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— by Shaheem Reid
A Queens rapper by the name of Ja Rule was becoming a burgeoning pop star on the strength on his Rule 3:36 single "Between Me and You." Singing the hook on the warm-weather creeping anthem was little miss Chris; a dimepiece nobody knew, but everybody heard.
By 2001 Milian's career was coming along. She was writing records for other artists, including Jennifer Lopez, and her label, Def Jam, touted her as the urban answer to Britney Spears. So it was all in place for her would-be self-titled debut to drop toward the end of the year. But with her single "AM to PM" getting moderate spins on the airwaves and everyone in the U.S. in crisis mode after the September 11 tragedy, Christina Milian was put on hold.
Milian kept it moving, though. While many artists were too concerned about possible terrorist strikes abroad to travel overseas, C.M. hit the U.K. and promoted her upcoming album. She got that U.K. love and her album was eventually released over there despite never seeing the light of day in her homeland. But she stuck to her hustle game, taking her grind to Hollywood and starring in films like the upcoming "Be Cool."
Here, Milian talks about how nervous she was around her co-star John Travolta, why she wasn't shy about screaming at Def Jam for sleeping on her and why she's named after a certain "Sesame Street" overeater.
MTV: You know I have to ask you about your name.
Christina Milian: Huh?
MTV: How in the world does a beautiful girl like yourself get the nickname "Cookie Monster"?
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"Yeah, that's my nickname. I've loved Cookie Monster ever since I was little. I used to watch 'Sesame Street' and I love chocolate-chip cookies."
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Milian: Yeah, that's my nickname. I've loved Cookie Monster ever since I was little. I used to watch "Sesame Street" and I love chocolate-chip cookies. And the C. M. in Cookie Monster is the same as my initials. A lot of the rappers will be like, "What's up, Cookie?"
MTV: Funny. I would never imagine that the woman I see in the "Dip It Low" video rolling around in body paint would be fond of that fur ball. Whose idea was the human art theme in the video, Snuffleupagus? Or maybe Ernie? Doesn't he like to paint?
Milian: Actually it was the director and my mom. My mom is crazy. She was like, "One day I want you to do a body-paint thing, in a video or something." It was crazy because the director came to me with the same idea. He explained to me that in the '60s they used to have this artist who did this. He would take a woman and there would be a full audience — people dressed up in black and white — and he would have an orchestra. The artist would have a woman lying there on canvas and he would pour paint all over her, then she would roll around on the canvas and make art that way. I thought, "If I don't do it, someone else is gonna do it."
MTV: So what was it like when you were actually doing the body art? Did you really get naked like the artist's subjects back in the day?
Milian: I had to have on a bathing suit for the video. I wasn't down like that, but it gives you the illusion anyway because my bathing suit was black and shiny and so was the paint. The ladies in the '60s were nude for the artists, but no, not Miss Christina.
MTV: What exactly does "dipping it low" mean?
Milian: It has several meanings. When you're dancing, you gotta dip, that's the sexy part. Every lady's got to dip it. Dipping it low in the real world means putting a little "ump" in the relationship. Sometimes people get into something and it's very sexy and lusting then eventually people start getting bored. It's about finding a way to make [your relationship] hot again, because sometimes that's all it needs. People start getting bored and looking around when you got it right there. Just do something new, surprise your man, meet him at the door with nothing on. Sometimes little things like that make a huge difference in a relationship.
MTV: Sounds like you've had some experience in spicing it up. I've heard some rumors about guys you were supposedly seeing. I've heard you and Nick Cannon, you and Joe Budden ...
Milian: Joe? You know what? I just met Joe a month and a half ago at a Kanye West party and then this would be the second time when he was just at the studio. I think the reason people think that is because he rapped on another song of mine a year ago. And Nick is my best friend. Nick is my boy. We're always chilling because I've known Nick for like seven years and then when we did the movie ["Love Don't Cost a Thing"] we became real tight as best friends. But we're really serious about our careers and family. We're like, "Maybe later." I'm really serious about not getting in a relationship just to break up. That's so wack. It seems like everybody gets into these relationships that are deep and seem so serious and then they break up. Why go through all that and the heartbreak when you can just be cool with people? It works out much better.
MTV: Plus your schedule is bonkers right now, dipping between music and movies. Do you have a preference between the two?
Milian: I don't have a favorite. I love it all. When I start getting bored with one, I just start to appreciate the other. The music industry is 24/7, it's really exciting, it's very challenging. You don't know what's going to happen, but it makes you work really hard. The acting business, I've been doing films since I was like 10 years old. So right now, I'm just building up. I've been working with John Travolta, Uma Thurman. The stuff that I'm doing, I'm amazed with and I'm in love with that.
MTV: What was it like working with John Travolta in "Be Cool"?
Milian: Every scene that I had was with John Travolta. He sings to me in the movie. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, he just kissed me on the head." That's a legend right there. I'm a big "Grease" fan. It's nuts, because I'm working with a living legend, so I was real nervous when I went to go work on this movie. But they all treated me real nice so my nerves were settled and I was cool. But I bet when I watch the movie I'mma see myself all nervous.
MTV: How frustrating was it for you to wait all this time to release your debut album in the U.S.?
Milian: It was kind of upsetting for me, but it was definitely a learning experience. I was hearing every day that my album was going to come out in America, but it wasn't. I was getting so frustrated, then I would see these other females come out on the same record label and I was like, "Man, what's going on?" I was getting kinda pissed. Ashanti put out two albums — I'm a fan so I'm not trying to put her down or anything, but it was just hard watching all that stuff happen over here in America knowing all my stuff was great overseas. My place is in America. I don't care if I have to shove it in someone's face. You're gonna like it, you're gonna see. I didn't even get a chance. I didn't even put out a single or anything.
MTV: Let me find out that the Cookie Monster is gangsta like the Count.
Milian: I'm more like a big baby; I'll cry. But I did get upset. I'll tell you one time, I started having to do it Def Jam-style for real, calling all them people, cussing 'em out, just so that I could get my point across. I had to do it like two times. It made a huge difference. It made things happen. I had to speak to the heads of my record label and be like, "You know what, this is how serious I am and this is my life. Don't mess this up because this can get real embarrassing for me and I work my butt off. Don't hold me back from what I do." And that was the nice side of the conversation.
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Photo: Def Soul
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