Christina Aguilera says in the initial days of her music career her record label wanted her to maintain an image of a girl-next-door, which would even involve them approving a kind of wardrobe she sported.
The 37-year-old singer, who became a pop star with her '90s hit single "Genie in a Bottle" at the age of 18, has revealed that the controlling behaviour of RCA records, made her feel like "a weird Barbie".
"My very first video ever, sporting the midriff, that was the times! That was the main thing, me, Brit Brit (Britney Spears) just sporting the crop tops!
"At that point in my career, I was still playing the label game, and I was going to these fittings where I was just being watched by certain members of the label and it was very like 'that's approved, that's not approved' So it was super confining and super restricting and it made me feel like a weird Barbie of sorts," Aguilera told W magazine.
"But it was paying my dues and at least it was successful enough to get my foot in the door, and at least looking at this one it wasn't that bad," she added.
The singer said, she, however, decided to ditch her image with the release of "Dirrty" and said she had the "best time" of her life filming the video.
"This just has to be one of my all-time favourite videos ever it was living life at 21 at its best and bringing chaps to the scene and controversy flared and sometimes that's what being creative, being an artist and a risk-taker is all about, and I look back at that video for just being one of the best times," Aguilera said.
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