But year by year, I kept seeing things that were not lining up with that original vision. Being in this business for so long and knowing how labels work and how packaging is so very important, that idea of not being able to see them was genius to me.

The blind audition thing was very intriguing to me because it provided an opportunity for anybody to get on stage and be discovered, regardless of their look. It just wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing with my life. You’d have two teams at once because they were overlapping seasons. It just became a whole different kind of a machine.

When did it stop being fun for you?Ī: Nobody expected to be as big as “Idol” or take off the way it did. Q: That environment you’re referring to is “The Voice.” You said you felt suffocated as a judge. Q: What kept you away from music for so long?Ī: I felt disconnected for a while and I wasn’t in the right headspace either being in an environment that was just not good for me.

rapper GoldLink, smashing the patriarchy and navigating collaborations with Ty Dolla Sign, Kanye West, Anderson. When she’s not doing a mix of “The Sound of Music” with Michael Jackson, she’s crafting downtempo R&B with D.C. The collection is some of her more forward-thinking work in years. Leaning mostly toward R&B and hip-hop, genres that have always informed her style, Aguilera’s new album isn’t about being progressive or chasing a trend - she’s not interested in any of that, she says - but instead it’s about showcasing an artist reborn after losing her footing. 6 on the Billboard 200 upon its release last month, “Liberation” showcases a creatively renewed Aguilera, but don’t call it a comeback: “I feel like a brand new artist,” she says. “I had to get back to my own artist body and self,” she says.įinding her way back to herself and her passion is the core of “Liberation,” her first album in six years.ĭebuting at No. Now 37, Aguilera is undertaking her latest reinvention, one that was fueled by the singer-songwriter feeling “disconnected” from her purpose.

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