Christina Aguilera Meets Raye: Two Vocal Powerhouses Dream of Duets

I mean, even the fact that she sings barefoot. I've already fucked up my legs and my feet so bad with all this high heel nonsense shenanigans. I feel like when I'm wearing shoes, I'm thinking about wearing shoes. Yeah, yeah. Is that weird? No, it's annoying. Right? I'm just in awe and in love with your talent and your voice and everything you're doing is just so elevated and beautiful, I think to so much of what I see and your own unique vibe in your musicianship and artistry. It just seems like you just definitely, you can tell your core is music based. Like it's about that first. And I love that about you. Because I think, yeah, you hear, especially when you have a really, a hit song and it's breaking wide open, you don't really get a full feel of what an artist is really about until you really see someone do it live. And then when I saw you, I was like, what, what, what? Like, oh, oh, she's going to be around. Oh, so good. I'm like, oh, she's here to stay. I see what's happening here. Yeah, and I was just so drawn to it because yeah, you built this whole, I don't want to say persona, because I feel like you're so versatile in what you can do. And I just, I love that about you too. You can break wide open on a beat and just literally give it that sort of swag or make it orchestral. And I guess that was my question is, where do you get all these jazz influences? I mean, I feel like we're all just sponges. I think like what we listen to and feed ourselves is subconsciously what we regurgitate, I guess. So I think for me, I've been just listening to the great, especially over the last two, three years, it's just Ella and Etta and Dinah Washington. I love jazz. I don't know why I've kind of stumbled on it because I grew up in a house of like a lot of gospel and I grew up in a church. It was kind of like a lot of like soul music. Yeah, church music and kind of, you know, when they're up there playing and then the vibe changes and they all go with the vibe and it's not rehearsed and it's kind of ad-libbed and stuff like that. But if you're going to go jazzy, you have to be able to back that up vocally. You know what I mean? So like that's why I just, I love also, like I just feel like both of us being vocalists we're drawn to things that are a bit challenging and like, I just even love how you're vibrato sound like. Like all your note choices. I just, I love listening to true vocalists, you know, who really pick and choose the notes and the intricacies that go into each stylistic choice within a live performance because it's one thing to do it on record, but you are challenging yourself with every big performance to see, you know, how you're revamping that. Do you work with a very specific, like, cause after doing it, you know, so many years, I just know like, I had someone that I worked very closely with as my musical director for some time. Then, you know, people have kids, people have lives, like things change or, you know, people take, whatever happens, you know, life is life, but how does that work for you? What is your process? Do you have someone you work very closely with? I'm so lucky that I have, I've had this tour manager who worked with me since I was about, since I started out doing shows about 15 and he loves music and plays a couple of instruments and stuff like that. So he was my tour manager for ages, but as we got to know each other better, I was like, oh, you just really just want to be in the thick of the music. And now we're at a place where we travel around everywhere together and then we make the arrangements. We do it all on a laptop whilst we're on the road. And then once we have the arrangements, we love. It's your tour manager? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So we literally do it together. Is he a producer? He's just a musician, like a proper muso though. You know? What does he play? He plays bass, he plays keys, he plays guitar. And he's your tour manager. And he's, yeah. So he used to be a session musician. Does he play too? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was like, that's a lot of hats. No, he's called Pete. He's called Pete Clemens and he's amazing, but he's now my musical director and we do it together really. And it allows it to be, you know, we have loads of different versions and edits and also an intention, you know, because it's like, for a moment, like FNL, I'm like, I wanna give the best that I can. I want people to watch that and be like, oh. So we're like, how do we cram musicianship in there, but then not do too, well, I did way too much. Sorry. We went through it. I always say, your team is your everything. Having your right, like solid core people in place for you is everything. Because you can be as talented, as amazing as you wanna be, but you have to have the right support system. You know, you really do. And just having any support system isn't, you know, isn't gonna work at having the right one that suits you. like, especially being, you know, you, I'm only just starting to do whatever and, you know, you get quite like, ah, and like trust is like such a