is set at a tempo 142 beats per minute. The vocal range is F♯3-E♭6. Anthony from Buffalo News described the track as a "light hip-hop song" in comparison to the previous single. Aguilera's vocals have been compared to that of Mariah Carey, with Carey's single "Emotions" being the grounds for these comparisons. In Aguilera's vocal performance she starts singing in a lower register and "carefully" scales notes until she reaches "the highest echelon of her upper register". During the track Aguilera performs the lyrics "A girl needs somebody sensitive but tough, Somebody there when the going get rough." The track that was released as a single was a revised version of the song, it focused more upon the "funky R&B edge", and with Aguilera taking participation in the revision her additions made the track lighter and a mix of "pop and R&B". But despite this Aguilera was disappointed in her lack of input into the single saying; "I was held back a lot from doing more R&B ad-libbing. They clearly wanted to make a fresh sounding young pop record and that's not always the direction I wanted to go in. Sometimes they didn't get it, didn't want to hear me out because of my age, and that was a little bit frustrating. But I want to write more about experiences I've gone through. I've gone through bad situations. I come from a divorced home. I've been around abuse. I've lived a different life, been on the outside." Critical reception Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called "What a Girl Wants" "clever" adding "but in a far less ingratiating way" than "Genie in a Bottle". Anthony from Buffalo News discussed the success behind the record, citing the formula that incorporated teen idols with R&B and pop music releases; discussed the track calling it a "light track", and despite saying the track had been "buried in production" he concluded it "has a way of selling a song". Author Pier Dominquez of A Star is Made called the song "a lightweight but pleasant Pop/R&B confection" and stated Aguilera performed "vocal acrobatics" and labelled it a "less effective" Mariah Carey style vocal performance. Nana-Adwoa Ofori of the AOL Radio blog compiled a list of Aguilera's ten best tracks in which she listed "What a Girl Wants" at number nine, writing: "The huge success of this Christina Aguilera song solidified her as a strong musical force".