Ain't No Other Man
"Ain't No Other Man" is a song recorded by the American singer Christina Aguilera from her fifth studio album Back to Basics. Aguilera co-wrote the song with Kara DioGuardi, Charles Martin Roane, Harold Beatty and its producer DJ Premier. "Ain't No Other Man" is a pop, funk and R&B song that incorporates elements of soul, blues and jazz music. Lyrically, the song was inspired by her marriage to Jordan Bratman in 2005.
"Ain't No Other Man" was released as the lead single from Back to Basics on June 6, 2006, by RCA Records. It received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its musical style and deemed it a standout on the album. Commercially, the single peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one in Croatia, and peaked within the top five of record charts of several other countries including Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video for "Ain't No Other Man" was directed by Bryan Barber. The music video goes back in time and depicts Aguilera as her then newly established alter ego "Baby Jane". The music video was praised for the "mature" image that Aguilera adopted.
"Ain't No Other Man" won Aguilera a Broadcast Music, Inc. Pop Award, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. The music video received four nominations at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. The single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over two million units.
Background and production
Following the release of her fourth studio album, Stripped, and several collaborations, Aguilera decided to incorporate elements of 1930s and 1940s musical styles in her follow-up album project. She commented that she wished to evolve as an artist and a visionary in between production of the records. Aguilera sent letters to various producers whom 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.The final product, her fifth album Back to Basics, comprises two discs. For the first half disc, Aguilera collaborated with "more beat-driven" producers including DJ Premier and Mark Ronson, who incorporated musical samples into many of the recordings. She described it as "kind of a throwback with elements of jazz, blues and soul music combined with a modern-day twist, like hard-hitting beats". The contents of the second disc were written and produced solely by Linda Perry, Aguilera's longtime collaborator. Aguilera had first collaborated with DJ Premier after hearing his jazz-influenced work with Gang Starr. She revealed that she was impressed, and she also wanted to make jazz-influenced materials. Aguilera stated that she was unsure if DJ Premier would accept the offer, having been his first time working with pop music. Premier later agreed and commented,
"I was surprised I got that call 'cause of our differences in the audiences we hit, but I'm always up for challenges and trying something new... She described what her album is about and then she sent me some CDs of what type of stuff's been inspiring her to make the record, and it happened to be a lot of stuff that I grew up on in the early '70s, 'cause I'm 40. Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Marvin Gaye, Esther Williams, all kinds of different things. Once I saw that's the vibe she wanted, I still had to make it sound like the way my beats thump and stuff but still give her the atmosphere she's trying to bring out on the singing side."
Composition
"Ain't No Other Man" was written and produced by Aguilera, DJ Premier, and Charles Roane, with additional songwriting provided by Harold Beatty and Kara DioGuardi. It is a pop, funk and R&B song with elements of old-school soul, blues and jazz. Thus, the song is a mixture of old-school and contemporary materials, according to Aguilera herself.The track contains a brass sample from "Hippy Skippy Moon Strut" by Dave Cortez & The Moon People, and a vocal sample "The Cissy's Thang" by the Soul Seven. Its instrumentation incorporates keyboards, guitar, drums, percussion, and horns. The arrangement of the instruments on "Ain't No Other Man" was described as "raw" and "ass-shaking". Several critics complimented the mixture between old and modern materials; Jody Rosen from Entertainment Weekly claimed that the jazzy melody from the track suited Aguilera perfectly, while Dorian Lyskey of The Guardian deemed the melody of "Ain't No Other Man" "fun" and "crispy".
"Ain't No Other Man" is written in the key of F minor, with a moderate fast tempo of 132 beats per minute. Aguilera's vocal range on the track spans from A3 to C5. Dorian Lyskey of The Guardian noted that the beats of the song are "brassy" and have the same "aerobic oomph" as Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love", while Jody Rosen from Entertainment Weekly deemed the track "exhilarating". According to Aguilera; lyrically, "Ain't No Other Man" is not a love song, but actually intertwines with the events that she experienced in real life. The song seems to be about Aguilera's husband, Jordan Bratman, but is really simply about feeling good. During an interview with MTV News, Aguilera said of the song, "I wanted to make it light and easy for people to dance to and sing along to... Lyrically, I just got married, so it's about someone in particular, but it's all about feeling good and not taking anything too seriously".
