It's About Time (Christina Milian album)

Infobox Album
Name = It's About Time
Type = Studio album
Artist = Christina Milian


Released = June 15, 2004 (Japan)
July 13, 2004 (United States)
Recorded = 2003–2004
Genre = R&B, pop, urban pop
Length = 47:26
Label = Island
Producer = Bloodshy & Avant, Bradley & Stereo, Fontez Camp, Warryn Campbell, Bryan Michael Cox, Jasper Da Fatso, Rodney Jerkins, Poli Paul, Cory Rooney, Ez Tommy
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3|5
* "Rolling Stone" Rating|2|5cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/6072868/review/6185229?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview |title="It's About Time" (U.S. Version): Christina Milian: Review |accessdate=2008-10-09 |author=Walters, Barry |date=July 8, 2004 |publisher="Rolling Stone"]
* Slant Magazine Rating|2|5
* "USA Today" Rating|2|5cite web |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2004-06-14-listen-up_x.htm |title=Phish's Final Studio Effort Flounders |accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Gardner, Elysa |date=2004-06-14 |publisher="USA Today"]
Last album = "Christina Milian"
(2001)
This album = "It's About Time"
(2004)
Next album = "So Amazin'"
(2006)

"It's About Time" is the second studio album by American singer Christina Milian, released by Island Records on June 15, 2004 in Japan, and July 13, 2004 in the United States.cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=448971&aid=634921 |title=Discography — Christina Milian — Discography — "It's About Time" |accessdate=2008-09-12 |publisher="Billboard"] The album served as Milian's debut album in the U.S. as a result of the September 11 attacks, which occurred just two weeks before the release date of her previous album. For the production of the album, Milian worked with Bloodshy & Avant, Darkchild, Cory Rooney, Warryn Campbell, Bryan Cox and Poli Paul. The album debuted at number 14 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 album chart, selling 394,000 copies in total, and at number twenty-one in the UK, selling a total of 63,708 copies. The album achieved Silver certification in the UK,cite web |url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=31770 |title=Platinum Awards Content |accessdate=2008-10-03 |publisher=British Phonographic Industry] and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary R&B Album".

The critical response to "It's About Time" was mixed. The club tracks, including lead single "Dip It Low", were praised, however the ballads were said to be dissapointing. [cite news |title=New music reviews Life after Creed |publisher="San Antonio Express-News" |date=August 20, 2004 |accessdate=2008-09-14 ] [cite news |first=Ken |last=Capobianco |title=Christina Milian — "It's About Time" |publisher="The Boston Globe" |date=June 25, 2004 |accessdate=2008-09-14 ] The album's first single, "Dip It Low", is Milian's most successful to date; peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number-five on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. The second single "Whatever U Want" was less successful, peaking on the UK singles chart at number 9.

Production

Milian self-titled debut album, "Christina Milian", was supposed to be released in the U.S. in 2001. However, the album was postponed due to the September 11 attacks, which occurred just two weeks before the release date.cite web |url=http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=89881&format=html|title=Christina Milian has her eyes on a Grammy and an Oscar|author=Antlfinger, Carrie|accessdate=2008-07-26|date=2004-09-19|publisher=Herald Mail] After the international 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 domestically, and started working on a new album.cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_2_35/ai_n11839374 |title=Christina Milian: a Singer who Needs no Lessons in Cool Talks to Hip-Hop's Queen Bee |accessdate=2008-07-24 |author=Lil' Kim |date=March 2005 |publisher=FindArticles] To record the album, Milian travelled the world, working with several producers and those who were "hot" at the time. The album was produced primarily by Bloodshy & Avant,cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yt9hs34wa3pg |title="It's About Time" - Christina Milian |accessdate=2008-09-12 |author=Kellman, Andy |publisher=Allmusic] and Milian recorded songs with "Darkchild", Cory Rooney, Warryn Campbell,cite web |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2004-06-14-listen-up_x.htm |title=Phish's Final Studio Effort Flounders |accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Gardner, Elysa |date=2004-06-14 |publisher="USA Today"] Bryan Cox and Polli Paul.cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000508155 |title="Time" Is Right For New Milian Album |accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Cohen, Jonathan |date=2004-05-11|publisher="Billboard"]

