"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. Desiring 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; RCA and Bertelsmann Music Group later released the song as a CD single. The song peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard Hot 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.
The controversial music video for "Dirrty", directed by David LaChapelle, publicized Aguilera's new image by depicting sexual fetishes such as mud wrestling and muscle worshipping, thus eliminating her previous image as a bubblegum pop singer. It was criticized by various news publications and other recording artists, and was even banned on Thai television, but Aguilera defended it as 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).
Development
Despite rising to prominence with the commercial success of her 1999 self-titled debut album, 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. It was recorded at the Enterprise Studios in Burbank and Conway Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles by Oscar Ramirez, Wassim Zreik, and Dylan "3-D" Dresdow. Desiring to create a "down and dirty" song to complement her new image, she approached hip hop producer Rockwilder, who had worked with her on "Lady Marmalade", and suggested recording a song similar to Redman's 2001 hip hop song "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)". "Dirrty" ultimately became a "near-remake" of its predecessor, as Entertainment Weekly said. Rapper Redman, who previously appeared on Eminem's 2001 song "Off the Wall", in which Eminem disses Aguilera, is featured on the song. Aguilera intended to use a misspelled title to personalize the song, also considering "Dirtee" or "Dirrdy". The title reflects the music video, which Aguilera describes as "gritty, [with] underground, illegal stuff going on."
Composition "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. 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. The song's lyrics detail sexual activities such as table dancing. 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 and chart performance "Dirrty" was released as the lead single from Stripped. RCA Records encouraged Aguilera to release the ballad "Beautiful" as the first single from Stripped. Aguilera insisted on releasing "Dirrty" as the lead single, as she felt that it represented her "real" persona. After a leak in August, RCA Records sent "Dirrty" to US pop and rhythmic radio stations on September 3, 2002. It debuted at number 64 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart on September 21, 2002, and rose to number 49 the following week. It dropped one place to number 50 on the chart issue dated October 5, 2002. RCA Records released it in the United States as a 12-inch single on September 24, 2002, and as a CD single with "I Will Be" as a B-side on October 14. Another US CD featuring "Make Over" as its B-side was released on December 10. "Dirrty" was also released as a CD single in Germany on October 14, and in the United Kingdom on November 11 by RCA and Sony Music Entertainment.
"Dirrty" was Aguilera's first single to fail to enter the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 48 on October 5, 2002. It debuted at number 67 on September 21, 2002, and rose to number 49 the following week. "Dirrty" additionally charted at number 14 on Top 40 Mainstream, number 20 on Rhythmic Top 40, and number 22 on Top 40 Tracks. It reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart in late December 2002. On October 14, 2022, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies.
Outside of the United States, "Dirrty" debuted at number seven on the Canadian Singles Chart in Canada on November 30, 2002, and later peaked at number five on February 15, 2003.
In the United Kingdom, the single debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart on November 17, 2002—for the week ending date November 23, 2002—becoming Aguilera's third number one and remaining on the top spot for two weeks, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
The song reached the top 10 of the charts in many other European countries including Ireland (number one), Netherlands (number two), Norway, Spain, and Switzerland (number three), Belgian Flanders, Denmark, and Germany (number four), and Austria and Hungary (number five). Overall, the song peaked at number three on the European Hot 100 Singles chart on December 7, 2002.
"Dirrty" also peaked at number four on the ARIA Singles Charts in Australia and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.
Critical reception "Dirrty" received mixed reviews from music critics, some praised its production, while others criticized the heavily sexual persona Aguilera adopted on the song. Cinquemani from Slant Magazine called it "the most instantly gratifying" song from Stripped. Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine labeled it "one of the most interesting songs of the year" and compared its styles to Britney Spears' "image transformation" on "I'm a Slave 4 U". In a separate review, Burns deemed it the best single of 2002, writing, "That's what pop music is all about, appealing to as many people as possible." Writing for The Guardian, Betty Clarke described the song's lyrics as "majestically filthy." Dotmusic editor Ian Watson praised the song's production, noting that it is "interesting chiefly for the pneumatic rhythm and guttural cabaret". Carcy Magazine complimented the song as "raw" and "powerful". Reviewing Aguilera's 2008 compilation album Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits, Nick Levine from Digital Spy called "Dirrty" the "sluttiest, sweatiest club banger in recent memory."
Jancee Dunn called the release of "Dirrty" as the lead single "a shame" and opined that it misrepresented the rest of the album. Likewise, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic was disappointed towards the track's being released as the lead single and found Aguilera's vocal range in the song too narrow. Michael Paoletta from Billboard called the song "horribly derivative", while NME Jim Wirth said that "Dirrty" was "probably the pick of an inconsistent crop." Entertainment Weekly critic Seymour Craig gave it a D−, calling Aguilera's voice "desperate and shrill," and found it to be an unsuccessful attempt to gain street cred. "Dirrty" won the Best Single award at the 2003 Q Awards. The song also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 45th Grammy Awards, but lost to Santana's "The Game of Love" featuring Michelle Branch.
In 2022, Billboard ranked "Dirrty" at number twenty-two on its list of the hundred greatest 2002 songs, calling it "a blueprint to reinvention in the pop game".
Music video
Background and synopsis
The music video for "Dirrty" was directed by David LaChapelle. It was filmed on September 8–10, 2002, in Los Angeles, at an abandoned newspaper print building. Aguilera took boxing lessons to prepare for the video, and more than 100 dancers auditioned. Aguilera wanted to make sure that she and LaChapelle had the same vision for the video, never wanted to be "glossy or pretty." A scene where Aguilera is lowered into a boxing ring in a cage and a dance routine in the ring were filmed on the first day. The following day, a foxy boxing scene, a table dancing part, a party scene with Redman's rapping his verse, and a shower scene were filmed. The video premiered on MTV on September 30, 2002, on Making the Video, and was described as "a post-apocalyptic orgy."
The video opens with Aguilera gearing up and riding a motorcycle into a nightclub. Wearing a bikini and chaps, she is lowered from a cage into a boxing ring and dances, accompanied by several backup dancers. A masked woman is lowered into the ring, and the two engage in foxy boxing. The scene is intercut with sequences of Aguilera dancing in a red belly top, which she later removes to reveal a bra, and a microskirt. Redman then proceeds down a hallway, passing people such as mud wrestlers, a contortionist, and furries. The video proceeds to a scene of Aguilera and backup dancers splashing and dancing while being sprayed with water in a room. It features several sexual fetishes, from mud wrestling to muscle worshipping.
Reception and impact Billboard placed "Dirrty" at number twenty six on its 2018 list of the greatest music videos of the 21st century, saying it contained "one of the most explosive image resets in history". Despite controversy, "Dirrty" is considered to be Aguilera's most recognized music video, with the singer herself calling it her "personal favorite from her catalog" in 2018, even wearing the infamous chaps from the video on both her Liberation Tour (2018) and her Vegas residency Christina Aguilera: The Xperience (2019–2020).
"Dirrty" was picked as the fifth greatest music video throughout TRL history in the final countdown on November 16, 2008. LA Weekly selected it as the fourth greatest music video on TRL, writing: "Ass-less chaps: An underutilized pop star accessory." The video was nominated for Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Pop Video, and Best Choreography at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. It also earned six nominations at the 2003 Music Video Production Association Awards, and won two: Best Styling and Best Make-Up. The video ranked at number 100 on Slant Magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time" in 2003. In late 2008, the video was voted the ninth "Sexiest Music Video of All Time" by over a quarter of a million FHM readers in a poll the magazine ran worldwide. It also appeared at number two on VH1 list of "Scandalously Sexy Music Videos" in 2013.