Mi Reflejo () is the second studio album and first Spanish-language album by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on September 12, 2000 as a joint effort between RCA Records and BMG U.S. Latin. After the commercial success of her first album, Christina Aguilera (1999), Aguilera recorded her follow-up project during 2000. It includes five Spanish-language versions of tracks from her previous album, in addition to four original compositions and two cover songs. The tracks were adapted and composed by Rudy Pérez who also produced the album.
In the United States, Mi Reflejo peaked at number-one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts where it spent 19 weeks at the top of both charts, becoming one of the longest albums to chart at number one. The album was the best-selling Latin pop album of 2000 and was certified 6× Platinum (Latin field) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It reached number two in Argentina and Uruguay, as well as number five in Mexico, and has sold 2.2 million copies worldwide.
Upon its release, Mi Reflejo received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who noted musical similarities to her debut. Despite this, the album received several accolades including the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album and a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album in 2001. Three singles were released from the album: "Ven Conmigo (Solamente Tú)", "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" and "Falsas Esperanzas". To promote the album, Aguilera extended her tour into 2001 for eight more dates and performed at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Background and recording
In 1999, Christina Aguilera released her debut self-titled album which sold over 14 million copies and earned her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2000. Following its release, she expressed in recording an album to acknowledge her Latina heritage (she is of Ecuadorian descent on her father's side). By October 1999, Billboard editor John Lannert reported that she had begun recording an album in Spanish with Cuban American musician Rudy Pérez producing it. According to her manager Steve Kurtz, Aguilera expressed interest in recording a Spanish-language album even before she recorded her first album. This resulted in "Genie in a Bottle" being released in Spanish as a single titled "Genio Atrapado" which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. According to Ramiro Burr of the San Antonio Express-News, the record would contain several of her songs adapted in Spanish and feature original songs in that language.
Recording for the album primarily took place at Pérez's home studio in Miami Beach, Florida. Additional recording took place at the Royaltone Studios and Cocoa-Butt in California, House of Sound Recording Studios in Florida, The War Room in New Jersey and LA East in Utah. Aguilera was also simultaneously touring to promote her album and recording a Christmas album, My Kind of Christmas, released later in 2000. Mi Reflejo was intended to be titled Latin Lover Girl; Recording for the album began in the middle of April 2000 and concluded production three months later. Pérez stated that Aguilera's lack of fluency in Spanish hindered recording; he remedied the problem by phonetically writing out lyrics and coming up with a system for Aguilera to pronounce the "r's" in the songs. The album's title, Mi Reflejo, was announced on August 8, 2000, and is taken from the Spanish version of the song "Reflection", which Aguilera recorded for the soundtrack to Mulan. The album is composed of 11 tracks; five of which are songs from Aguilera's debut album adapted in Spanish, while six are new.
Pėrez reworked Spanish versions of "Genie in a Bottle" ("Genio Atrapado"), "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" ("Ven Conmigo (Solamente Tú)"), "I Turn to You" ("Por Siempre Tú"), "What a Girl Wants" ("Una Mujer"), and "Reflection" ("Mi Reflejo"). and "Contigo en la Distancia", a bolero written by César Portillo de la Luz in the 1950s.
"Falsas Esperanzas" is an uptempo track with tropical elements and includes a piano solo by Cuban pianist Paquito Hechavarría. On the ballad, "El Beso del Final", the singer asks if "did we just kiss goodnight, or did we just say goodbye?".
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At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Mi Reflejo received an average score of 56, based on seven reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Erlewine of AllMusic described the album as a mirror image of her debut album Christina Aguilera. He felt that it was a "little too familiar", although he praised recordings as "well-produced"; On the other hand, he concluded that the album "doesn't add anything new to her music, since it's just the old music in new clothing." An editor for Billboard wrote that Aguilera has yielded a mostly mainstream pop album with Latin inflections. Eliseo Cardona of CDNow gave the album a mixed review. While he enjoyed Aguilera's vocal performance, which he described as " precisely, gracefully, forcefully ", he criticized the literal Spanish translation of the lyrics from English, which he said made a "good laugh and a better yawn". He commended "Cuando No es Contigo" as making Aguilera a "credible, expressive salsera" and her cover of "Contigo en la Distancia" as the album's finest moment.
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, who gave the album a C-rating, wrote the review in a parody memo from Aguilera's point of view. He mocked at Aguilera's attempt at making a Spanish-language album simply because of her Ecuadorian heritage, criticized her "unnecessary" high note", ballads that "old Latin ladies'll like", and the photos used in the album's booklet. Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel stated that "Mi Reflejo lacks emotional depth, and her decision to record in Spanish seems more a bid to conquer new chart territory than anything else". To promote the album, Aguilera extended her tour, Christina Aguilera in Concert, into 2001 for eight more dates, visitin Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama and Japan. Aguilera also gave a performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards, performing "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" and "Falsas Esperanzas".
Singles
The lead single of the album was "Ven Conmigo (Solamente Tú)", the Spanish version of "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)", was released on August 8, 2000, to Latin radio stations. The song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and number two on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay charts. It also peaked at number eight in Spain. The second single, "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" was released in December 2000. The song reached number eight on the Hot Latin Songs and number five on Latin Pop Songs charts. Its music video was directed by Kevin G. Bray. The third single, "Falsas Esperanzas" was released on July 3, 2001. The song reached number fifteen in Spain. Its music video, taken from her DVD My Reflection, was directed by Lawrence Jordan. "Por Siempre Tú" were previously released as singles along with their original versions. "Por Siempre Tú" was released as a promotional single for the album in 2000 and peaked at number six on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
Legacy and achievements
In September 2018, Mi Reflejo was ranked number ten on the Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums of All Time, and in 2020 the same media brand included it on its list of the longest-leading albums of all time on the Top Latin Albums chart (at number twelve). The album spent 19 weeks at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums ranking at number 13 with the most weeks at number one. Mi Reflejo was best fifth best-selling Latin album of 2000 and became the second best-selling Latin album of the year later after Paulina by Paulina Rubio. In the 2021 article for POPline, it was noted that Mi Reflejo introduced Aguilera to the general public as a "fearless" and "versatile" artist, and also "played a pivotal role in the expansion of Spanish-language music within today's American pop scene." In 2025, Billboard included Mi Reflejo on its list of the Top Latin Albums of the 21st Century.
Accolades
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! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Ceremony
! scope="col"| Category
! scope="col"| Recipient
! scope="col"| Result
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! scope="row" rowspan="8"| 2001
| rowspan="2" | Billboard Latin Music Awards
| Pop Album of the Year by a Female Artist
| rowspan="2" | Mi Reflejo
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| Pop Album of the Year by a New Artist
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| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
| Favorite Artist