Christina Milian marks yet the latest entry into the semi-anonymous R&B/pop chick singer sweepstakes. Actually, she's been trying to get on for quite some time. She made her debut in 2000 on Ja Rule's "Between Me & You" single. From there, she had a minor hit single ("AM To PM"), wrote a minor hit single for fellow Latina beauty J. Lo ("Play"), became an MTV personality, a movie actress ("Love Don't Cost A Thing"), and a star overseas. Yet, it took four years for her to get an album released in the States. I'd say "It's About Time" is a pretty apt title, eh?

As far as "It's About Time" goes, well, it's a surprisingly decent album. Milian doesn't have much in the way of personality, but she has an agreeably pleasant voice (which sounds eerily identical to Mya's). Musicwise, there are no big-name producers here, but the album itself is a mixed bag of pretty midtempos/ballads and hackneyed party jams.

First track/lead single "Dip it Low" tries way too hard to be a raunchy version of Beyonce's "Baby Boy". With a fake reggae/bhangra hybrid background, this song is basically the Christina Milian's Presents How To Please Your Man instructional song. Some folks may consider it seductive, I just find it slutty. Adding to the painfulness of the song is a rhyme by Fabolous. Are his 15 minutes over yet? This guy manages to annoy not only because he spells his name on every song he releases, but also because he sounds like he fell out of the back of the short bus. There are several instances here where she goes for the obvious club banger, and that's where she falls short. "Peanut Butter & Jelly" might fill dance floors, but the sheer booty-shakin'-ness of it doesn't take away from the fact that the song is STUPID. Ditto for "Get Loose", which travels along the same semi-tribal path that "Dip" does. It's produced by the only real "name" producer on this album, Rodney Jerkins, who needs to get in the 15 minutes line right behind Fabolous.

Fortunately, redemption soon comes in the form of the pleasing midtempo "Someday One Day". This is one of the songs where Milian calls to mind pre-freak Janet Jackson. I'm of the mind that Milian sounds much better when she's working the innocent flirt angle as opposed to when she's playing trollop.

She has a surprising chemistry with New Jersey rapper Joe Budden, who appears on two tracks on this album. "Whatever U Want" is a festive, sunny party anthem. I definitely have a soft spot for much of the post-disco uptempo R&B made during the early Eighties, and this track has a bit of that flavor, as does their second collaboration, "L.O.V.E". Budden's not a bad MC. Listening to these two tracks almost makes me wanna go back and listen to his debut album that dropped last year.

Again, Christina really shines when either the tempo slows or the melody of a song is brought out. "Miss You Like Crazy" may be 4 minutes of complete cliche (didn't the "miss you like the deserts miss the rain" line get worn out by Everything But the Girl ten years back?), but despite the lack of lyrical excellence, it's yet another pretty midtempo ballad. On "I'm Sorry", Christina goes all good girl on us and tries to back out of a situation where an involved man has fallen for her.

The album's showstopper, however, is tacked onto the end of the album. "Oh Daddy" uses a haunting sample of The Prodigy to back Christina's story about her father, who left her and her family. Christina sounds simultaneously wounded and confident on this track, and the emotional heft the song has makes you wish there were more tracks like that on the album.

What "It's About Time" does is it shows that Christina has promise. She's not a scenery-chewing belter like Beyonce or the OTHER Latina Christina, but her pleasing voice will definitely remind some folks of divas like Amerie, Ashanti and Mya. And despite the presence of a couple too many formulaic dance tracks, Christina may have the capability to make a better album that any of those three. This album might be worth checking out if you're a pop/R&B fan and can get it cheap.

"It's About Time" by Christina Milian

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Repeat: "Oh Daddy", "Whatever U Want", "Someday One Day"

Skip: "Peanut Butter & Jelly", "Dip it Low", "Get Loose"

Great Music to Play While: Realizing you shouldn't be taking sexual instructions from a girl who's dating Li'l Jon.

Recommended: Yes