big thing and feeling safe around people, like bringing people into the team. Like, how do you know? You'll never quite know. That's what I've noticed. I mean, I'm a big gut girl. You know, I definitely have always been one that, you know, being true to where my core is and what my true, my truth, where that lies to me is really important sense to me to stay grounded. And, because yes, this business is crazy, but you know, I don't know. I feel like as an artist too, it's important. I think your biggest gift as an artist is to be able to listen. You know, it's like we exude a lot, but it's, you know, we're great listeners too. That's why we're absorbing everything, but it's really hard because I'm a person that, like, I'm so sad, like, I'm, you know, what a business to be in as a creative. you know, when you're a sensitive person, this business is crazy, but there's a lot, a lot of things to be learned, you know, over time. And, time always tells, but you start to be able to navigate certain things, I think, better. And sometimes it's really disappointing when you're like, really, we're that far in my life as a grown woman. I've been through the crooks and the critics and the this, and the that. And like, oh, like I just, I hate when you're like still, when someone just still does that thing where you're just, they disappoint. You know? I got sad. But you have to protect it. You know, you have to protect your space and your energy, knowing going into it that you, you're this kind of way, you're this kind of person. It's our, it's our greatest gift to be able to absorb all the energy and feel it and then churn it and regurgitate it in a way that, I think, our intention is to spread so much joy and love with what we do. And all we want to do is to be able to inspire the next us, you know? At least for me, anyway. That's, that's the ultimate goal. And I think what's really hard is that, you know, then you start to, you know, it starts with like, such a fun dream and goal and you're seeing the musicians that you love and you know, then you're up there with them and it's so fun. And sometimes it takes a toll where it's like, oh, I forgot it is a business. It's, you know, it's a lot of work. You have to have endurance. You know, you have to, but I think, and I've always said this, you have to really, you have to really want to do it. Cause it can't be about any other reason than wanting to do it or else it's going to just burn you out and you'll have nothing left. And that's the other thing that you have to be careful of. Were there moments in your career where you didn't feel in control of your career? And if so, how did you process that? I mean, I think, I mean, so, so much of it. I mean, I think that, this business, I think it's, it's really hard because as a creative person too, I think that when you truly care, you're like a control freak, you know? And it's really hard to relinquish control. And at the same time, like you just, you have to at a certain point to just give yourself away and allow yourself to do that. but look, I've been working since, you know, I was a really little girl. I grew up. Yeah. I grew up like, singing like block parties, pool parties, weddings, like six, seven years old. Actually, no, like seven, eight national anthems. When I was like nine and like, where my mom ended up residing, moving in with my grandma after my mom and dad got divorced in Pittsburgh. So I did like all the anthems there at a young age. And then, and so I've been working, you know, I've been working since, since I was a kid. And so, also the time I, I came in to this business, it was, it was a time when, it was, there was a really big pop boom there. And it was very, like, it was very specific. That's what a label wanted a pop star to look like, to sound like what they wanted them to wear. You know, it was a very specific thing and it's fine. Like I, I wanted it so bad. And, and you're a kid and I, you know, I knew what I liked, but every time I even tried to, to say, you know, or even sing, you know, that, that first record that I did, we're coming up on the 25th anniversary of it. Actually, this fall, crazy. But, and you know, I still like, I reinvent the material now, you know, in new ways. But, that was definitely a record in a time where, you know, it was definitely told to me like, oh, you can't sing that way. You're over singing. Like we're not doing runs or ad-libs. You know, it was very specific. Like I did everything I could. But yeah, like when you feel like your voice is stifled in any way. I mean, there's, there's different episodes of that. There's different, you know, that have come within the past, you know, couple of decades. But you know, yeah, you're gonna have situations where you're just, you feel like it's the worst feeling in the world. When you feel like you have no creative control, or you're in a position where your hands are tied, or, or you have to be a specific way for television and network and, you know, studio heads that are conservative, you know, it's just no place for an artist. So when my hands feel too bound and tied, and I feel like there's no breathing room, I'm also a