-Oct-2012 08:54 pm (UTC)
lmao this so hard.
drunkagron 21st-Oct-2012 08:59 pm (UTC)
LOL
troy_macclure 21st-Oct-2012 09:22 pm (UTC)
well damn
megswan 21st-Oct-2012 09:30 pm (UTC)
wow iawtc sfmmmm
treradical 21st-Oct-2012 09:56 pm (UTC)
lmao this is so true
saltonmycuts 21st-Oct-2012 09:56 pm (UTC)
LMAOO.
redaodai 21st-Oct-2012 10:04 pm (UTC)
Now I'm imagining Taylor singing "Your Body".
boundarybreaks 21st-Oct-2012 10:47 pm (UTC)
omgggg yes. i want taylor to get naughty for an album.
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