"Can't Hold Us Down" is a song recorded by American singerChristina Aguilera and rapperLil' Kim for the former's fourth studio album,Stripped (2002). It was released byRCA Records on July 8, 2003, as the fourthsingle from the album. The track was written and produced byScott Storch, with additional songwriting by Aguilera andMatt Morris. AnR&B andhip hop song with adancehall outro, "Can't Hold Us Down" criticizes gender-relateddouble standards.
A music video for "Can't Hold Us Down" was directed byDavid LaChapelle, inspired by theLower East Side of New York City in the 1980s. The single has been widely recognized as afeminist anthem.
American singerChristina Aguilera rose to prominence with the successes of her first three studio albumsChristina Aguilera (1999),Mi Reflejo (2000), andMy Kind of Christmas (2000).[1] However, she was dissatisfied with being marketed as what her then-manager Steve Kurtz desired rather than Aguilera's own wish.[2] In late 2000, Aguilera hiredIrving Azoff as her new manager and announced that her forthcoming album would have more musical and lyrical depth.[3] She named the albumStripped, explaining that the term represented "a new beginning, a re-introduction of [herself] as a new artist".[4]Hip hop producerScott Storch wrote and produced several tracks for the album, including "Can't Hold Us Down".[5] Additional writing credits for the song were provided by Aguilera andMatt Morris.[6]
"Can't Hold Us Down" was serviced tomainstream radio andrhythmic stations in the United States as the fourthsingle fromStripped byRCA Records on July 8, 2003.[7][8] The song was distributed as aCD single from September to October 2003 in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Italy by RCA Records andSony Music Entertainment.[9][10][11][12] A12-inch edition of the song was released in the United States on September 9, 2003.[13]
"Can't Hold Us Down" lyrically discussesfeminism;[19] the song criticizes "common" gender-relateddouble standards, in which men are applauded for their sexual behaviors, while women who behave in a similar fashion are disdained.[14][20] In the bookTherapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop, Susan Hadley and George Yancy discuss that "Can't Hold Us Down" is a hip hop song that "encourages young women to be proud, strong, and empowered to be all that they can be".[21] At the song's first verse, Aguilera sings "Call me a bitch 'cause I speak what's on my mind / Guess it's easier for you to swallow if I sat and smiled";[22] she later rejects that all women "should be seen, not heard" and encourages them to "shout louder" during thechorus.[23] Aguilera comments on the double standard with the lyrics "The guy gets all the glory the more he can score / While the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore". Lil' Kim shares a similar sentiment during her verse in thebridge, questioning why a man is able to give a woman "some sex or sex her raw" while "if the girl do the same and then she's a whore".[20]
Media outlets speculated that the lyrics of "Can't Hold Us Down" were directed towards rapperEminem, who referred to Aguilera in his songs "Off the Wall" and "The Real Slim Shady".[24][25][26]Spin magazine's Josh Kun wrote that Aguilera suggested Eminem "Must talk so big / To make up for smaller things".[24] According to Kelefa Sanneh writing forThe New York Times, Aguilera referred to Eminem in the lyrics "It's sad you only get your fame through controversy".[25]
Aguilera performing excerpts from "Can't Hold Us Down" in a medley with "Still Dirrty" on theBack to Basics Tour in Dublin, November 2006
Upon its release, "Can't Hold Us Down" received mixed reviews from music critics. Rob O'Connor ofYahoo! Music praised the song, noting that it "perfectly encapsulates the earnest and strident young talent".[27] While reviewingStripped forThe Guardian, Betty Clarke opined that the song rewrites the rules of feminism, using a hip-hop beat to do so.[28]Chuck Taylor fromBillboard criticized the song as a "real waste of time and talent",[16] whileRolling Stone'sJancee Dunn called the track "curiously lifeless".[29]Stylus Magazine's Todd Burns was critical of the song's "bland" lyrics yet appreciated the dancehall elements that emerged at the end of the track.[18]Josh Kun ofSpin praised the lyrics for being more confrontational than the works of her contemporaryBritney Spears.[24] Jacqueline Hodges writing forBBC Music appreciated Lil's Kim's inclusion on the track for adding "a bit of edge".[30] "Can't Hold Us Down" was nominated forBest Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the2004 Grammy Awards, but lost to "Whenever I Say Your Name" bySting andMary J. Blige.[31] On reviewing Aguilera's greatest hits album,Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits in 2008, Nick Levine fromDigital Spy shared disappointment because the song could not make it to the compilation.[32]