Milian received writing credit for seven songs on the album,cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=448971&aid=634921 |title=Discography – Christina Milian – "It's About Time" |accessdate=2008-10-04 |publisher="Billboard"] which she wrote like a diary. When writing songs Milian had rules; she would write a hook, a verse, another verse similar to the first one, and the same melody all throughout the song.cite web |url=http://www.musicremedy.com/c/Christina_Milian/album/So_Amazin-2530.html |title=Christina Milian "So Amazin"' Album |accessdate=2008-08-03 |publisher=Music Remedy] Whenever she would experience something that she thought would be important, she would write it down for future reference. She felt that by writing down true experiences, her songs were like "captured emotion". For "It's About Time", Milian wrote about things that had happened in her past, and later explained that she wrote what she thought other people would like, rather than writing for herself and what she liked.cite web |url=http://www.mp3.com/features/stories/4636.html |title=Exclusive Interview with Christina Milian |accessdate=2008-03-18 |author=Rolls, Chris|date=2006-05-23 |publisher=MP3.com] The whole album took "between six months to a year" to produce, and Milian so-titled the album because she said "it took so damn long" to complete. When promoting the album, Milian said that she was excited about the album because "it's a new me". She felt that she had matured since her last album, and it was "nice for people to see this change".

In 2008, Milian sued the writer and producer of "Dip It Low", Poli Paul. Milian claimed that Paul "very definitively" assured her that "there were no samples whatsoever in […] 'Dip It Low'". However, Thomas Turino, Larry Crook and Dan Dickey later sued Milian over the song, claiming that it contained a sample from a track they released in 1983 called "La Sirena". The lawsuit claimed that Paul heard the album while in a record store, liked the tune and sampled 12 seconds of it for "Dip It Low". Milian claimed that she had to spend more than $300,000 defending herself in the case, which she settled, and wanted $300,000 plus damages from Paul and his associate, Spencer Cowlings Entertainment. [cite web |url=http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/08/08/christina-milian-sues-dip-it-low-producer-for-dipping-from-another-song/ |title=Christina Milian Sues "Dip It Low" Producer For Dipping From Another Song |accessdate=2008-10-03 |author=Kaufman, Gil |date=August 8, 2008 |publisher=MTV] [cite web |url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/wenn/20080809/ten-milian-sues-over-dip-it-low-controve-c60bd6d.html |title=Milian sues over "Dip It Low" controversy |accessdate=2008-10-03 |date=August 9, 2008 |publisher=Yahoo! News]

Music and lyrics

Milian described "It's About Time" as "more R&B" compared to her "bubble-gum pop" debut album.cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_11_33/ai_111114514/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1|title=Christina Milian: Don't Worry, J. Lo. This Singing Actress has a Different Career Path in Mind|accessdate=2008-07-26 |author=Beale, Lewis |date=December 2003|publisher=FindArticles] She thought that "Dip It Low" was "more R&B" and had "kind of a club/party kind of vibe" compared to the lead single off her last album, "AM to PM", which was "more of a kiddie kind of thing, very pop". For the single's music video, Milian danced in a bed of black paint, a play off the track's title. Milian explained that body art was common in the 1960's: "they would dip in paint and they would roll around on a canvas and make art on the canvas. So I kind of 'dip' in the paint and do the same thing." The song's lyrics were about putting an effort into the relationship as a female: "if you wanna be a little more sexy, you gotta dip it low".cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1486894/20040507/milian_christina.jhtml |title=Christina Milian's Sexy New Look Comes In Flat Or Semigloss |accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Moss, Corey |date=2004-05-07 |publisher=MTV] Milian later said that "Dip It Low" and the whole album was mainly for shock value. She had to make her way back into the U.S. 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 eighteen year old girl in the "AM to PM" video. An issue Milian had with the album was that its music was not coherent, and it did not " [lead] down the whole way". Several songs were urban and sexy, and yet others were pop, making it "fun". However, she felt that "jumping around" was also "a little confus [ing] ", and wanted a more consistent feel for her next album.

