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At the press conference following the 2001 Video Music Awards on September 6, 2001, Christina told reporters she wants to create a more soulful sound on her upcoming album. Christina said, 'I have to do something different.' Christina may be correct, as R&B influence is already being felt within the teen pop craze that helped catapult Christina and other superstar acts to the top of the charts just a few years ago. 'N Sync for instance, has recently released a deliberately more funk-oriented album with 'Celebrity'. While no release date for Christina's new album has been set, the singer admits, 'I'm really making sure that I take my time. It's like therapy what I'm doing with this album...it will be very personal.' - MTV.com
Excitement Builds Over Christina's Followup CD Although Christina's fans have seen many release dates reported in the press in the last few weeks, there is still no official release date for Christina's upcoming new CD. Her spokesperson has stated, 'This is going to be a very personal record for Christina, and she has been a huge part of the writing process thus far.' Many producers and collaborators have also been mentioned, both on news sites and on thousands of postings on Christina's message boards. But Christina does not want to give away any of the CD's many great surprises. Christina is in the studio now recording the followup to her 12-million selling smash debut, 'Christina Aguilera.' Christina plans to release the album in early winter 2002, according to her publicist at RCA Records, and will support the new release with a world tour. 'I'm getting many, many ideas for the next record,' Christina told MTV, during an interview in June. 'I can't wait to sink my teeth into it and really get going on it, because it's going to be a whole different project. I'm really excited to get into it.' 'I want to really dig in and take my time with it,' Christina said earlier this year. 'I haven't actually had a second album yet. I did the Latin album and my Christmas album - side projects all within themselves - but I'm really excited to be writing my next album, collaborating with other people and going to a different place with it. It's going to a more personal place.' 'I wanted some time to really get to know who I am after these past two years that have been so crazy - so I'd have something to really write about, so I'd know how to dig deep. I have things to say. I'm 20 now and I feel like I've been through ten years of things over the past two. It's been a really crazy two years, so I really really wanna take time and make this record personal - something that I really feel and that I'd want my fans to feel.' Christina to record Followup CD (cont.) In addition, Christina had planned to reach out to some high profile performers to help shake things up. '(I'll have) a lot of collaborations,' Christina said. 'I'd love to work with a lot of different producers.' Christina has said she would like to work with Timbaland, Lenny Kravitz, Gwen Stefani, and Moby. Gwen is one of Christina's favorite singers and one of her favorite songs is No Doubt's 'I'm Just A Girl.' Christina has also said, 'I would love to do something with Shakira, even in English, and also with Marc Anthony - he would be cool to do something with in Spanish. And with Celia Cruz, who is the Aretha Franklin of the Latin world. And with India as well.' Shelly Kearns commented on LiveDaily: 'There are a lot of wonderful things going into the album which I'm afraid I can't divulge right now. Also there are a lot of ideas that I think are really exciting which are being considered now as well.' Aguilera Looking For Sophomore Success Christina Aguilera's much anticipated sophomore album is likely to be a hit with the critics and crowds alike. Boasting an edgier sound and self-written lyrics, this CD should end comparisons between Aguilera and bubblegum queen Britney Spears. It's been two years since the release of Aguilera's self-titled debut disc - which was home to #1 hits like 'Genie In A Bottle,' 'What A Girl Wants' and 'Come On Over Baby.' This former Mousketeer has risen to a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum pop powerhouse. In the time since her entrance into the music world Aguilera has proven successful in both the English and Latin fields. She released 'Mi Reflejo' an album done entirely in Spanish which she says reflects her father's Ecuadoran roots. Aguilera has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including BB King, Brian McKnight, Sting, Ricky Martin and most recently Pink, Mya and Lil Kim on their #1 smash 'Lady Marmalade.' Not bad for a 20-year old. While most her age are working odd jobs to pay their way through college, Aguilera is carving her niche in the entertainment business. The outlook is very good for her newest record. She has expanded her horizons musically and gained new and excited fans. There's nowhere for this young and talented beauty to go except up. Christina talks to Time magazine about followup CD Two years ago, Christina Aguilera was just another teenager. Since then, the Pittsburgh native's self-titled CD and singles like 'Genie In A Bottle' and 'What A Girl Wants' have elevated her to one of the princesses of teen pop. Last year Aguilera released 'Mi Reflejo,' a Spanish-language CD. In her new Beverly Hills, California home, Aguilera, 20, relaxes with her puppy Stinky and talks to Time magazine about her next album and her new life as an adult star. Q: What's going on with your new CD? We hear you're writing for the first time. Christina: I'm getting 'credited' for my writing. I actually had some contribution in the writing on my first album. But I was so new and green, I was like, 'Oh I'm just having fun in the studio.' I didn't know I should have a credit, so I kind of got cheated. Q: Which songs? Christina: Actually, a little of 'Genie.' I wrote the hook part. This [new] record is extremely personal. It's so personal that I feel like people from my past will say 'Oh my God, she's singing this to me.' I have a lot of things to say and a lot of things to let out of me. I feel like I was very confined in that first record to be very pop-driven. I want to be a poet and have a chance to explore that and let people know what's really on my mind. I don't want to talk about genies in bottles anymore. Q: Do you think that Teen Pop is dead? Christina: For me, in my heart, I have to move away from it. Even if the label said I had to make another record like that, I don't think I could. Getting older, you just don't want to sing fluffy. You just have more things to say about real life and real people and the bitterness you get from people. Q: You're half-Ecuardorian and half-Irish. Did you ever feel like an outsider? Christina: I think because I went to a pretty white school, that I really don't look Latin, I don't have dark eyes, I never had dark hair, so I don't think a lot of people put two and two together. But I was always proud of my Latino roots and proud of my Irish roots. I never felt like, 'Oh, I should be white, or all Latin.' I am what I am. Q: Was there ever any pressure to change your last name? Christina: Yes. As soon as I came to the point where we were going to release my album, the label was like, you know, this name, it's too difficult to pronounce. They wanted it to be more American sounding. I said no because this is my name. It's my identity. Q: Do you see yourself as a diva? Christina: Oh, God, no. I'm the most down-to-earth person. I was just reading these things in the paper, and it's like, I don't understand where these people come up with these things. Like, I heard I was in this hotel in Europe, and I threw a temper tantrum because I didn't get a big enough room, and my quote was, 'I sold so many more records than any of these artists in this building.' I would slap myself in the face if I said anything like that. Q: Whom would you like to collaborate with? Christina: Shakira. We haven't met, but I've seen her. I really like her. I like how different she is and how she combines all this ethnicity. To get back to people trying to depict me as the diva. I went through a period when I was touring when I so unhappy. A lot of people couldn't see it because great things were happening to me. But I was really being overworked. I'd have really unhealthy people around me who were doing damaging things, and nobody knew this. I think a lot of people heard about public arguments sometimes. So maybe people spread the word about me being a diva. Q: How much control do you have now over your work? Your makeup, your clothes? Christina: Now? Now I have total control. Before, I had to stay with
that perfect pop image. But I'm glad I went through it. I'm stronger now.
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