Dirrty

"Dirrty" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera featuring American rapper Redman, released as the lead single from her fourth studio album Stripped. Despite Aguilera's first three years of commercial success, she was displeased with the lack of control over her image. In response, she desired to create a song that would represent her authentic persona. She approached hip hop producer Rockwilder and suggested using Redman's 2001 song "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)" as a guide. The final result, "Dirrty", is an R&B and hip hop song that also features rapping verses from Redman and describes sexual activities. RCA Records sent "Dirrty" to American radio stations on September 3, 2002, as the lead single from Stripped. RCA and Bertelsmann Music Group later released the song as a CD single. The song peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard 100. Outside of the United States, "Dirrty" saw significant success in the British Isles, topping the charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the song peaked within the top ten in many countries including Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. David LaChapelle directed the music video for "Dirrty", which was intended to publicize Aguilera's new image. Depicting sexual fetishes such as mud wrestling and muscle worshipping, the controversial video eliminated her previous image as a bubblegum pop singer. Various news publications and other recording artists criticized the video, and it was banned on Thai television, but Aguilera defended the video, calling it inspirational as it put her to the forefront. "Dirrty" was included on the setlists of Aguilera's five major concert tours: The Justified & Stripped Tour (2003), The Stripped Tour (2003), Back to Basics Tour (2006–2008), The Liberation Tour (2018), and The X Tour (2019).

[[File:Redman (Rapper) on stage. jpg|thumb|right|"Dirrty" was created in the vein of Redman (pictured)'s 2001 hip hop song "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)", who is later featured on the song. Aguilera was displeased with being marketed as her then manager Steve Kurtz desired, and felt unable to control her image. She explained to The Sydney Morning Herald her dissatisfaction with being a part of the late 1990s teen pop trend, "The label [RCA Records] wanted to push the cookie cutter, [ ] almost virginal kind of imagery that wasn't me. I really wanted to squirm away from that, because I really thought it was really fake and superficial and untrue of what I was about." "Dirrty" was among the last tracks to be recorded for Aguilera's 2002 album, Stripped. Rapper Redman, who previously appeared on Eminem's 2001 song "Off the Wall", in which Eminem disses Aguilera, is featured on the song.

"Dirrty" is a hip hop and R&B song. Composed in the key of G minor, it has a moderately fast tempo of 100 beats per minute. The lines in the refrain and Redman's rapping verses are emphasized by a pair of B♭ octave dyads. Aguilera's vocal range on the track spans F3 to F#5. Redman's original ape like sounds from "Let's Get Dirty" are also featured on "Dirrty". According to Stylus Magazine's Todd Burns, the song features a bassline which "doesn't quite mesh with the song in a natural way" and an "effective" overdubbing technique. Jon Pareles noted that Aguilera was determined to shed her teen pop image that she achieved with her early works, and decided to show her sexuality and aggression in the "self explanatory" "Dirrty". A sequel to the song entitled "Still Dirrty" was recorded by Aguilera for her 2006 album, Back to Basics.

+Release dates and formats for "Dirrty"RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference(s))United StatesSeptember 3, 2002Contemporary hit radio, rhythmic contemporary, rhythmic contemporary radioRCAGermanyOctober 14, 2002CD single, CD, Maxi single, maxi CDBMGUnited KingdomNovember 11, 2002RCAUnited StatesDecember 10, 2002