Christina Milian
Christina Milian (/ˌmɪliˈɑːn/; née Flores, born September 26, 1981)[1] is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but raised in Maryland, she signed a contract with Murder Inc. Records at the age of 19. In 2001, Milian released her self-titled debut album, which featured the singles "AM to PM" and "When You Look at Me"; the former charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and both peaked in the top three on the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, she performed the theme song "Call Me, Beep Me!", for Disney Channel's animated series Kim Possible. In 2004, Milian released her second studio album It's About Time, which provided her first major U.S. hit, "Dip It Low" (featuring Fabolous), which reached number five on the U.S. Billboard chart. "Whatever U Want" (featuring Joe Budden) was released as the album's second single. Both singles charted within the Top 10 of the UK chart.
"Christina Flores", "Christine Flores", and "Christine Milian" redirect here. For other uses, see Flores (disambiguation) and Milian.
Christina Milian
Christina Flores-Nash
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
1996–present
3
Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.
Vocals
- Milianheiress Music
- Cash Money
- Def Soul
- Murder Inc.
- Interscope
- Island
- MySpace
- Radio Killa
- Young Money
In 2006, Milian released her third studio album So Amazin'. The album produced one single, "Say I" (featuring Jeezy), which peaked in the Top 30 of the US Billboard chart. A month after the release of So Amazin', Milian's representative confirmed that she had left Island Records due to creative differences. Milian signed with Interscope Records in 2009. A single, ballad "Us Against the World", was released in October 2008.
Milian originally wanted to be an actress. Her first lead role was in the 2003 film Love Don't Cost a Thing, and she subsequently had lead roles in Be Cool and the 2006 horror film Pulse. Milian had a minor role in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and starred as the lead role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: Fight to the Finish. Milian has also starred in the 2010 ABC Family Original Movie Christmas Cupid, alongside Ashley Benson and Chad Michael Murray. From 2015 to 2016, she starred in the sitcom Grandfathered. She is an entrepreneur and co-founded and co-owns Beignet Box, a dessert shop in the Los Angeles area.[2][3][4]
Early life[edit]
Milian (Milián in Spanish) was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and is of Afro-Cuban descent.[5] Her parents are Don Flores and Carmen Milian.[6][7][8]
Flores changed her name and adopted her mother's maiden name (Milian) in the hopes of landing a wider range of acting roles.[9] The oldest of three sisters, including Danielle and Elizabeth, she moved with her family to Waldorf, Maryland, soon after her birth. Milian was four years old when she showed an interest in show business,[10] and when her family realized that she was a talented actress, she became determined to pursue an entertainment career.[11] As a child, Milian was "very imaginative and very creative", and watching television and listening to the radio became her life. They inspired her to have fun, and she convinced her parents that she "did not want to be inside the TV", although it took some time to convince them.[9] By the time she was nine years old, Milian had begun auditioning with local talent agencies,[9] shot commercials for Wendy's and Honeycomb, and played the lead role in the musical Annie. Milian's mother noticed her daughter's potential and left her husband and moved to Los Angeles with her three daughters when Milian was 13 years old. Her father had to stay in Maryland and divorced her mother soon after the move.[11]
When Milian moved to Los Angeles, her only desire was to be an actress. She always wanted to be in the record business, but did not know how to obtain a recording contract. During this time, she was a host for Disney Channel's series Movie Surfers, by the name of Tina. After living in Los Angeles for six months, Milian moved into the same apartment complex as songwriter and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Jerkins 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 went into a studio every day and worked with Jerkins, which is where she started meeting people in the record business.[12] She began writing songs at the age of 17 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.[13]
Career[edit]
2000–2002: Christina Milian, record deal and acting debut[edit]