Sampling lawsuit
In 2011, American publishing company TufAmeria sued Sony Music for the brass sample of Dave Cortez & The Moon People's "Hippy Skippy Moon Strut", which is based on "I'll Be a Happy Man" by The Latin Blues Band featuring Luis Aviles. According to a federal lawsuit filed in New York, TufAmerica purchased the exclusive rights to the track in 2004; nevertheless, Sony Music made a deal with Codigo Music and Clyde Otis Music Group to acquire the sample.Release
While writing "Ain't No Other Man", Aguilera drew inspiration from her husband Jordan Bratman, whom she wedded in 2005. DJ Premier described the track as a "sassy" and "old-Aretha 'Respect'" recording. He further commented that its pace was "too fast", "like 130 beats per minute" and different from his earlier projects. Though lyrics had yet to be written, Aguilera was "in love" with the "high energy" track when she first heard it. Consequentially, she chose to service "Ain't No Other Man" as the lead single from Back to Basics. A remix featuring rapper Chamillionaire was released additionally. Originally Big Boi was supposed to record a verse for the song.In May 2023, the official house remix of the single was released, produced by British duo Murphy's Law. Titled "Ain't No Other Man ", it was distributed by RCA and Legacy Recordings. Aguilera herself approved the new, electronic version of the song.
Critical reception
"Ain't No Other Man" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed "Ain't No Other Man" as one of the best tracks on Back to Basics. Jody Rosen from Entertainment Weekly wrote that the track "whizzes past at such a furious pace". John Murphy for musicOMH compared Aguilera's vocals on the track to Mariah Carey's. He further wrote that the song makes "you sit up and take notice" and deemed "Ain't No Other Man" "the best pop/R&B crossover" since Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love". Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone selected the track as one of the best from the first disc of Back to Basics. The same magazine praised the song for its "brassy horn samples and even brassier vocals". Charles Aaron of Spin placed the song third in his list, deeming it "blass-blasting". Stylus Magazine critic Thomas Inskeep complimented the track's mix of old-school and contemporary styles. He also called it a "sexy, sassy" song and "one of the year's best pop singles". Sean Daly of the Tampa Bay Times described the song as a "club-scorching marvel of dance-club breathlessness and brassy blasts". Entertainment Weekly's Melissa Maerz considered it "one of the most romantic marriage anthems ever". Dorian Lyskey from The Guardian gave Back to Basics a negative review, but likened "Ain't No Other Man" to Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love", calling it "brilliant" and "the tune of summer". Writing for The Morning Call, Len Righi commented that "Ain't No Other Man", "Understand" and "Slow Down Baby" "put her at Aretha Franklin's doorstep". Kelefa Sanneh for The New York Times praised the song as "the album's glorious, mile-a-minute hit single, which proves once again that no one can roar like Ms. Aguilera". Dan Gennoe of UK Yahoo! Music called it an "ass-shaking" and "sweety back-in-the-day soul" song.Billboard opined that "Ain't No Other Man" was a "savvy blend of the styles".
Accolades
At the 2007 Grammy Awards, "Ain't No Other Man" earned Aguilera a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The song also earned a BMI Award in 2008. The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll voted "Ain't No Other Man" as the third best single of 2006. The song placed at number 32 on Pitchforks list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2006. Rolling Stone ranked "Ain't No Other Man" at number 18 on their list of 2006's best songs, Paweł Nowotarski of Porcys named it the 11th best song of the year, Digital Dream Door called it the 17th best song of 2006, and LiveAbout placed it at number nineteen of a similar list. New York Post positioned the track at number thirty-three on its list of the "206 Best Songs to Download from 2006". "Ain't No Other Man" has also been nominated for the J-Wave Award, reaching number five on the countdown of the hundred best songs of the year.Billboard deemed it "a pop classic", and placed it on its list of the 50 Best Love Songs of the 21st Century. The British magazine i-D listed it at number thirty-eight in the Best Pop Comebacks of the 21st Century ranking, calling it "immaculate". The song was also included in the book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery.