Stripped is the second Englishstudio album (fourth overall) by Americanpop singer Christina Aguilera, released in 2002. It reached the top five of the album charts in both the United States and United Kingdom and features two UK number-one hits in "Dirrty" and "Beautiful". Although perceived by many to be an album focusing on raunchy themes, it appears to be so only on a superficial level and is thought to have acquired the negative label through the leading single "Dirrty" and its raunchy video (upon closer inspection the song is actually about sexual liberation) as well as Christina's style of dress at the time. Christina supported the album with the Justified and Stripped and Stripped World Tours. During the release of Back to Basics sales of Stripped steadily increased due to her popularity rising again, making Stripped sell just over ten million copies worldwide.
The name of the album was originally titled "Listen" up until it's release, Christina changed the name of her intro and the album itself to "stripped."
Christina Aguilera recorded the song titled "I'm OK". The song is a personal account of her emotionally distressing childhood. She speaks about her father and her painful memories from her early life.
Contents
1Raunchy/Sexy Image
2Songwriting Controversy
3Positive Acclaim
4Reception
5Singles
6Track listing
7Alternate covers
8Charts
9Awards
9.12003
9.22004
10References
11External links
Raunchy/Sexy Image
Initial indications of a raunchier image for Aguilera were demonstrated in her appearance in the video for a remake of the 1975 Labelle's hit "Lady Marmalade". The video showed Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink dressed in lingerie.
In late August 2002, "Dirrty", the first single from Stripped, was leaked on the Internet and radio stations. The song was a hip-hop-influenced track, based on rapper Redman's 2001 single "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)", which features DJ Kool. As a play on the similarities, Redman was featured on the track, rapping for one verse of the song.
The video features a scantily-clad Aguilera, dancing lecherously with members of both sexes in a run-down, underground boxing venue. Due to the sexually relatively explicit nature of the video, it was heavily criticized by other musicians, as well as the media. In response, Aguilera pointed out the video is more about power and control, later stating:
"I may have been the naked-ass girl in the video, but if you look at it carefully, I'm also at the forefront. I'm not just some lame chick in a rap video; I'm in the power position, in complete command of everything around me. To be totally balls-out like that is, for me, the measure of a true artist."
During the first few months of promoting Stripped, she took part in photo shoots for the magazines Maxim, Rolling Stone, and CosmoGirl!. Many of the photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. She denied the image change was a matter of publicity, claiming that it better reflected her true personality than did the image she cultivated in 1999. She told German paper Netzeitung:
"I like having sex. It's fun... I love experimenting with my sexuality. I want to try out as much as possible. It would be wrong of me to hide this side of my personality. I have fun being sexy and tough at the same time."
Songwriting Controversy
"Make Over" became the subject of controversy when critics commented on its similarity to a 2000 Sugababes' single called "Overload". When Stripped was originally released, Aguilera and Linda Perry were listed as the song's writers. Some time later ASCAP also gave additional credits to Sugababes writers Jonathan Lipsey, Felix Howard, Cameron McVey, and Paul Simm. The link was never publicly admitted but "Make Over" was removed from the track listing of Aguilera's subsequent DVD, Stripped Live in the UK.
Positive Acclaim
The Jonas Åkerlund-directed music video for "Beautiful" garnered much attention, as it touched on the subjects of anorexia nervosa, homosexuality, bullying, self-esteem and transgender issues. "Beautiful" stayed in the U.S. top forty for twenty-four weeks, and topped many other Billboard magazine charts. It was equally successful elsewhere, and reached number one on the charts in the UK (where it was her fourth number-one single), Australia (where it was her first) and Canada (where it was her second). Simon Cowell, renowned American Idol judge, noted that it is "one of the best pop songs ever written."
Reception
Ironically, unlike Madonna, the raunchy image negatively affected the sales of the album upon release. The album debuted at number two in the U.S. selling about over 330,000 copies but quickly began to slide down the charts. Stripped's first single "Dirrty" had failed to reach the top forty in the U.S. and Aguilera's record label quickly released "Beautiful" as a follow-up single to prevent the descent of Stripped on the albums chart.
The staying power of the album was also shown in the UK, where the album was consistently in the top twenty between late 2002 and mid-2004.
In December 2004, Stripped was certified 3x Platinum by the IFPI[1] for shipments of three million copies inside Europe, of which, 1.8+ million were sold in the UK alone and the album was certified 6x Platinum.[2] It peaked at number six in Germany and after spending seventy-seven weeks inside the Top 100 the album was certified 3x Platinum and in France it stayed in charts for amazing 56 weeks selling 140,000 copies. It is also quadruple Platinum in Australia despite only reaching a peak of number seven. It is 2x Platinum in Canada.[3] Stripped has sold just over ten million albums worldwide during it's five years of being on the market. The album has also shown longevity on Amazon's top music sales, where it is currently within the top 1000 music sellers after 5 years.
"Keep on Singin' My Song" (Christina Aguilera, Scott Storch) – 6:29
The Mexican edition of Stripped doesn't contain "Get Mine, Get Yours" but instead its Spanish-language version, "Dame Lo Que Yo Te Doy" ("Give Me What I Give You"). It also appears as a B-side to the "Beautiful" CD single.
Relevant quality search results and fast easy navigation throughout the
different sections of the site, make Americola.com
a great entertainment
search engine offering
celebrity biographies, high resolution
celebrity photos, videos and more.
