Christina Milian Music and Career

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Cuban-American Christina Milian was born in New Jersey but raised in Maryland, making her debut as an actress at a very young age while playing a role in a children-oriented musical, working as junior journalist for The Walt Disney Company, and making guest appearances on Sister Sister and Clueless, among other popular TV shows. 

Milian became seriously involved in music after singing on Ja Rule’s “Between Me and You,” in addition to co-writing Jennifer Lopez’s “Play” and P.Y.T.’s “Same Ol Same Ol” while recording her self-titled R&B/pop debut album in 2001. 

Though the album fared far better in the U.K., “AM to PM” reached the Top 30 of the Hot 100 chart in the States. 2004′s It’s About Time, anchored by the Top Ten hit “Dip It Low,” was much more successful. Milian’s third album, So Amazin’, helmed almost entirely by Cool & Dre, was released in 2006.

Milian felt that Island Def Jam was confused as to how they wanted her image to be portrayed; one second she was young and singing “AM to PM”, and next she was a grown woman singing “Get Away”. She realized that the change confused the audience, and that “nobody was buying it”. In 2003, Milian’s label Def Soul was shut down and absorbed by its parent Def Jam, although Milian was instead moved over to Island Records. After the international release of her debut album, Milian went back into the recording studio.

The singer felt that music trends had changed into rock music, hardcore hip hop and tribute songs, and her music did not fall into those categories. Milian decided to stop recording and toured overseas for a year and a half. When she returned to the US, she decided not to release her previous album domestically, and started working on a new album. Milian traveled the world, working with the popular producers Bloodshy & Avant, “Darkchild”, Cory Rooney, Warryn Campbell, Bryan-Michael Cox and Polli Paul.

Milian’s second studio album, It’s About Time, was released on July 13, 2004 in the US. The critical response to the album was mixed; the club tracks, most notably lead single “Dip It Low”, were praised while the ballads were said to be disappointing. The style and sound of the album was compared to that of Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Lopez by several critics.

Milian later admitted that her new sexy image for “Dip It Low” and the whole album was mainly for shock value. She had to make her way back into the US market, and by choosing a sexier image, she made a name for herself. “Dip It Low” was also meant to show that she was not the same eighteen year old girl in the “AM to PM” video.

To create her new image, Milian also decided to change her appearance and lightened her hair. Taking inspiration from Janet Jackson who constantly changed her image, Milian thought to herself, “‘When did I like Janet Jackson the most?’ It was when she had her lightened hair.”

Milian believed that the album was more R&B when compared to her “bubble-gum” pop debut album. The change was reflected in the album’s lead single, “Dip It Low”, which was more of a club and R&B track than her previous pop release “AM to PM”.

Milian performed as an opening act on the Usher and Kanye West tour to promote her album. The album debuted and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number 21 in the UK, selling a total of 382,000 and 63,708 copies respectively, and received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Contemporary R&B Album” in 2005. The album’s first single, “Dip It Low”, became Milian’s biggest hit to date, reaching number two in the UK and number five in the US. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for digital sales, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration”. The album’s second and final single, “Whatever U Want”, featuring Joe Budden, failed to reprise the success of the lead single but reached the top ten in the UK.

Whereas Milian’s previous albums had pop stylings, she was encouraged by Island Def Jam to target a new audience and release an urban record. Explaining the change, Milian said that one of her main problems was that previous releases would often find mainstream success, but would be relatively unsuccessful on urban radio. As an R&B artist, she wanted to build her core audience–a true fan base that would support her through time–to increase her career’s longevity. The main purpose of her genre change was to go back to the streets and add to her core audience. To create a more urban record, Milian had a list of producers that she wanted to work with.

L.A. Reid suggested to Milian that she should work with Cool & Dre, with whom she ended up working with as the first people to start off the album. Although Milian was originally supposed to work with several different music producers, she felt that the chemistry they had in the first week was so “instant and real” that she felt she could not get a better “vibe” with anybody else other than them.

Milian ended up working with Cool & Dre on the majority of the production of the album, producing ten of the album’s eleven tracks together. The album completed within a three month period, whereas Milian’s previous albums would take six months to a year.

Milian’s third studio album, So Amazin’, was released on May 16, 2006. The album’s lead single, “Say I”, featured rapper Young Jeezy. The single saw peak positions of number four in the UK, and number 21 in the US. So Amazin’ debuted and peaked at number eleven on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 54,000 copies in its first week and 163,000 copies in total.

Internationally, the album peaked at number 55 on the Swiss Albums Chart, 67 on the UK Albums Chart, and 139 on the France Albums Chart. Reviews of So Amazin’ were mixed; critics felt that while Milian claimed that she was displaying the various sides of her personality, the album could “only scratch the surface of who she really is.” “Say I” was praised by several critics, and was described as “instantly rousing” and “intoxicating”. In June 2006, Milian’s representative confirmed that she had left Island Def Jam.

In an interview with Rap-Up, Milian revealed she was dropped a week after her album was released. The singer believed it was a “budget cut”, and that Island Def Jam Music Group wanted to spend more money on label mate Rihanna. She said, “it was embarrassing. It was a week after my album got put out. I would be in my room a lot of the time crying by myself.” After leaving Def Jam, Milian released her first compilation album, The Best of Christina Milian (2006).

Following her departure from Island Def Jam Music Group, Milian signed with MySpace Records in 2008. She began writing songs and recording in the studio with numerous different producers, including Cool & Dre, J. R. Rotem, The Runners, Danja, Madd Scientist, T-Pain, Jim Jonsin and Toby Gad. Milian was featured on the cover of Rap-Up’s 2008 Winter issue, in which she announced that the album’s title was Dream in Color. A single was released in October 2008, ballad “Us Against the World”. It was written by Milian and produced by Madd Scientist. The single, described by Milian as a “cinematic power ballad”, premiered via MySpace on October 6, 2008, and was made available by digital download the next day.

In early 2009, Milian began working with The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and L.O.S. Da Maestro, which led to her signing a deal with Radio Killa Records. Milian revealed that aside from “Us Against the World”, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart would be producing all the songs on her album. In March 2009, Milian changed the album’s title to Elope. Regarding the album’s title change, Milian explained, “the definition of elope is to run away secretly with one’s beloved. This next album is about taking responsibility for yourself and making your own decisions.”

 In June 2009, The-Dream said that the album was finished. Upon completion of the album, Milian said it represented “independence, not having to answer to any type of ‘authority’, being a woman at her best and feeling very confident”. She said that fans could expect an “edgy sound with lots of strong powerful anthems. Big up tempos, R&B and Pop at it’s sic best and two big ballads”. In August 2009, Milian confirmed that she had signed a deal to release Elope through Interscope Records, with a 2010 release date.