What Happened to Christina Milian?

By CelebPaid Editorial Team · 8 min read

Christina Milian.Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Rise to Fame

Christina Milian ( MIL-ee-AHN, née Flores; born September 26, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following a number of minor television and film roles in the late 1990s, Milian made her recording debut on American rapper Ja Rule's 2000 single "Between Me and You", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Under Island Records, she released her 2001 debut single "AM to PM", which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. In 2002, she performed the theme song ("Call Me, Beep Me!") for the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible. Following a series of delays, her debut studio album, Christina Milian (2002), was released to moderate commercial reception. Her second album, It's About Time (2004), spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top-five hit "Dip It Low" (featuring Fabolous). Her third album, So Amazin' (2006), yielded the US top-40 single, "Say I" (featuring Jeezy). Milian experienced particular success in the United Kingdom, where each of her songs released under Island peaked within the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart. She parted ways with Island following the release of the last album, and self-released her first extended play, 4U, in 2015.

As an actress, her first lead film role was in Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003). She subsequently had lead roles in the films Be Cool (2005) and Pulse (2006), and in the direct-to-DVD film Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (2009). Milian also starred in the ABC Family Original Movie Christmas Cupid (2010). From 2015 to 2016, she starred in the sitcom Grandfathered. She played María LaGuerta in the series Dexter: Original Sin (2024–2025). Milian also co-founded and co-owns Beignet Box, a dessert shop in the Los Angeles area.

The Peak Years

Early life

Christina Flores was born on September 26, 1981, Jersey City, New Jersey, and is of Cuban descent. Her parents are Don Flores and Carmen Milian.

Flores changed her name and adopted her mother's maiden name (Milian) in the hopes of landing a wider range of acting roles. 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, and when her family realized that she was a talented actress, she determined to pursue a career in entertainment. 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 "wanted to be inside the TV", although convincing them took some time. By the time she was nine years old, Milian had begun auditioning with local talent agencies, shot commercials for Wendy's and Honeycomb, and played the lead role in the musical Annie. Milian's mother supported 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.

What Changed

When Milian moved to Los Angeles, her first desire was to be an actress. She had always also 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, who (like Milian) was also born in New Jersey. Jerkins heard about Milian from a boy band with which he was working 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 how she started meeting people in the record business. She began writing songs at the age of 17 because she needed a demonstration recording (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 with which she did not agree. She felt that she had to write a song, record a demo, and send it out on her own.

2000–2002: Christina Milian, record deal and acting debut

Milian's first major acting role was offered by the Disney Channel to join The Mickey Mouse Club, but she did not accept and opted to star as a reporter on Movie Surfers. During this time, she had minor roles in film and television, including Sister, Sister, Smart Guy, The Steve Harvey Show, Get Real, The Wood and American Pie. 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". The song was released as the album's lead single in 2000, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and on the top 30 of the UK Singles Chart in the United Kingdom. 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).

Where Christina Milian Is Now

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. The album was released outside North America on January 23, 2002, peaking at number 23 on the UK Albums Chart in the United Kingdom. The album's domestic release was canceled, primarily due to the September 11 attacks. Two singles were taken from the album, "AM to PM" and "When You Look at Me", both of which charted worldwide. A music video for the track "Get Away" was filmed in Paris, although it was not officially released as a single. Critical response to the album was generally mixed to positive. In the following years, she was featured on the track "It's All Gravy", a duet with British rapper Romeo, which peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Milian's third top ten song in Britain as a credited artist, and fourth overall; provided the theme song for the hit Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible, "Call Me, Beep Me!"; and collaborated with Hilary Duff on the song "I Heard Santa on the Radio" for Duff's debut album Santa Claus Lane (2002).

In 2002, Milian was appointed the host of the live competitive music series Becoming Presents: Wannabe on MTV, where she met director Joseph Kahn. Kahn suggested she audition for a lead role in the film Torque. Her audition was successful and she played a supporting role in the film. She was subsequently cast in her first lead role in Love Don't Cost a Thing.

2003–2004: It's About Time and continued acting

Legacy

Milian felt that Island Def Jam was confused as to how they wanted her image to be portrayed. In 2003, Milian's label, Def Soul, later shifted its focus into R&B veterans under its Def Soul Classics faction; Def Soul would later be folded into its parent, Def Jam, in 2011. However, Milian would later be drafted to sister label 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 also appeared in the video game Def Jam Vendetta (2003), where she plays non-playable character Angeline "Angel" Rodriguez.

Milian's second studio album, It's About Time, was released in the US on July 13, 2004. 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 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 18-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 Usher's Truth tour to promote her album. The album debuted and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200, and number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, selling a...

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