Excuse me while I have a Christina Milian moment.
I saw Christina's new video, "Us Against The World," the other day and would just like to say thank you to her parents for blessing those of us with sight the fortunate opportunity to rest our eyes on her.
I want to thank Theda Sandiford for getting me a phone interview with Christina in 2001 or so as Miss Milian was preparing to release her first record for Island Def Jam. Even though her cheesy "AM To PM" never had a chance at making it big, I still wanted her to win.
She's so dag on cute and sweet and had the perfect resume, having a background in acting (was even a band geek in American Pie), opened up for other then teen pop stars Britney and N'Sync, had written songs for J. Lo, and already had a young Hollywood boyfriend in Nick Cannon. I knew she was gonna blow up.
Even though Island Def Jam tried to find the right music for Christina, it never quite worked. The Ja Rule and Lil' Mo and Ashanti collabs worked, but when he tried it with Christina it fizzled.
Still, Island Def Jam didn't give up.
Then one day Brandon Squar came to the Yahoo! Music office with new videos in hand. In his Christina update, he explained that she was now of age and the label was no longer targeting the tween market. He previewed her new mature video for "Dip It Low" and Billy J had a "Thank you Jesus" moment, a "Beyonce who?" moment, a "Nick Cannon are you crazy for cheating on this Goddess?" moment.
This nostalgic moment leaves me too choked up to explain the video. It's just better for you to watch. But I will say two things:
- Latex
- Drop it like it's hot
I honestly believe that if women had taken heed to the advice Christina was sending in this song and video Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" would have never reached #1.
There would be less angry single ladies in the streets so eager to spew venom at the guys who wisely elected not to put a ring on it.
Check the Christina lyric, well, technically Teedra Moses wrote it: "I'mma tell ya how to make ya man say ..."
Why weren't the single ladies listening?
"Dip It Low" did reach #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, but she still didn't really blow up.
She took a break from music and returned with the catchy Jazmine Sullivan penned "Say I," a solid club jam. But the video was all wrong. Christina had gone hard. Christina and her girls are shot walking through a gritty, graffiti-ridden empty reservoir. The song found moderate success, but not enough to keep the interest of Island Def Jam. She was dropped from the label her before the album was ever released.
Rumors circulated that Christina refused to record the song "S.O.S." which later became the breakthrough hit that set Rihanna's career ablaze.
I didn't get it. I thought they were finally getting it. But they got rid of it.
I figured that it would take long for Christina to find a new label home.
Well, it's been a good minute, and my girl resurfaces on the new MySpace Records.
I wasn't completely sold on the "Us Against The World" upon the first few listens. It's a power ballad, and while the entire point of this blog is to stress my support of Christina, she does not sing a ballad like Mariah, the other Christina or Keyshia.
But after seeing the video, seeing her out there out in the hot desert, with a leotard, the song started sounding real good.
Christina is back.
I am not mad that Nick later married Mariah. Seeing them both on President Obama's Neighborhood Ball inauguration night was sweet.
But I bet if he sees Christina's "Us Against The World" video, he'll be hearing the lyrics to Ne-Yo "Do You."
Remember how that one goes?
"I wonder, if you ever, think of me, anymore."
LOL.