Elysa Gardner of "USA Today" found the genre of the album to be more pop, saying, "with her slight, sweet vocals and blithe, breezy pop-soul sensibility, Milian more nearly evokes [Beyoncé Knowles|Beyoncé [Knowles] and Jennifer Lopez". Andy Kellman of Allmusic described lead single "Dip It Low" as "a clever and ubiquitous slice of high-class raunch", saying it was the biggest highlight of the album. Tammy La Gorce of Amazon.com said that the songs of "It's About Time" "spotlight a similar sex-i-fied energy, jumbling attitude, vulnerability, and a jigger of jadedness into a heaving, R&B-leaning, red-hot heap". He accredited this to the "whip-smart production", which he said "showcases an array of pings, pulses, and from-the-gut guitar". Eric R. Danton of the the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" found that most of the album was "simply bland padding, with plodding, canned beats and half-hearted hooks that stand little chance of sticking in anyone's head".

Release and reception

"It's About Time" was released in the U.S. on July 13, 2004; it debuted and has peaked at number fourteen on the "Billboard" 200 album chart and sold 394,000 copies in total.cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002425089 |title=Billboard Bits: Hot 97, Christina Milian, Modest Mouse|accessdate=2008-07-25 |publisher="Billboard" |date=2006-04-28] Internationally, the album peaked at number thirty-five on the Swiss Albums Chart, fifty-five on the German Albums Chart, and sixty-six on the Dutch Albums Chart. In the UK, the album peaked at number twenty-one, selling a total of 63,708 copies,cite web |url=http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=19806|title=Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley retain top positions|accessdate=2008-09-12 |date=2006-05-22 |publisher="Music Week"] and achieving Silver certification by the BPI. The album gained prominence when it received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Contemporary R&B Album" in 2005.cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/31/earlyshow/saturday/secondcup/main1671469.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_1671469 |title=Second Cup Café: Christina Milian |accessdate=2008-07-24 |date=2006-06-03 |publisher=CBS News] To promote her album, Milian performed as an opening act on the Usher and Kanye West tour.cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/usher/articles/story/6437640/christina_milian_gets_cool |title=Christina Milian Gets Cool |accessdate=2008-07-26 |author=Bliss, Karen|date=2004-08-20|publisher="Rolling Stone"] The album's first single, "Dip It Low", became Milian's biggest hit to date, reaching number two in the UK, number five in the U.S..cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000817155 |title=Hit Milian Single At Center Of Suit|accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Butler, Susan |date=2005-02-24|publisher="Billboard"] The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for digital sales,cite web |url=http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |title=RIAA – Gold & Platinum |accessdate=2008-07-29 |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America] 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 again reached the top ten in the UK.cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000663541 |title=Robbie, R.E.M. Overtake U.K. Charts|accessdate=2008-07-25 |author=Sexton, Paul |date=2004-10-11|publisher="Billboard"]

