"Slow Down Baby" is a song by American recording artist

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

from her fifth studio album, '' Back to Basics'' (2006). It was released as the album's fourth single on July 28, 2007 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. It was written by Aguilera,

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

and Raymond Angry, and produced by Ronson and co-produced by Aguilera. The song is built around samples of "Window Raisin' Granny" (1973) by American group

Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

and "

So Seductive "So Seductive" is a song by Tony Yayo as the first single from his debut album '' Thoughts of a Predicate Felon'' (2005), it features guest vocals from 50 Cent, and was produced by Punch, who helped write the song along with Tony Yayo and 50 Ce ...

" (2005) by American rapper

Tony Yayo Marvin Bernard (born March 31, 1978), better known by his stage name Tony Yayo, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of G-Unit, a hip hop group he formed with his childhood friends 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks. Yayo released his deb ...

. Due to the inclusion of the samples, the original songs' writers obtained writing credits. Musically, "Slow Down Baby" is a pop and R&B song that incorporates elements of funk, hip hop and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

. It features

claviola The Claviola is a musical instrument that was designed in the 1960s by Hohner technician and designer Ernst Zacharias (inventor of the Pianet and Clavinet). The instrument was produced for a few months in the late 1990s before being discontinue ...

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, organ and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

instrumentation. The single was only released in Australia during the Oceanian leg of Aguilera's

Back to Basics Tour The Back to Basics Tour was the fourth concert tour and third world tour by American singer Christina Aguilera. The tour was launched to support her fifth studio album, '' Back to Basics'' (2006). It visited Europe, North America, Asia, and Austra ...

(2007). "Slow Down Baby" peaked at number 21 on the Australian Singles Chart, although it did not receive any promotion in that country.

Background

Aguilera's fifth studio album, ''Back to Basics'', is made up of two discs. Aguilera worked with "more beat-driven" producers on the first disc, such as

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

and

, who included samples in the production. The second disc consists solely of collaborations with producer

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...

. Aguilera sent letters to different producers that she hoped could help her with the direction she was taking for the project, encouraging them to experiment, re-invent and create a modern soul feel. She described the first disc as "kind of a throwback with elements of jazz, blues and soul music combined with a modern-day twist, like hard-hitting beats". Aguilera and Ronson wrote "Slow Down Baby" alongside

and Raymond Angry, and Ronson completed the production with assistance from Aguilera. In an interview for '' Herald Sun'', Ronson elaborated on the collaboration: "I heard

guilera Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

was looking for tracks. I was a bit narrow-minded, I assumed nothing I was doing would be something she'd be into. I sent around some hip hop tracks I had lying about and got a call four days later saying she liked them." He stated that he had initially imagined offering "Slow Down Baby" to someone like rap duo M.O.P. Ronson provided the beats and played the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and bass, while Angry played the

, organ and

. Ronson recorded Aguilera's vocals at Allido Sound in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and additional recording was helmed by Oscar Ramirez at

The Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California. Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado later completed the mixing process at Larrabee North in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

Composition

"Slow Down Baby" is an

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

pop and R&B song that blends modern and "old school" R&B. It has elements of funk, hip hop and

. Nick Levine of Digital Spy called it "hot'n'horny retropop", and ''

JournalNews The ''Journal-News'' is a daily newspaper published by Cox Enterprises in Liberty Township, Butler County, Ohio, United States. It formed in 2013 from the merger of the '' Hamilton JournalNews'' in Hamilton and '' The Middletown Journal'' in M ...

'' critic Sonia Murray observed that it "savvily" combines hip hop and early soul. "Slow Down Baby"'s instrumentation consists of pianos and

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, which recall the 1970s blaxploitation film genre. In the lyrics, Aguilera tells a "lusty" man to leave her alone as she sings, "If you knew anything you'd realise I'm wearing a ring". The song contains two samples, "Window Raisin' Granny" (1973) by R&B group

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

—written by William Guest, Merald Knight, Edward Patten and

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

—and "

" (2005) by rapper

—written by Marvin Bernard, Michael Harper and

Curtis Jackson Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

. Due to its sampling, the original songs' writers are credited as songwriters. According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, "Slow Down Baby" is written in the time signature of

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

with a moderate beat rate of 110

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. The song is written in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

and Aguilera's vocal range spans from the low-note of A₃ to the high-note of G₅. According to Spence D. of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, "Slow Down Baby" interpolates a "vocal page" from LL Cool J's " Jingling Baby" (1990).

