"What a Girl Wants" is a cover song by American singer Christina Aguilera from her debut studio album, Christina Aguilera (1999). Written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche as "What a Girl Needs", the song was recorded by French singer Ophélie Winter in 1998, with French lyrics adapted by Winter. On her album Privacy the song appeared in English and French (as "Ce Que Je Suis"). The French version was released as a single two years later. In the meantime, the song was pitched by Peiken and Roche to RCA Records. Following a change of the song title to "What a Girl Wants", it was recorded by Aguilera for her eponymous debut album.
The first version of Aguilera's song was released as the album's second single in Japan in 1999, by Arista Records Japan. However, a newly produced re-recorded version was sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States on November 8, and later internationally instead. A Spanish version of the song, titled "Una Mujer", was included on Aguilera's second studio album, Mi Reflejo (2000).
The song was described as a pop and R&B track and had similarities to "Genie in a Bottle". It received positive reviews from music critics, who described it as a "light" song and compared Aguilera's vocals on the track to those of Mariah Carey. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Grammy Awards. Commercially, the song became her second consecutive US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, and also topped the charts in Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, and Spain; the song is recognized as the first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single of the 2000s. It also reached the top ten in Belgium, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The single eventually earned gold certifications in countries including Australia, Belgium and Sweden, as well as being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
A music video was directed by Diane Martel, who had also directed her previous video for "Genie in a Bottle". The video features Aguilera dancing in a room with female friends whilst being viewed by their boyfriends, and includes a scene where she is dressed as a medieval-style princess. In December 1999, the video reached pole position on the US music video chart TRL. Aguilera has performed the song at events such as the US Jingle Ball and the MTV New Year's Eve Special in 1999, as well as her tours including the Christina Aguilera: In Concert (2000–2001), the Stripped Live... on Tour (2003), the Back to Basics Tour (2006–2008), the Liberation Tour (2018), and most recently on both The X Tour and Christina Aguilera: The Xperience in 2019. In 2024, a cover of "What a Girl Wants" was released featuring Sabrina Carpenter.
Background After what was described as an "incredible" response to her debut single, the interest in Aguilera began to grow, at which point her record label decided it was time to release a second single.A year before in Europe, Ophélie Winter the French-Dutch r'n'b singer already had released her second studio album called Privacy which was promoted a year before Aguilera's. The album featured the original song Ce Que Je Suis recorded in French as well as another English version of the same song entitled What A Girl Needs, which was later chosen by Aguilera's label for her first studio album. The label and Aguilera disputed over which track should be released, with Aguilera recalling: "You know, some people do want me to stay in the pop scene, [but] I want to grow from there. I always want to continue growing and getting to that level of, 'Oh, she's a real singer, a real ballad-singer, she can do it'." However, the announcement then came that "What a Girl Wants" would be released as the follow-up single, with Aguilera saying "The next single will be 'What a Girl Wants', but a totally cool remix of it". The single was not chosen by Aguilera, but instead her record label RCA and label executive Ron Fair. Aguilera herself had little control over the entire project, and a marketing strategy foresaw that Aguilera would have better success as a "teen idol" so in an effort to maintain her persona, music was chosen and recorded under the basis that she would become the next pop phenomenon.
Writing and recording
Shelly Peiken was the writer behind "What a Girl Wants". One day the pair were working with a cassette tape, experimenting with vocals and hooks, after which she decided that the work-in-progress had potential and she would return to it at a later date.
"What a Girl Wants" was the first track recorded for Christina Aguilera in June 1998. Fair liked the song and after the decision was made to release it as the second single the label called for a second recording of the track, changing the original key in addition to editing rhythmic changes. The second recording came in September 1999 after the success of her debut single "Genie in a Bottle", with Aguilera's label wanting to produce a similar tone.
Peiken stated that "What a Girl Wants" and "Bitch" — another song co-written by her — were both inspired by the songwriter's relationship with her husband. Peiken went on to add: "They've got a common thread because they're from the same soul."