stag. So I feel like I need, I need space to roam free and just go. Then that, that's where I start to really suffer. And like, I know that that's not a healthy place for me to be. So I just, I need to like re-evaluate, okay, what are we doing? How do I get back to like where I need to be creatively, to be happy. That's why Stripped was called Stripped, because it was just like, let me strip everything down. Yeah. Like, it was just like a, almost like a, yeah, a term that was just like, felt very, like almost visceral, like just like literally strip, strip away. Anything that I just really feel is like a layer. I don't, that doesn't feel good, you know, and isn't authentic to me. Yeah. And that's where that, all those feelings just were so like, bubbled up and busting over from, on that record with, all my diary entries that I'd been keeping and, where you got like, you know, the, what people thought was over-sexualized dirty, but it was just so freeing to me to, to fight her, you know, like being wronged and, and now my fans call it like, everything happens for a reason. Yeah. you have to look at it. That's fine. Look at it that way. But how did you deal with being such a female powerhouse, but in the time where I feel like, obviously from my perspective, you see things that are, wrong now and stuff like that, but like, coming up in a time where it really was just, gatekeepers and just like, sexist, just men being like, do that, do this. There was a time, yeah, where I was just like, literally living in New York as a teenager, shopping for a record deal, like, couch hopping and like, just trying to, I was around a lot of adult male conversation that was, you know, it's a lot to take in. And this is before, you know, you feel like you have a say in anything and you're just, still like, sort of fully minding your peeve and cube and you're trying to get your foot in the door and you're just, trying to learn everything and absorb everything and not, upset anyone. Because trust me, yeah, if the wrong person who's being, even inappropriate, you know what I mean? Gets wind of it, then it's your fault. Like I've been through all of that too. But yes, I was, yeah. The music you create could never have been that, without what you are. But having to kind of, shelter that and suppress that in the environment, to not upset egos and dancing around egos. Yeah, yeah. I think that's a part, probably what pushed that. The fact that I felt, there was such a suppression and such a, right or wrong way I was told a woman should act or sound, or look like or, or feel like from a very male perspective, you know, that I was constantly surrounded by, you know, a lot of like male, studio heads and producers and you know, now, the industry looks a lot different now. Like there are a lot more female presence and it's, it's really exciting to see. And also, the conversation is more open and communicative, where we see each other more, even though, you know, social media and the, all the exposure is a lot and it's unproductive sometimes. It also actually is, I can see where it is a benefit though, because we do, we are able to see each other more, from our own personal perspectives, rather than allowing it to just be in a journalist's hand. You know what I mean? Because, which is not a question, what does it feel like breaking in a time of all that? Because, then you're getting, you know, not just one journalist's perspective that might be off, but like a whole, you know, all the comments, everything, there's just like a lot, you know, which I don't even. I don't comment. Do you read comments? Absolutely not. You just don't read them. I mean, yeah. And even my like social, like I, you know, I have, I have a life. I cannot be like consumed with, you know, that aspect all the time. Like I just can't do it. Like literally I have to like, have my sanity. I want to live my life. I don't like to be affected or feel affected by, you know, people's opinions or like, I think that's so harmful. You know? Completely. Okay. So onto that, I would love to ask you, what is right now, your top five favorite songs that you've ever written? Probably, you know, I got to do a song on Strip that was about sort of revealing, and Linda Perry at the time, you know, she did Beautiful and all of that. She did a lot of work with those records. What she encouraged me to do a song called I'm Okay. It was on Strip about sort of touching on, you know, some of my reflections on my childhood and my strange relationship with my father. you know, some of the, you know, chaos and abuse that I had growing up. So probably songs like that. She did it in such a beautiful way. We had this just, it's such a tender song and I'm literally crying on the record. So, you know, it was very, so the opposite of like that first record, you know, where I had to feel so confined. It was like, this was just so, when I wanted to go there though, I really wanted to be as vulnerable and open as possible. Oh Mother is one that I dedicated for my mom on Back to Basics about just like us getting through that. Three would be Fighter probably. Just because my fans have like adapted, adopted that term