Christina Milian
Christina Milian (born Christine Flores on September 26, 1981) is a Cuban-American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Milian moved to Los Angeles when she was thirteen years old, desiring to be an actress. Milian's debut album, Christina Milian, spawned the singles "AM to PM" and "When You Look at Me". Both singles peaked in the top three on the UK Singles Chart, but the album itself did not sell many copies.
Milian's second studio album, It's About Time, was not a commercial success, but 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, and was certified Gold by the RIAA for digital sales. The album's second and final single, "Whatever U Want" featuring Joe Budden, failed to reprise the success of the lead single, but again reached the top ten in the UK. Milian's third studio album, So Amazin', featured Cool & Dre on the majority of the production.The album's only single, "Say I", featuring rapper Young Jeezy, saw moderate commercial success worldwide, as did the album itself. Just a month after the release of her album, Milian's representative confirmed that she had left the Island Def Jam record label due to "creative differences". Later that year, Milian released her first compilation album, titled The Best of Christina Milian, although it was only released in Japan.
Although Milian is best known for her singing career, she originally wanted to be an actress. Milian was cast in her first lead role in Love Don't Cost a Thing, starred in Be Cool, and played a main role in the horror film Pulse. Milian is set to appear in The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, alongside Matthew McConaughey. Often compared to Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, Milian has also been described as a role model.
Christina Milian was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Afro-Cuban parents Don and Carmen Flores. The eldest of three sisters, she moved with her family to Waldorf, Maryland soon after her birth. Milian was only four years old when she showed an interest in show business, and when her family realized that she was a talented actor, she determined to pursue an entertainment career. Milian shot commercials for Wendy's and Honeycomb, and played the lead role in the musical Annie. Milian's mother, realizing her daughter's potential, moved to Los Angeles with her three daughters when Milian was thirteen years old. Milian's father stayed in Maryland and divorced her mother soon after the move. When Milian moved to Los Angeles, her only desire was to be an actress. She has said that she "always wanted to be in the record business", but did not know how to obtain a recording contract. After living six months in Los Angeles, Milian moved into the same apartment complex as Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Darkchild heard about Milian from a boy band he was working with, and once he heard her sing, they began working together. For a year and a half, Milian would go into the studio everyday and work with Darkchild; this is where she started meeting people in the record business. Milian began writing songs at the age of seventeen because she needed a demo to help her obtain a recording contract. According to Milian, every time she recorded a song, the producer would refuse to give her the demo, or would write lyrics that she did not agree with. She felt that she had to write a song, record a demo, and send it out on her own.
Music career
2000–2002: Christina Milian
Milian made her first professional musical appearance on Ja Rule's second studio album Rule 3:36, performing vocals on the song "Between Me and You". The song was released as the album's lead single in 2000, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, and in the top thirty of the UK Singles Chart. Milian co-wrote and performed backing vocals for the track "Play" for Jennifer Lopez's album J. Lo, and co-wrote "Same Ol' Same Ol'", the first single from girl group PYT's debut album Down with Me. She was featured on the track "It's All Gravy", a duet with British rapper Romeo, which was a UK top ten hit, provided the theme song for the hit Disney series Kim Possible, "Call Me Beep Me", and collaborated with Hilary Duff on her Christmas album Santa Claus Lane, on the song "I Heard Santa on the Radio".
Milian eventually released her first solo single, "AM to PM", in 2001. The song became a worldwide hit, reaching number three in the UK, the top five in Denmark, the top ten in the Netherlands, and the top thirty in Australia and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The success of "AM to PM" sparked the international release of the Christina Milian album on October 21, 2001. Milian recorded her debut album in Sweden, without the "platinum production touch" of Irv Gotti, the owner of The Inc. Records. The album was supposed to be released in the United States in 2001, but due to the September 11 attacks, which occurred just two weeks before the release date, the album was postponed. The album debut at number twenty-three in the UK, selling a total of 101,986 copies. The album's second single, "When You Look at Me", was another international hit reaching number three in the UK, and in the Netherlands, the top ten in Australia, and the top twenty in Denmark and France. Although a music video for the album's third single "Get Away" was filmed in Paris, the single was not released officially.
2004–2005: It's About Time
After the release of her debut album, Milian went back into the recording studio. Milian felt that music trends were changing so she stopped recording and toured overseas for a year and a half. When she returned to the U.S., she decided not to release her previous album, Christina Milian, domestically and started working on a new album. Milian started recording songs in 2003 with "Darkchild", Cory Rooney, Warryn Campbell, Bryan Cox and Polli Paul. Milian described the album as "more R&B" compared with her "bubble-gum pop" debut album.
It's About Time was released on July 13, 2004 in the U.S.; Milian so-titled the album because she said "it took so damn long" to complete. The album did not achieve immense commercial success, debuting at number twenty-one in the UK, selling a total of 63,708 copies, and number fourteen on the Billboard 200 album chart. While It's About Time ended up with lackluster sales of 382,000 copies in the United States, it gained recognition when it received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Contemporary R&B Album" in 2005. To promote her album, Milian performed as an opening act on the Usher and Kanye West tour. Despite its modest sales, 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 U.S. 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.
2006–2007: So Amazin'
Milian's third studio album So Amazin' was released on May 16, 2006. Milian worked with Cool & Dre on the majority of the production of the album,with additional help from Rich Harrison, and executive producers Jay-Z and LA Reid. Cool & Dre produced ten of the album's eleven tracks, which Milian said "made a more consistent, very real and personal album". Milian felt that she "found a really great chemistry with Cool and Dre", and "was able to express [herself] easier and so much better through their music." She said that it gave her the "soundtrack to write everything that was going on in [her] life at that time".
The albums first single, "Say I", featured rapper Young Jeezy. It was released as a single and video, which was shot in Los Angeles and directed by Ray Kay. The single saw peak positions of number four in the UK, and number twenty-one in the United States. So Amazin' debuted and peaked at number eleven on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 50,000 copies in its first week. Internationally, the album peaked at number sixty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, fifty-five on the Swiss Albums Chart, and one hundred and thirty-nine on the France Albums Chart. In June 2006, Milian's representative confirmed that she had left the Island Def Jam record label due to "creative differences" – though disappointing album sales were believed to be the main factor. Although she was dropped from the label Milian continued to promote the album through live appearances, performing on Power 106's Summer Splash. Milian said that she was hoping to take "Gonna Tell Everybody", the proposed second single, to another label and shoot a video. As for her future, she said that she was "moving on to better things and new things". She said that she had "gotten a lot of offers", and was pretty sure where she was going. Due to the low sales of So Amazin', Milian released her first compilation album, titled The Best of Christina Milian.
2008: Future
Milian is working to release her fourth studio album, as stated on her MySpace blog. She has signed with Myspace Records, and will release the album under the new label. Milian has collaborated with Cool & Dre, J.R. Rotem, The Runners and Danja in the studio, and plans to work with Latin songwriters and producers for the project. Milian has said that she wants "a slower process" for her next album, and would "love to do something with Timbaland"