Critical reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' critic Dorian Lyskey was positive regarding "Slow Down Baby", writing that it "smartly slaps a 50 Cent samplehow funk". John Murphy of musicOMH named it one of the album's highlights and deemed it "fresh and funky". Moreover, Murphy called it "sharp and sassy infectious pop" and used it as an example of Aguilera being "at her best". Writing for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', Joan Anderman commented that the song's "tangle of horns and pianos repushed to the edge of sonic sense". Len Righi of ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...

'' wrote that Aguilera "sings with remarkable conviction" throughout the album, but the soul and funk of "Slow Down Baby" put her at "Aretha Franklin's doorstep". ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgini ...

'' writer Malcolm Venable commented that "Slow Down Baby", alongside "Back in the Day" and "Without You", displays Aguilera's "well-shaking" vocals and "tight, seemingly effortless songwriting". Jody Rosen of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' wrote that the song "neatly blends old- and new-school R&B". ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' critic Sean Daly referred "Slow Down Baby" to as "the very essence of Aguilera", indicating "old school, new school and big vocal belting". Spence D. of

recommended "Slow Down Baby" for digital download and commended Aguilera's "throaty insistence". Scott Mervis of ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

'' wrote that the song, alongside the album's first single "

Ain't No Other Man "Ain't No Other Man" is a song by the American singer Christina Aguilera from her fifth studio album '' Back to Basics'' (2006). Aguilera co-wrote the song with Kara DioGuardi, Charles Martin Roane, Harold Beatty and the producer DJ Premier. "Ain ...

" and "Understand", "keep

on the track of torchy old-school soul that lets her limitless voice run wild and free". In 2010, Digital Spy's critic Nick Levine included "Slow Down Baby" on a list of Aguilera's ten best songs.

Commercial performance

To promote the Oceanian leg of the

, "Slow Down Baby" was released as the album's fourth single on July 28, 2007, in Australia. It debuted at number 41 on the ARIA Digital Tracks chart in the issue dated July 23, 2007. The song later entered the main singles chart at number 21 in the issue dated August 6, 2007. The position became its peak, which made it Aguilera's first single since " I Turn to You" (2000) to miss the top ten. The same week, "Slow Down Baby" debuted at number 20 on the physical singles chart, and rose to number 22 on the digital chart. It remained on the main chart for six weeks.

Live performances

Aguilera first performed the song during a concert held in front of 1,500 fans and invited guests in London on July 20, 2006. The 40-minute concert comprised songs from the then-upcoming ''Back to Basics'' and other songs, including "

Lady Marmalade "Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of " ''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi''?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line t ...

" (2001) and "

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

" (2002). Aguilera ended the show with "Slow Down Baby", and David Smyth of ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' commented that the song "rounded things up with big horns and bigger beats". The song was later performed during the worldwide Back to Basics Tour. The performance was preceded by newspapers headlines that flashed across a big screen, such as, "Christina goes from '

dirrty "Dirrty" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera featuring American rapper Redman, released as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''Stripped''. Despite Aguilera's first three years of commercial success, sh ...

' to demure" and "Christina cleans up her act". Aguilera wore black lace thigh-high boots and a white bodysuit. The performance is included on the video release '' Back to Basics: Live and Down Under'' (2008).

Formats and track listing

*CD single and digital download #"Slow Down Baby" (album version) – 3:27 #"Slow Down Baby" (instrumental version) – 3:27

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the "Slow Down Baby" liner notes. Recording and samples * Recorded at Allido Sound, New York City and

, Los Angeles, California * Contains a sample from "Window Raisin' Granny", written by William Guest, M. Knight, Edward Patten and

as performed by

* Contains a sample from "So Seductive", written by Marvin Bernard, Michael Harper and

as performed by

Personnel * Lead vocals -

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Christina Aguilera,

, Raymond Angry, William Guest, M. Knight, Edward Patton, Gladys Knight, Marvin Bernard, Michael Harper *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Mark Ronson * Additional production – Christina Aguilera * Beats,

and bass – Mark Ronson * Clav, organ and

– Raymond Angry *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

– Mark Ronson, Oscar Ramirez * Mixing – Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado * Assistant mixing – The Blitzburg Group

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2006 songs 2007 singles Christina Aguilera songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Mark Ronson Songs written by 50 Cent Songs written by Christina Aguilera Songs written by Kara DioGuardi Songs written by Mark Ronson Sony BMG singles