Jennifer Lopez's musical career

[Swansteel]

Note: Initial posts split from the Celebrity Fight Night thread.

---

JelLo is a dancer who dreamt of being a singer, but doesn't have the talent to pull it off convincingly. She was lucky enough to somehow become famous enough to indulge her fantasy and have lots of people buy into it. It's all part of the state of modern "stardom." Am I bitter much?

[Tusk]

JelLo is a dancer who dreamt of being a singer, but doesn't have the talent to pull it off convincingly. She was lucky enough to somehow become famous enough to indulge her fantasy and have lots of people buy into it. It's all part of the state of modern "stardom." Am I bitter much?

We should give her a bit more credit than that. At her height she was one of the major entrepreneurs. She not only sold albums, but is in the perfume and apparel industries, as well as acting credits. She made herself into an extremely marketable 'brand'. Something Haley is working towards.

Luck might have played a small part, but perseverance and hard work were also contributors

[Swansteel]

There was a time I might have given her more credit, but now I'm old and bitter (and she can't sing her way out of a wet paper bag).

[Miguel]

JLo, the early days:

1991-1993: In Living Color (TV - dancer)

1997: Selena (Film - actress portraying a singer)

1999: If You Had My Love (Music - #1 single w/dance-centric video)

---

"We have a new Fly Girl, coming all the way from Bronx, NY..."

---

Film critic James Berardinelli also liked the film ["Selena"] and the screenplay, writing, "It would have been easy to trivialize Selena's story, turning it into a sudsy, made-for-TV type motion picture." He believed the acting was top notch and wrote "Jennifer Lopez is radiant as the title character, conveying the boundless energy and enthusiasm that exemplified Selena, while effectively copying not only her look, but her mannerisms. I wonder if Selena's family, upon watching this performance, felt an eerie sense of déjà vu."

---

After filming Selena, Lopez was "really feeling [her] Latin roots" and cut a demo in Spanish. Lopez's manager then sent the song, entitled "Vivir Sin Ti", to Sony Music Entertainment's Work Records, who showed an interest in signing Lopez. Tommy Mottola, the head of the label suggested to her that she sing in English instead. She complied and began recording On the 6. During production of the album, Lopez was aware of the fact that she received her recording contract on the premise of her looks and having an already established name in the entertainment industry, and wanted to prove that she had musical talent.

Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone gave the album (and Lopez) a mixed review, saying "The happy surprise of On the 6 is that she knows what she's doing. Instead of strained vocal pyrotechnics, Lopez sticks to the understated R&B murmur of a round-the-way superstar who doesn't need to belt because she knows you're already paying attention. When she gets the right support from a top-shelf song daddy like Rodney Jerkins, she's all brassy, breathy confidence, evoking her great precursor Ann-Margret's 1964 classic with Al Hirt, Beauty and the Beard. Behold jiggy Jennifer Lopez, song-and-dance woman: She makes a little va-va and a whole lot of voom go a long way."

David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C rating, writing "As soon as Lopez opens her mouth, though, all this advance work falls by the wayside. On record, the husky-voiced voluptuousness that has become Lopez's trademark in films like Out of Sight simply vanishes. Her voice is higher and thinner than expected — not embarrassing, but sadly ordinary, like a younger, even blander sibling of [Gloria] Estefan."

The first single from the album, "If You Had My Love" was released on May 21, 1999. It debuted at the lower ends of the Billboard Hot 100 at 64, and due to high airplay and sales, it reached the top spot on June 12, 1999, her first number-one lead single...Looking back on the record's success, during an interview in 2011, Lopez stated "Still I think about that and still it's like wow, my first record I ever did went to number one. It's just an overwhelming feeling. This does not happen all the time. This is a very special thing."

Following its release, the "body-emphasizing" music video for "If You Had My Love" received a heavy amount of airplay on the MTV Network. A writer from Billboard wrote that Lopez "isn't too far behind Ricky Martin as the leading light of Latin Music in Asia"—and that the song had skyrocketed Lopez from an unknown to superstar status internationally, reaching music markets as diverse as India and the Philippines. Jeff Selamutu, a programming manager from Channel V, said that "Up to now, it's only been Janet Jackson and Madonna." Selamutu said that people were "enjoying her hot, sexy dancing on the video [for If You Had My Love]."