for themselves. Cause man, they've got such incredible stories. You know, fans are, they're just so like, ride or die. And they're just, they just have, you know, so many stories of their own to tell. And so I'm most like, out of respect for them, just like love that song so much more, you know? What is that? Two more. No, it's not my favorite song sometimes to perform, but it's like, if I loosen and have fun with it, Ain't No Other Man is fun. Cause I got DJ Premier on there and it was just so fun doing that initial, like fun run. Would you do a lot of really fun runs? Oh, yeah. I've been taking notes from the Queen. I've been taking notes. Your run, yeah. Unbelievable, yeah. Can I just tell you, that run, that, I don't even want to do it in front of you, but I can't. But I, I rehearsed and practiced. I could not get it straight away. It took me so long to try and get my voice to just do. And even the way you closed it off was so disgusting. That's a compliment. Yeah. It was so rude. I was like, oh, do you kind of freestyle things like that? Or do you kind of do like 10 runs and choose the one you love the most and then rehearse it to make it perfect and then go? Like, what's the vibe? No, I'm pretty programmed when it comes to that kind of thing. Yeah. Unless it's like more of like a vibey song where it's like, say like, off a strip, let's just say like, Loving Me For Me, where it's a very like soft, like low, like jazz vibey song where you're just like doing airy runs and things like that. But when it's down to business and there's no music and yeah, we're going for like a range moment. Cause you don't also want to like overkill yourself if you don't have an exact vision. You know what I mean? You want to strain your voice and you're doing like, you know, these endless takes doing, what are we doing? You know, like I love to get to the point and really perfect what it is we're doing and like go into all like the micro details of what all the little, you know, note placements as you know, inside of a run. And I, you know, I have a mathematical approach where literally, if you're trying to also communicate with an engineer, like let's do a volume texture shift in like, you know, like say, like so it's like on the eight, you know what I mean? Like I have to like, you have to put like a number to it. You know what I mean? To be able to communicate and like it's, it's, it's. Wow. So you group each note by a number and be like, to be able to communicate. Yeah. I need it to be that. Yeah. Cause I'm, I'm not the girl that sits behind a line board visually and does my own. I'm like, God bless Ariana. I'm not that girl. You know, I'm just like, I'm here to do that. And you guys sit with that for a minute. But in order to communicate that with somebody, I understand how like, as you know, being a perfectionist and control freak, you'd want to like do, you know, you want to get into those moments and really get them right. But yeah, you're right. Yeah, exactly. But that's how it's like our language. The first time I heard you was with escapism. Of course you have a voice, but just the way you, you so cleverly wrote that song, you know, and just tied in all the word play. Like, you know, I love something whenever you can tell, like, it's just so like, just well-written. It didn't sound like too forced. Like it was like effortlessly clever and, you know, really. Oh, thank you. How did O7O Shake, by the way, come up? That happened because the engineer that I worked on my album with, also engineers for Shake. And when I discovered her music, I was like, oh my God. And it was not. So I think also when I met her, I was at such a time where I was just, I was in the mill, like putting out music that I just really hated. And it was before I'd put my album together, you know, time before. And she's just said something really potent to me. And it's like, you know, if you don't like your music, then what are you doing this for? And you know, it's so obvious, but you need someone to just smack you in the face of it. And I was like, rah, you're right. You know, and then from there, and I began a mill of everything, and then I became independent. And then I really wanted her to be part of the album. Also, she's like a really good friend of mine. Is she really? Yeah. She's so lovely. Such a real one. And so talented. Yeah. I'm a fan of her too. So the two of you together, I was like, oh, favorite song. Yeah. One from your album that I really love is on the Oscar winning Tears. Oh wow. It's sick. That's like the kind of song that I feel like, that would be like a fun song to sing. Oh my God. If you were singing that song, you would eat that song. What? It's like a fun, that's like a fun singer song. Yeah. Is it fun to just dig your heels into? It is. I love to sing it, but you know what? It's one of the ones, when you're singing it every night, you're like, oh. Cause it takes a lot out of you, isn't it? To do them notes. And I've been trying to work out how I can put it in a different place in my larynx. So it kind of feels as grand, but I'm not killing myself to do it. Yeah. I get what you're saying. Yeah. Because you know, sometimes