Christina Milian gives us the low down on her new track with Lil Wayne, her upcoming album, and being a Young Money “Milianaire.”  

 Christina Milian first sang and danced her way into the mainstream scene in 2001, with her hit song “AM to PM.”  Since then, the Cuban-American cantate (singer) has been through a lot of changes–some very publicly–in both her career and personal life.  Never one to be deterred, the young mother kept her sights set on her dreams.

She became part of rap’s chart-topping collective, Young Money, in 2012.

“Video Model,” Milian’s first single since joining hip hop’s premiere hit makers, is on the newly released Young Money compilation, Rise of An Empire.  (You can take a listen below.)

“I signed with Young Money about a year and a half ago.  Lil Wayne really understands what an artist needs, and they cater to that.  You’re able to get the time to grow and develop as an artist; you’re able to be creative without people getting in the way.  The opportunity came for me to get on the compilation and I jumped on it.  It’s the first time I’m releasing anything with Young Money.  Wayne got on the track with me to certify the love,” she says of their new song.

Milian’s first three U.S. albums, released under former labels, were all greatly successful.  The release of her fourth was continually pushed back, meeting with delays almost as much as it met with anticipation.

This year, the Young Money “Milianaire” will finally be releasing her long awaited album and she promises fans will find it worth the wait.

“I feel at home.  I’m confident that I made the right choice.  I’ve got the right push, the right family, for this album.  The album itself is pretty much done and I’m so excited!  The music I have is dope…it’s gonna be crazy.  I’m patiently impatient,” she laughed.  ”We’re just talking about the best time to do the actual release.  Both Nicki [Minaj] and Wayne are dropping this year, so it’s about making sure I get the right shine,” she explained.

“I hired my own A&Rs.  I still worked with my mom, of course.  My sound has changed.  This project really establishes my maturity; it shows in my vocals.  I’ve become a better singer and I’m sure I’ll be a better performer when it’s time. I still have an urban pop sound and I always do a few R&B songs, but there’s a lot of crossover to be had here.  This will play like a Rihanna, Beyonce, or Usher record–it can fall under both urban pop and R&B.  There will still be club bangers, because I love to dance and I come alive when I’m out dancing; I have so much fun with it!  There’s also a few ballads.  Wayne actually requested I do one more ballad, to balance things out, and to express my full vocal range.”

Don’t call it a comeback, though.  The young mother’s absence from the pop charts has been anything but a hiatus.  Just because Christina wasn’t concentrating on her music the past few years doesn’t mean she wasn’t busy putting in work, because she absolutely was.

Her credits speak for themselves–and soon enough, you’ll be able to see her hard work in action for yourself, courtesy of Christina’s new reality show, which will give fans a glimpse of her day to day grind.

“It’s a docuseries about everything I have going on.  In 24 hours of my life, about five different things will be going on, anything from motherhood, family, friends, relationships, or business.  Everything may even be happening at once.  My phone will be going off all day and if I don’t put it away, my daughter will tell me to!  She’ll say, ‘Mommy, put your phone away,’” she revealed.

“As a Libra, I’m constantly striving for balance.  I’m always trying to make sure everyone is happy.  I know that my career is something that I’m driven by.  My daughter, Violet, drives me to do more.  Since becoming a mother, I’ve learned to multitask.  When you have a baby, give yourself time to rest for a bit after, but then you literally have to mentally program your brain and tell it that you do have the energy to do this.  You have access to a phone, a computer, a network.  There’s opportunities left and right.  The more I hustle, the more I meet people and build friendships, the bigger my network becomes.  The more I build my network, the more opportunities I come across, the more business I do.  It’s funny like that–hustling more brings more hustle.”

Although Cam’ron once said “Hustle is a hassle,” Christina would be inclined to disagree.  ”You don’t have to feel guilty for being a hard worker and providing for your family.  Just find balance.  Keep a calendar and write things down.  Make time for yourself and make sure part of that time includes working out.  It keeps you healthy…health is having both a sound mind and body.  Make every moment count and make every moment special.”

Somewhere in between being a superwoman and a supermom, Christina has also become quite business savvy.

Her newest business venture, Viva Diva Wines, is just under a year old, but is doing “fantastic.”

“It’s now in major stores in 27 states,” she marveled.  ”I love wine.  I started getting into it in my late 20′s, when I was about 27 or 28.  Not only did I start to like the flavor, but I noticed that unwinding over a glass of wine was a bonding experience between my girls and I.  We’re all such go-getters and we work really hard; we need that downtime.  A glass of wine helps me relax and get that satisfaction so that I can continue being superwoman.  It’s like a vacation in a glass.  I have all kinds of crisp, sweet, fruity flavors that I love:  pineapple, mango, peach, coconut, and strawberry.”

There’s also her hookah business, Platinum E Hookahs.  This too, is a relatively new venture that’s doing really well.

“I like to be a connoisseur of things,” the bombshell businesswoman relayed.  ”For over 10 years, I was a hookah smoker.  When the industry started to boom and the portable hookahs came out, I had to have one.  I noticed when I was out with it, people were so intrigued.  They’d come up to me and ask ‘Where’d you get that, can I try it?’  So I thought, ‘If so many people are into this, why don’t I actually make this into a business?’  I got with my business partners and rolled it out in June 2013.  They’ve been an awesome success.  You don’t have to share it with the next person or worry about a mouth piece.  If you’re in a club you can have a little something extra to do instead of just holding a drink all night.  There’s no nicotine and no tar, so you won’t get that light headed feeling, but you will satisfy that oral fixation.  There’s all kinds of variety, too.  We expanded from just offering the disposable ones; now we have the eJuice ones for vaporizers, limited editions, and all kinds of flavors…there’s blueberry, cotton candy, root beer, cake batter, cherry, and pretty much anything you could possibly think of.”

With all that going on, who needs to keep up with the Kardashians when you can keep up with Christina?

April Dawn (@scarlettsinatra)