Christina Aguilera Opens Up About Working on Upcoming Spanish-Language Album
It’s been more than 20 years since Christina Aguilera released Mi Reflejo, her first and only Spanish language album that came not long after she made her debut
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Moesi
It’s been more than 20 years since Christina Aguilera released Mi Reflejo, her first and only Spanish language album that came not long after she made her debut. The album, which earned her a Latin Grammy, featured hits including “Ven Conmigo (Solamente Tú)”, “Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti” and “Falsas Esperanzas”. Now the 40-year-old pop star is opening up about working on her long-awaited second full-length Spanish album which she first announced during a concert in 2019. She spoke with PEOPLE exclusively about the album while discussing her collaboration with candy brand, SweeTARTS (fitting considering her famous track, “Candyman”).
“This album is coming-full-circle moment for me. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for so many years. I have an amazing team behind me that’s so supportive,” the 40-year-old tells PEOPLE. “I’ve been in music for a really long time, but there’s nothing like being around Latin musicians and artists, the energy they bring to the table, the love and the passion they just bring and exude.”
She shared that it’ll be a mix of “classic styles” as well as a “dive deeper into my roots” exploring Latin music. Mi Reflejo mostly featured songs that were translations of her English hits from her self-titled debut album, with her cover of “Contigo en la Distancia” from César Portillo de la Luz being an exception. “Genio Atrapado” and “Mi Reflejo” were translations of two of her biggest hits, “Genie in a Bottle” and “Reflection” from the Mulan soundtrack.
“When I listened to my first Spanish record, I love it and I’m thankful for it. I won a Latin Grammy with it, but I listen to the record 20 years later and I’m like, ‘Oh, cute, that was baby Christina!'” she told PEOPLE. “It was like her voice before it’s fully matured and so now things are a lot deeper in context and vocal capabilities that I’m using now, having had all the experience in the business that I have, so it definitely is tapping into new things for me, and with such a level of deeper respect and appreciation for where I’m at now as a grown woman.”
When she recorded Mi Reflejo she was a young woman in her 20s who was just making a name for herself within the exploding pop scene among pop stars including fellow icon Britney Spears. Now she has a total of 8 albums to her name and she’s a married mother of two who has come into her own. While her Latin roots come from her estranged dad, who was born in Ecuador, she’s been vocal about feeling judged for not being “Latina enough.”
“I wouldn’t be questioned [about my heritage] if I looked more stereotypically Latina,” she told Latina magazine in 2012. “Whatever that is. All I know is no one can tell me I’m not a proud Latina woman… I dove headfirst into a Spanish-language album for that reason and I’m planning another one even though I don’t speak the language. I’m sure that doesn’t sit well with some people.”
