Stripped: The True Story of Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty'

In many ways, the mid-to-late 1990s were the golden age of so-called ‘bubblegum pop’. 

As technology began to evolve, so did the world’s pop stars, with what seemed like an endless supply of perfectly groomed, perfectly styled, young, boy and girl-next-door type pop stars that smoothed off all of the edges found in contemporary Rock, Hip Hop, and R&B, leaving fans with a slew of safe pop idols to worship. There would always be innuendo in pop music - with a sparkle in the eye of a singer belting out suggestive lyrics; or a bit more skin being shown in a music video than you’d normally see at your local community center - but there was a bubble that was not to be popped when promoting pop music, and most stars played it safe.

Christina Aguilera - one of the famed students of the Mickey Mouse club of ‘93 - which, of course also introduced the world to Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez of NSYNC, as well as Canadian Hero Ryan Gosling; debuted her self titled album in August 1999 at Number One on the Billboard 200 with the smash hit ‘Genie in a Bottle’ also topping the Charts mere months after contemporary Britney Spears did the same with ‘Baby One More Time’.

Christina wasn’t shy about her uneasiness around Genie - the song was not her first choice for a debut single, but with the success that followed, she felt like she had to follow the label's direction. Aguilera’s debut would go a nearly unfathomable 8x platinum before the end of the year 2000. 

Now clearly sitting at the head of the pop-star table, and with the sounds of pop music shapeshifting around her. Christina Aguilera was ready to break free from the bubblegum-pop package she had originally been presented in.

By the end of the year 2000, Christina fired her manager Steve Kurtz, hired supermanager Irving Azoff, and was ready to give her image a major shakeup, and show people who she *really* was. It was time to enter the era… of Xtina.

This is the story of Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty' with newly uncovered audio from Christina Aguilera herself!

Also includes audio from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doXqDkzFEkQ