[Tom22]

JelLo is a dancer who dreamt of being a singer, but doesn't have the talent to pull it off convincingly. She was lucky enough to somehow become famous enough to indulge her fantasy and have lots of people buy into it. It's all part of the state of modern "stardom." Am I bitter much?

We should give her a bit more credit than that. At her height she was one of the major entrepreneurs. She not only sold albums, but is in the perfume and apparel industries, as well as acting credits. She made herself into an extremely marketable 'brand'. Something Haley is working towards.

Luck might have played a small part, but perseverance and hard work were also contributors

I agree with all that and I'll add a bit.

Almost every hyper-successful person will credit some luck at a few critical times as watersheds.

- of course as the sports proverb goes "luck is where opportunity meets preparation". (it actually wasn't wooden's , but one that wooden loved)

Persistence is another trait and if you keep reaching you're far far more likely to get that "lucky" break..... the hard work and perseverance and talking to everyone you meet and pushing your foot in the door when you see a glimmer and volunteering left and right buys you the "lotto" tickets to get lucky.

BUT also.

On top of all of her great abilities and execution as a business woman (in the entertainment business) she does have some extraodinary traits she has honed.

"Singing" itself is not her forte I agree. I don't think she can write music at all either.. or bring much to the interpetation to make someone elses song better from a "listening" sense

BUT.. her songs are mostly DANCE MUSIC ... and yeah.. she is a very very good dancer of the pop music variety ... and her Musical Interpretation probably was excellent as it related to her medium - she knows what is good to dance to (she's and expert wouldn't you agree?) and she probably did have a large role along with the team of creative people who mixed the music etc.. (even Lenon and McCartney collaborated! as did Haley.)

And, lets be clear also a STAR is more than a singer or a musician. A star is a brand and a persona (as Tusk says)

--- that isn't a cheap way to success ..... because that is the actual PRODUCT that people enjoy... think back to the big Hollywood Studios (if you're a history buff). The persona's off screen of the big stars was as much of what people enjoyed as the acting they did (often in light comedies or even farces)

Great musician ? probably not unless your include creating the music people like to dance to. (and why wouldn't we?)

Great Entertainer? - I don't think that can be argued even if she's entirely not enteraining to us in particular.

I'd also add that she's got Model good looks...... and bears herself in a way with postures and mannerisms and fashion selection and relentless physical fitness activities that are equally important to what god gave her. Being a Model is a skillset too.. and she excels at that.

Do I like J Lo ? She's and admirable person for all I say above.. but she doesn't particularly entertain me. The zillions of people who like her would be bored to tears with the people I find charming (like that guy from star trek on the auto - tune real .. or Garrison Keeler ? or Click and Clack the Tappert brothers "Car Talk" ?)

.... I can't deny her elite skillsets .

[Miguel]

J.Lo Says Sorry for Partying With Dictator

She didn't know, she swears! A representative for Jennifer Lopez says the singer would never have traveled to Turkmenistan to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to Turkman leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow if she had known about the country's human rights issues. Lopez performed on Saturday night in the country described by Humans Rights Watch as "one of the most repressive in the world," but a statement from J.Lo's team to the Associated Press says the event was hosted by the China National Petroleum Corp. and was not a political event. Stick to just the block next time, Jenny.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2013...tator.html

Lopez's publicist says the event was vetted by Lopez's staff: "Had there been knowledge of human rights issues any kind, Jennifer would not have attended."

The birthday serenade was a last-minute request made by the corporation to Lopez before she took the stage, and she "graciously obliged," the statement said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-5759...an-leader/

I think "vetted" means the check didn't bounce.

[john]

Daily Mail Headline:

Jenny from the Eastern Bloc: Lopez forced to apologize for singing happy birthday to brutal Turkmen dictator accused of torture

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ds-newsxml

[Tusk]

Tell me this doesn't look like some kind of psychedelic Pink Floyd cover.... there's a bizarre surreality to it

[Miguel]

Mistake or not, a source confirms to Us Weekly that Lopez was paid $1.5 million for the gig.