Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.
So, as our retrospective segments, ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay,’ allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our latest feature – Chart Rewind – serves as a variation of our Retro Rewind assay to salute an entire era of music history.
This week, we want to reflect on ‘What a Girl Wants’ – the second Hot 100 #1 single of powerhouse vocalist Christina Aguilera.
Join us inside:
Rubbing out the biggest hit of summer 1999 with her inaugural chart-topper, ‘Genie in a Bottle,’ and seeing its parent album hop to the top of the Billboard 200 just months later may have been wishes come true for Christina Aguilera, but those wins were also accompanied with pressure to keep the momentum going.
Instead of following the innuendo-laden ‘Bottle’ with a tune of its repressed vocal ilk, Aguilera’s team – also burdened with drawing clear lines between the singer and her former Mouseketeer castmate/Pop sensation Britney Spears – opted to showcase the teenager’s USP by selecting a track that demonstrated her powerhouse chops.
The choice? The Guy Roche-produced ‘What a Girl Wants.’
Cloaked in some sonic aspects of the Bubblegum Pop that made ‘Genie’ a dream come true, ‘Wants’ housed more noticeable R&B undertones than its predecessor that not only helped it appeal to radio stations of both genres around the world but also to distance her from the sounds of her teen contemporaries.
Released November 28, 1999, by the time the song’s Diane Martel-directed/Tina Landon-choreographed music video surfaced it was already burning up global charts. Just 8 weeks after its Hot 100 premiere, ‘Wants’ was whisked to #1 on the tally – becoming the first new chart-topper of the 2000 and her second career chart-topper following ‘Genie.’
When the dust settled, ‘What a Girl Wants’ stayed atop the chart for 2 weeks, was certified Gold in the United States, and helped Aguilera’s self-titled parent project to sales of nearly 10 million in the same territory.
Hot 100 This Week in 2000
Hot 100 This Week
Click here to see this week’s full TGJ Chart Check: Hot 100.
We don’t know her. And that’s on Mary had a little lamb. Purrrrrrrr
If you don’t know her then you are just dumb and why bother comment on someone that you don’t know. You are obviously just a hater.
The fact that Britney always has to be mention I’m Christina success story’s says a lot
Funniest Drag Race podcast around, where this week Divina, Vinegar and Sum Ting share their thoughts on DRUKS2E1: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/united-queendom-podcast/rpdrukfans@gmail.co
God the music nowadays is complete and utter trash :/ it’s so sad, really.
I was really disappointed when she talked down about this album when promoting Stripped as a better piece of work. Her debut yielded great music, great videos and great performances, but she distanced herself from it like it was way off the mark. JoJo, Pink and other artists say the same thing: ‘They made me do this, that and the other on my first album’ like it didn’t make them a success. We probably wouldn’t even know their names today had they done things their own way right out the gate. I think we can all agree Christina hasn’t done well calling the shots in recent years.
I think she should’ve compromised with her team a little bit & found a common ground like artistic freedom & growth is wonderful for artists BUT hits & sales are very important in da business she’s in
Yay! I love this Xtina!
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
Yeah, c’mon
Ooh, oh yeah, oh yeah
I wanna thank you for giving me time to breathe
Like a rock, you waited so patiently
While I got it together, oh
While I figured it out (yeah-yeah)
I only looked but I never touched
‘Cause in my heart was a picture of us
Holdin’ hands, makin’ plans
And it’s lucky for me you understand
What a girl wants = 💰 💴 💵 what a girl needs = 🍆🍆🍆
Xtina used to be a natural blonde beauty💋 now she turned in to a thick cut slice of 🐷 ham Steak. Y’all noticed her chest was flat back then, now she has double Ds
Love this song and her vocals so much!