Christina Milian Denies Jennifer Lopez Feud Over Writing the Song ‘Play’
The ‘Gonna Tell Everybody’ singer revealed that she was proud to pen the classic song when she was just 19 years old.
Christina Milan set the record straight that she doesn’t have any beef with Jennifer Lopez. The “AM to PM” singer, 41, penned J.Lo’s 2001 hit “Play” and sang background vocals on it, which has led to some fans calling for her to have a feature credit over the years. Christina revealed that she couldn’t be happier that Jennifer, 54, had sung the now classic song in a new interview with Page Six, released on Monday, Sep. 18. “Hands down, she killed it. She’s so good. I love that song. I’m so happy that she did it,” she said.
Christina broke down writing the song when she was 19, and explained how J.Lo ended up singing it for her record.”The producers tell me, ‘[Record executive] Tommy Mottola is coming in, and he’s going to listen to some music. The guy comes in, he hears ‘Play,’ loves it, and he’s like, ‘I want this as her single,'” she explained. “Yes, I recorded the original demo. A month later, Tommy Mottola gets it for Jennifer, and [the] next thing I know, she’s in New York, she’s recording the song. I came in to help rewrite some of the stuff. Yes, I sing backgrounds in it.”
Ultimately, Christina said that she’s happy with how the track turned out and the credits. “You want a blend of voices. It makes songs better to me. It’s funny when people talk about me singing on the song with Jennifer. I mean, I have background singers on some of my songs,” she said. “I don’t need a feature credit. I’m on the credits as a writer and for singing backgrounds.”
The “Dip It Low” singer also detailed writing the song at 19, revealing that she’d penned the track in “15 minutes” after a night out with friends, getting one more compliment in. “I couldn’t believe at 19 I wrote a song for J.Lo,” she said. “I’m so happy that she did it because she’s an icon. She’s amazing.”
Outside of her own music, Christina has written other hits over the years, including “Baby” by Justin Bieber. She hasn’t shied away from speaking about writing “Play” over the years. She also revealed that Jennifer had added the “Play my motherf**kin’ song” lyric in the bridge in an April 2019 interview on Talk Stoop.