Island Def Jam axes its Milian dollar baby

Cool and Dre

Island Def Jam axes its Milian dollar baby (NY Daily News)

According to NY Daily News:

….Milian’s PR rep confirmed the split with the record label, but tried to give it a sweet sound: “Christina Milian and Island Def Jam have decided to end their relationship due to creative differences. This was a mutual decision.” Island Def Jam had no comment.

But I hear that Milian — who a few months ago antagonized her ex-flame, MTV “Wild ‘N Out” star Nick Cannon, by dissing him in interviews and a song — also irked record execs by refusing to take direction from Island Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid. Despite Reid’s pleading, I’m told, Milian passed on recording “S.O.S. (Rescue Me),” which ended up becoming a hit single for her label mate Rihanna — whose record, “Girl Like Me,” sold 115,000 copies in its first week.

By contrast, Milian’s heavily hyped album sold fewer than half that number — a meager 50,202 units — in the week after its May 16 release. Never mind that Island Def Jam laid on a promotional budget worthy of Mariah Carey.

I’m told folks at Island Def Jam are blaming Milian’s boyfriend and executive producer, Marcello (Dre) Valenzano, of the producing team Cool & Dre, for the artist’s alleged lack of cooperation.