The album received mixed reviews among critics. Andy Kellman of Allmusic praised the club tracks, feeling that they "work best and easily outrank the slower songs". He said that despite the album's "handful of bright spots", Milian "will need to be more convincing during the ballads next time out in order to be considered a true force."cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yt9hs34wa3pg |title="It's About Time" — Christina Milian |accessdate=2008-09-12 |author=Kellman, Andy |publisher=Allmusic] Jim Farber of "Entertainment Weekly" felt that the songs from "It's About Time" "sound like they fell off a Paula Abdul album". He said the lyricists "wrote so many cliches", and that Milian's voice "suggests a slightly more forceful version of Janet Jackson's pant".cite web |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,649909,00.html |title="It's About Time" (2004) |accessdate=2008-09-12 |author=Farber, Jim |publisher="Entertainment Weekly"] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said that while "It's About Time" was "certainly not the worst album of the year", it was "pretty damn crappy". He enjoyed "Whatever U Want", "I'm Sorry" and "Get Loose", which he said "contribute some guilty pleasure ear candy", but overall, gave the album 2 out of 5.cite web |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=465 |title=Slant Magazine Music Review: Christina Milian: "It's About Time" |accessdate=2008-09-12 |author=Cinquemani, Sal |publisher=Slant Magazine ] Tammy La Gorce of Amazon.com praised lead single "Dip It Low", saying that if it "hasn't pushed you to pick up this disc already, it is, in fact, about time."cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/Its-About-Time-Christina-Milian/dp/B00027JYQ2 |title=Amazon.com: "It's About Time": Christina Milian: Music |accessdate=2008-09-12 |author=La Gorce, Tammy |publisher=Amazon.com] Eric R. Danton of the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel", felt that that the only "hit" from "It's About Time" was "Dip It Low", while "Whatever U Want" and "L.O.V.E." were the album's lesser tracks. He thought that the success of "Dip It Low" was due to "the plinking of an unusual Far Eastern-sounding stringed instrument and vocal contributions from the rapper Fabolous". Danton praised Milian's vocal talent, but said that ultimately, "the lackluster material [...] rarely gives her a chance to shine".cite web |url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=272033 |title=CD Review: Christina Milian's "It's About Time" |accessdate=2008-09-14 |author=Danton, Eric |date=November 3, 2004 |publisher="Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"] Kelefa Sanneh of "The New York Times" said that although "Dip It Low" was "one of the summer's most popular songs", the album included an even better song, "I Need More". Sanneh explained that Milian "breathes a serpentine melody over a beat that consists of jagged snippets: some guitar chugging, a few handclaps, a couple of strategically placed beeps and, in the chorus, an unexpected nose-diving bass line." [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E3DE113AF936A15754C0A9629C8B63 |title=Music: Playlist; The Best Rapper No One Knows |accessdate=2008-10-03 |author=Sanneh, Kelefa |date=July 25, 2004 |publisher="The New York Times"] Despite the views of other critics, Barry Walters of "Rolling Stone" said that although the ballads were "gooey", "the love songs work better than the dance tracks".

Track listing

# "Intro"–1:06
# "Dip It Low" (featuring Fabolous)–3:39
# "I Need More"–3:17
# "Whatever U Want" (featuring Joe Budden)–3:49
# "Someday One Day"–4:32
# "Highway"–3:33
# "I'm Sorry"–3:44
# "Get Loose"–3:37
# "L.O.V.E" (featuring Joe Budden)–4:21
# "Peanut Butter & Jelly" (featuring Joe Budden)–3:46
# "Miss You Like Crazy"–4:49
# "Oh Daddy"–3:55
# "I Can Be That Woman" [International bonus track] –3:13
# "Hands on Me" [UK bonus track] –3:06

Japanese edition

# "Dip It Low"–3:16
# "L.O.V.E."–3:45
# "Down for You"–3:39
# "Someday One Day"–4:31
# "Highway"–3:33
# "I Can Be That Woman"–3:13
# "Peanut Butter & Jelly"–3:46
# "Hands on Me"–3:06
# "7 Days"–4:17
# "Oh Daddy"–3:55
# "Miss You Like Crazy"–4:49
# "Dip It Low" [Remix] (featuring S-Word)–3:55
# "Dip It Low" [Full Intension Dub] –5:46
# "You Snooze, You Lose" [Bonus track] –3:31

Charts

References