The time since then has been relatively tough, and Christina Aguilera has had to contend with the complexities of a different world: television. A recurrent actor in the series Nashville, she quickly became a prisoner of a role that should have just been a job. But a bitter ball of anger was growing in her day after day. She had built her empire in music, not on a soap opera set; and never mind how long she'd been away, she would break her chains and, now aged 37, she signed off on a warlike record: Liberation. Her weapons? A strong base of hip-hop dressed up in pop, R&B and rock, and above all the powerful voice of rebel women.
Because the #MeToo has seen Aguilera reveal more of her feminist side in a hip-hop world she accuses of misogyny. She has matured and become self-assured. For this eighth album, Kanye West wrote several tracks, including the sensational Maria and Accelerate. Demi Lovato comes in for a duet, Fall in Line a war-song, where women are soldiers commanded by a man's voice. It's a way of fighting against certain clichés, in a spirit of strength and rebellion. Aguilera has lost none of the intensity of her voice, the ingenuity that sees her bringing in children's choirs, synth melodies or sensual, emotional ballads. Liberation is more than just a hip-hop album, but the reconstruction of a woman, a benevolent cry that aims to bring comfort to those who, like her, have known trying times. Everything here has been subtly calculated to transmit a message through music that, like Aguilera herself, has evolved.
Christina Aguilera - Accelerate (Official Video) ft. Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz
CAguileraVEVOWhere’s Maria? (Liberation by Christina Aguilera)
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