Milian made her first professional musical appearance on rapper Ja Rule's second studio album Rule 3:36 (2000), performing vocals on the song "Between Me and You".[14] The song was released as the album's lead single in 2000, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100,[15] and in the top 30 of the UK Singles Chart.[16] Milian co-wrote and performed vocals for the track "Play" for Jennifer Lopez's album J. Lo (2001), and co-wrote "Same Ol' Same Ol'", the second single from girl group PYT's debut album PYT (Down with Me) (2001).[14]
Milian's collaboration with Ja Rule led to a record deal with Def Soul Records, prompted by his affiliation with Murder Inc. Records, an imprint that was distributed through Def Jam, the parent label of Def Soul Records. She travelled to Sweden and recorded her self-titled debut album.[9] The album was released on October 9, 2001, in the UK,[17] peaking at number 23 and selling a total of 101,986 copies.[18] Internationally, the album peaked at number 36 in the Netherlands, and number 98 in Sweden.[19] The album's domestic release was canceled primarily because of the September 11 attacks;[20] but it was released outside of the US on October 9, 2001.[21] Two singles were taken from the album, "AM to PM" and "When You Look at Me", both of which charted worldwide.[22][23] A music video for the track "Get Away" was filmed in Paris, although it was not officially released as a single.[24]
The critical response to the album was mixed to generally positive. Imran Ahmed of the New Musical Express predicted that based on the record, "genius can't be more than a few albums away".[25] Contrastingly, entertainment.ie writer Andrew Lynch suggested that Milian needed original ideas.[26] Milian believed that the public expected "a certain thing" from her when she first appeared with Ja Rule, however she wanted to record the type of music she was signed to do. She said that "AM to PM" was a "cool record," but it was not what the public expected. Milian approached the executives at her record company, Island Def Jam, and "cussed them all out", telling them that they were not listening to her. She felt that she had gained their respect by explaining that she was serious about her musical career.[9] In the following years, she was featured on the track "It's All Gravy", a duet with British rapper Romeo, which was a UK top ten hit;[15] provided the theme song for the hit Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible, "Call Me, Beep Me!";[27] and collaborated with Hilary Duff on Duff's Christmas album Santa Claus Lane (2002), on the song "I Heard Santa on the Radio".[28]
Artistry[edit]
Milian is a light-lyric soprano,[159] with a vocal range from Eb3 to F5.[160] Her vocal style has been compared to Paula Abdul and Aaliyah by critics.[161][162] David Peisner of Maxim commented on her talent and described her voice as being "silky and sassy." Earlier in her career, Milian was mainly an urban pop and teen pop singer but as she matured and grew her sound later grew to branch out into a more hip-hop soul and straight forward R&B sound on her later two releases It's About Time and So Amazin'.[163][164]
Milian described the sound of the album as "hip hop under-toned with nice, pop melodies",[165] and later said the genre of the album was "bubble-gum pop".[166] She described lead single "AM to PM" as a "very pop" and "fun, party/club song".[34][165] The genre of the album was described by one critic as "light-hearted, energetic R&B pop tunes".[26] Sonically, the album was said to stick "rigidly to the sherbert-snorting pop formula of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera".[25] One reviewer compared Milian to other singers of her generation, and found that "while Spears has gone raunchy with 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll', Christina Aguilera down and dirty on Stripped, and even clean-cut Mandy Moore has brashly cut her hair Felicity-style, Milian still seems young and real." The critic also compared Milian to Beyoncé, "while Beyonce is shaking her bootylicious body like crazy on 'Crazy In Love', Milian is simply enjoying becoming a young star."[167]
Milian described the genre of It's About Time as more R&B in comparison to her "bubble-gum pop" debut album.[166] Discussing the change of genre between her lead singles, Milian said that the "first single off my last album, 'AM to PM', was more of a kiddie kind of thing, very pop. [Dip It Low] is more R&B, kind of a club/party kind of vibe."[34] An issue Milian had with the album was that it did not flow. The various pop and urban influences in that album, she found, confused the audience. For her next studio album, Milian said that she wanted a more consistent feel.[168]
Other ventures[edit]
In 2010, Milian signed Australian singers, Kasey Osborne and Kelsey-Maree, as their manager. Milian said, "the girls have everything it takes to be the biggest international duo out there. The world is definitely ready for these beautiful girls to hit the stage and kill it on screen." She said that the duo were the "most exciting project" she had worked on.
