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Flashback: Christina Aguilera // Can’t Hold Us Down [Feat. Lil’ Kim]

It was 2003 and I was really starting to get into music. Christina Aguilera was everywhere - and I mean everywhere. As well as the singles from “Stripped” being all over the music channels which I spent hours watching with my brother and babysitter, she hosted the VMAs, toured with Justin Timberlake and was yet still making headlines for her ‘new’ racy image.

“Can’t Hold Us Down” was her way of getting back at all the criticism that was being spat back then. Sampling P. Diddy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Us Down”, the track is a summer jam which tackles the issue of double standards in society. Even today guys are seen as a lad when they brag about getting with a bunch of easy girls, but when a girl acts a little sexy she’s automatically labelled a slut. Christina tackles this subject with real power and confidence, so there really was no one better to join her on the song than Lil’ Kim.

Kimmy Blanco gives a stellar verse on the track, with her contribution to “Can’t Hold Us Down” being one of the rapper’s smoothest deliveries. Christina also manages to stay cool and in control on the verses, while giving her signature power ad-libs during the song’s final chorus. This against the song’s laidback Hip-Hop beat, make for a great R&B track which is certainly overlooked in Christina’s back catalogue.

The Scott Scorch produced beat has the most amazing outro, which leads so well into “Walk Away”, as well as being the perfect album opener to set the tone for “Stripped”. I may not have appreciated this song for what it was when I was 9, but I can definitely see it for it’s worth now that I’m a little more mature. (If anyone who knows me reads this, sorry for lying about being more mature.)

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