I have to be honest, it's kind of like, I've noticed this about certain things. Cause there'll be new songs that are like more like recent off of things. And I'm like, I get so like in my head and fearful of like hitting a note and I'm like, oh, like, and I can just tell it like gets in my head. Whereas then if I like compare it to say, Lady Marmalade, where there's a lot of big notes. And I'm just like, they just, for whatever reason, I and I just, for some kind of memory, they've just sit, like you're saying in the back of my throat, where it's just like, it's a very like, it just, my voice just goes there. But it's, it is from like a very like, oh, I know this note. I know I've done it a thousand times. Like I'm not afraid of it. Because I know it's there. And it's there, you know? And it's just a programmed exactly what it is all the time. But yeah, the newer I'm just like, wait, that note in Lady M or Burlesque, whatever is higher. But like this, this one is lower. And I'm like, terrified of it. So it could also be a mental thing in it. Yeah. You know, I do a vocal warmup routine. You know how it, what is your, what is your routine before a show or? My vocals, the artist takes time, my vocal coach. And he has like this giant straw that I like put into like a bottle of water. I've never done the straw thing. Does it help? Is it good? I quite like it. Really? I think it's because it vibrates subtly, any kind of mucusy. So it's really gross, but you know, any sort of phlegm or anything that's just sat on your vocals, it just helps like get it off. It's so funny. You know, I sometimes I like the mucus. Cause it like helps with the like. It happens. It does though. You're actually hilarious. You know, when you're in the booth and you need to clear your throat, but you're like, actually let me know. Let's just see what happens. I feel you. Back when my voice was like super, super clean and I was baby, baby vocalist. It was just like, I had to like drink milkshakes to give me more grit. To get you off. I'm obsessed. What? That is so fire. Yeah. Do you think also like that, that cleanness is less so now and in a good way. Oh, the clean in, in your vocals, you know how you were saying that when you were really, really young. Yeah. Super, super clean. Yeah. I mean like, I, it's cute, but like I, I much prefer my voice now to be honest because it has, which is, which is what I loved about all the singers that I grew up like loving and wanting to emulate and be inspired by because they had, you know, that's why I just love soul and jazz and it tells stories. And it's just like through the grit and the, whether it's the emotional, like soaring and stinging over the nose or the grain and the grit that goes into like a rasp that only comes from experience. Yeah. You know, it's like, you can't force it or buy it. You just, you know, it just feels lived in. It does. you know, I'll, I'll take a little imperfection and a little, just to give me that rasp. A little rough entertainment. Yeah. Because I think it's cute, you know, like something that Linda, Linda Perry, you know, who in my experience with her first trip, she got me to open up a lot out of like being this like over perfectionist, like vocalist in a way where she did teach me a lot about like the, the imperfections become the perfection because it's where the emotion lies. That's beautiful. And, and it's true, you know, we don't want to be cracking all the time. No. But you know what I mean? There's like really raw, amazing things that come up with like a cry or a rasp, you know, in a voice and yeah. What is to your memory, the toughest vocal performance you've ever had to do? And it could be maybe a mental thing or maybe just the, how big the song was. Yeah. I think it's probably a song for you. And I did it with Herbie Hancock. So yeah, it was on a, an album. I think it was an album called duets and it was like, it was a, so I did that song with Herbie Hancock and it was just, Oh my God. The arrangement. Yeah. It was so intricate. It was so delicate and every, and it was full of ad-libs. It was, it was a lot to try and perfect that live. And, and also Herbie is quite like experimental himself, of course, I mean, legend and like honor. So it was just, you know, that was just a big one. I sang run to you for Whitney Houston in front of her, her song for, that was a big one, which was nerve wracking, but she couldn't have been like, so like just more sweet and lovely. And just, that was a, that was an honor and difficult. That was me too. And then the third top most difficult was, and it meant a lot to me, but it was also my, the funnest one for me. This was a fun one. It was the James Brown tribute. It's a man's world for the Grammy. That, I love that song. That was fun. That was, that was a fun one. Yeah. It's just like, when you just get to like, just sink your teeth in and just go and just run. It was fun. You should write to Game On. I would love that. I really love that. Are you joking? I would love that. Thanks for all that stuff. Oh, well, that's going to happen. Oh my God, that would be insane. So manifesting that, that would be my answer. Yeah.