Composition
"What a Girl Wants" is a teen pop–R&B track with some similarities to her debut single "Genie in a Bottle". Written in the key of C major, the track begins with the lyrics "What a girl wants, what a girl needs, whatever makes me happy sets you free" and is set at a tempo 142 beats per minute. The vocal range is F♯3-E6. Anthony from Buffalo News described the track as a "light hip-hop song" in comparison to the previous single. Aguilera's vocals have been compared to that of Mariah Carey, with Carey's single "Emotions" being the grounds for these comparisons. In Aguilera's vocal performance she starts singing in a lower register and "carefully" scales notes until she reaches "the highest echelon of her upper register". During the track Aguilera performs the lyrics "A girl needs somebody sensitive but tough, Somebody there when the going get rough." The track that was released as a single was a revised version of the song, it focused more upon the "funky R&B edge", and with Aguilera taking participation in the revision her additions made the track lighter and a mix of "pop and R&B". But despite this Aguilera was disappointed in her lack of input into the single saying; "I was held back a lot from doing more R&B ad-libbing. They clearly wanted to make a fresh sounding young pop record and that's not always the direction I wanted to go in. Sometimes they didn't get it, didn't want to hear me out because of my age, and that was a little bit frustrating. But I want to write more about experiences I've gone through. I've gone through bad situations. I come from a divorced home. I've been around abuse. I've lived a different life, been on the outside."
Critical reception Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called "What a Girl Wants" "clever" adding "but in a far less ingratiating way" than "Genie in a Bottle". Anthony from Buffalo News discussed the success behind the record, citing the formula that incorporated teen idols with R&B and pop music releases; discussed the track calling it a "light track", and despite saying the track had been "buried in production" he concluded it "has a way of selling a song". In retrospect, Billboards Kenneth Partridge complimented the re-recorded version of the single as "a little harder and sexier" [than the original], and noted that "it's still pretty airy, but Christina hints at the soulfulness and sensuality she'd explore to greater degrees later on." Chris Malone, also from the Billboard magazine, praised "What a Girl Wants" for its "starry-eyed lyrics" and empowering nature, and summarized it as "quintessential late-90s teen pop". PopMatters editor Kimberley Hill named it a "glittering bubblegum number".
Author Pier Dominquez of A Star is Made called the song "a lightweight but pleasant pop/R&B confection" and stated Aguilera performed "vocal acrobatics" and labelled it a "less effective" Mariah Carey-style vocal performance. Nana-Adwoa Ofori of the AOL Radio blog compiled a list of Aguilera's ten best tracks in which she listed "What a Girl Wants" at number nine, writing: "The huge success of this Christina Aguilera song solidified her as a strong musical force". On a similar list for the Attitude magazine "What a Girl Wants" was ranked at number six; it was praised for Aguilera's "passionate" vocals. Brock Radke from Las Vegas Magazine called it a "classic track". The song was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Grammy Awards held on February 21, 2001. Spanish version "Una Mujer" also received positive reviews. Orlando Sentinel editor Parry Gettelman wrote that it holds up to her "out of my way" vocals.
"What a Girl Wants" was Bill Lamb's number ten on the list of the best songs of 2000. Porcys listed it at number thirty-nine in their ranking of the hundred best singles of the 1990s, and called the radio edit the "crowning achievement of bubblegum–R&B music". The song was also included in two books about best of all-time music — The 7,500 Most Important Songs of the Rock and Roll Era: 1944–2000 by Bruce Pollock (2005), and The Little Black Book of Music: Key Songs by Sean Egan (2007).
Chart performance In the United States, the song spent 24 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, during which time it topped the chart, becoming her second consecutive US number one single after topping the chart on the issue date of January 15, 2000, for two consecutive weeks, becoming the first new number-one entry of the 2000s on the Hot 100. On the Billboard component charts, the song peaked at number one on the US Top 40 Mainstream chart, where it spent 26 weeks, and peaked at number 18 on the US Dance Club Play chart, where it spent 11 weeks. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold over 600,000 pure units in the US as of 2012.
In Oceania, the song performed well. In Australia, the track debuted at number 21 on the issue date of January 9, 2000, where it stayed for a further week. For the next two weeks the single rose up the charts before making its peak at number five on the charts. The track spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart, five of which were spent within the top ten. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 39 on the singles chart, before jumping to number two the following week. In its third week the track topped the chart on the issue date of February 6, 2000, the single fell to number two the following week, before making its second run at number one on February 20, 2000, and once again falling to number two. On the issue date of March 3, 2000, the track made its third run at number one spending three weeks atop the chart before falling to number three spending a total of 13 weeks on the chart.