Christina Milian isn’t bothered by her lack of vocal credit on Jennifer Lopez’s “Play,” a song Milian co-wrote and originally recorded.
In an interview published Monday, the singer and actor recounted her experience penning and performing the pop tune before Lopez’s team set their sights on it. She also dispelled the idea that she might feel slighted because she was not credited as featured artist on the track, despite contributing some vocals to the final version.
“Hands down, [Lopez] killed it,” Milian told Page Six. “She’s so good. I love that song. … And I couldn’t believe at 19 years old I wrote a song for J.Lo.”
Milian told Page Six that she wrote “Play” in about 15 minutes around the same time she was working on her first single, “AM to PM,” and eponymous debut album, which came out in 2001. Though the “Resort to Love” and “Man of the House” star was proud of “Play,” she had a feeling that her record label wouldn’t want two “party songs” on the LP, and she was inclined to choose “AM to PM” instead, according to Page Six.
Before Milian made the final decision, however, a Sony music exec listened to “Play” and snagged it for Lopez, the outlet reported. But Milian was still brought on for rewrites, and her voice can be heard in the chorus.
“It’s funny when people talk about this being kind of a thing about me singing on the song with Jennifer. I mean, I have background singers on some of my songs,” Milian said.
“It’s no different than Michael Jackson having background singers on songs, or Britney Spears,” she added. “This is what music is made of. You want a blend of voices. It makes songs better, to me.”
Milian is credited as a co-writer on the track, along with Anders Bagge, Arnthor Birgisson and Cory Rooney.
“I don’t need a feature credit,” she said. “I’m also just so happy that she did it because she’s an icon, she’s amazing.”