The song has been recognized as a feminist anthem. Nicholas Ransbottom fromThe Charleston Gazette placed the song on his list of the top ten songs of female empowerment in 2013, calling it a "great anthem about women sticking up for themselves in a misogynistic world".[33] Several writers forThe A.V. Club included the track on their list of seventeen "well-intended yet misguided feminist anthems" in 2010; they agreed that the song itself was "actually one of her better songs", although they felt that its accompanying music video overshadowed its lyrical "[confrontation of] the double standard of female sexuality" since Aguilera conducted herself in a provocative fashion that conflicted its intended meaning.[14] Yasamin Saeidi fromBurton Mail listed "Can't Hold Us Down" on her list of the "top ten empowering lady anthems" in 2013.[23] According to Julianne Shepherd ofPortland Mercury "Can't Hold Us Down" is a "valuable and important moment for feminist pop music".[34] Since then, the single has been placed on similar rankings of feminist songs forMarie Claire,[35]Nylon,[36] andPride.com.[37]
The music video for "Can't Hold Us Down" was directed byDavid LaChapelle, who previously directed the music video forStripped's lead single "Dirrty" in 2002. It was filmed in a Los Angeles soundstage that depicted a 1980sLower East Side neighborhood inManhattan,New York City.[22] LaChapelle described the concept of the video as his "ode to the '80s".[22] In the video, Aguilera wears a pink midriff shirt matching a sleeveless sports jacket and pair of shorts, a purple baseball cap embroidered with the words "Lady C", and white long socks.[50] She is seen with dyed black hair and gold earrings.[20]
As the video starts with Aguilera is chatting with a group of women. When Aguilera leaves the conversation, a man suddenly grabs her butt, making Aguilera stop and causing an argument between them. As she continues to sing, the nearby women in the neighborhood join her, while the male dancers are joined and form their respective sides in the street. They performed their own hip hop dance skills against each other. At the bridge, Lil' Kim appears in a bikini and a mesh black coat, and dances in her high heels. The argument ends with Aguilera spraying the men with a water hose, which she holds between her legs and parodies the penis.[50]
Jason Heller fromThe A.V. Club criticized LaChappelle for "[swallowing] the message" of the track by following an unrelated concept in the clip.[14] In the bookMusic Video and the Politics of Representation, Diane Railton and Paul Watson felt that the video exemplifiedcultural appropriation, specifically noting how Aguilera conducted herself as an African-American woman, and elaborated that it emphasized "a range of issues concerning the representation of gender and race".[20] Andy Cohn fromThe Fader provided a more favorable review, and opined that Aguilera's "sass" helped to highlight her mixed Irish-Ecuadorian background.[51]
The music video for "Can't Hold Us Down" has received scholarly attention as an example of cultural appropriation. Murali Balaji, author of the article "Vixen Resistin': Redefining black womanhood in hip-hop music videos" published in theJournal of Black Studies, noted that "blackness and sexuality" has become characteristics by which African-American women are able to self-define. Consequently, he opined that the inclusion of Lil' Kim in the clip represented an element of "'primitive' sexuality", which Aguilera intended to imitate through her own behavior in the video.[52] In their article "Naughty girls and red-blooded women: Representations of female heterosexuality in music video", published inFeminist Media Studies, Diane Railton and Paul Watson made specific note of the conflicting message raised by the lyrics "all my girls around the world", while "blackness and whiteness are clearly inscribed on and through the bodies of Aguilera and Kim." They suggested that this example detracted the message of the track by emphasizing the problem that "female heterosexuality" is confined to "the very limited range of ways" in mainstream culture, in this instance "gender and race [and] sexual behaviour".[53]
In March 2019, Brazilian singerAnitta paid tribute to Aguilera's attire from the "Can't Hold Us Down" music video, wearing an almost identical outfit.[54][55]
Though Lil' Kim and Christina have not performed the song together, Aguilera performed "Can't Hold Us Down" on herJustified & Stripped Tour, which was held in support of Aguilera'sStripped andJustin Timberlake's albumJustified (2002).[56] In late 2003, the track was included on the setlist ofthe Stripped Tour,[57] which acted as the Justified and Stripped Tour's extension and happened without Timberlake's acts.[58] The performance in London was included on the singer's first full-length DVDStripped Live in the U.K. (2004).[59] On herBack to Basics Tour (2006–08), Aguilera performed excerpts of "Can't Hold Us Down" in a medley with "Still Dirrty".[60]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Julia Knowles (director), Sharon Ali (producer) and Christina Aguilera (singer-songwriter, producer) (October 12, 2004).Stripped Live in the U.K. United Kingdom: RCA Records.
Besigiroha, Linda (2010). "Independent women? Feminist discourse in music videos". In Gymnich, Marion; Ruhl, Kathrin; Scheunemann, Klaus (eds.).Gendered (Re)Visions: Constructions of Gender in Audiovisual Media. Göttingen, Germany: Bonn University Press (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht). pp. 227–252.ISBN9783899716627.
Railton, Diane; Watson, Paul (2005). "Naughty girls and red-blooded women: Representations of female heterosexuality in music video".Feminist Media Studies.5 (1):51–63.doi:10.1080/14680770500058207.S2CID144307744.
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