she warmed up her pipes, the power of her vocal exercises caused people standing outside her dressing room to jump. Her performance partner Nelly lounged nearby, trying to decide which afterparties to attend. After they finished their duet, fellow St. Lunatics['] Murphy Lee congratulated them, yelling, "That sh-- was hot!" John Walker from MTV Buzzworthy appreciated the 1920s-inspired theme of the performance and listed it as one of Aguilera's best performances on the MTV Video Music Awards as of 2013. A music video for "Tilt Ya Head Back" was directed by Little X. In the video, Nelly acts as a 1940s gangster, while Aguilera portrays Marilyn Monroe. During the making of the clip, Nelly gifted Aguilera US$55,000 worth jewels as a parting present, resulting in a rumor that the duo were romantically involved. Release and reception "Tilt Ya Head Back" impacted on US contemporary hit radio stations in September 2004 by Universal Music as the second single from Sweat. It was released as a digital download single, a digital EP and a CD single on November 15, 2004. A 12-inch record of the song was released on November 18, 2004. "Tilt Ya Head Back" was well received by most music critics, Jason Birchmeier from AllMusic picked this song as a standout from the album and wrote that the song could be a hit "whether on radio" or "on MTV." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly praised the duo's vocal on the song, while Rolling Stone editor Rob Sheffield named it "a completely pop duet." Michael Paoletta from Billboard praised the "Superfly" sample used in the track and its musical style. Writing for The Washington Post, Sean Daly appreciated Aguilera's appearance on "Tilt Ya Head Back" as "a frisky Aguilera matching Nelly bedroom boast for boast." On a less positive review, The Daily Telegraphs Joe Muggs complimented Aguilera's "undeniably impressive voice", however he thought that the duo's vocal performance did not match each other. Tom Moon of The Philadelphia Inquirer called the song "an addictive, wound-tight James Brown groove." Although it was expected to be a hit, "Tilt Ya Head Back" only experienced moderate chart success. Following its airplay release, "Tilt Ya Head Back" garnered 22 million audio impressions in 119 stations. The audience amount was much less in comparison to Nelly's previous single "My Place" (96 million in 294 radio stations). On the US Billboard Hot 100, "Tilt Ya Head Back"