Jennifer Lopez: Let's Get Loud

It doesn't matter who the artist or icon is, we are always going to talk about super Bowl Halftime twenty twenty. We are obsessed because, you know what, it's just that good. Yes, it gives us an inside look at the making of the show, but even better, it's a first person account of Jennifer's career through her eyes, reflecting her iconic career and the pressures that come with I guess that level

of fame. Yeah. But in addition to that, it's also about just living up to your family's expectations of who you are, who you should be, and that is something many Latinos know all too well. You know, there's also this one part of the documentary where Jen says that each of her siblings had a special talent, something they were always known for. So Leslie was the singer, Linda was the smart one, and Jennifer, well, she was the dancer.

She was the athlete of the family. And growing up, Jlo's parents had a very specific recipe for success for their kids. Stay in your lane. They told them focus on one thing and be good at that, said gracias, But no gracias to that guidance. Yeah, because she knew that she was capable of so much more. She wanted

to do it all, singing, dancing, and acting. Yes, and in our last episode we told y'all about how she shook up the whole damn industry and set the fashion world on fire with those major red carpet looks and her sense of style. But today it's all about the musica. J Loo lactante. She's unstoppable. Yes, and today we are talking about all the hits and all the drama surrounding

those hits. Grab your snacks, sit back and relax. We're going to cruise down memory lane to see why Jenny from the Blocks still got it and how she rose to the top. Burned too brightly in the spotlight, yet resurrected herself like a mother ethan Phoenix. I'm your host, Liliana Rasquez, and I'm Joseph Carrillo, and this is becoming

an icon a weekly podcast. Will we give you the rundown on how today's most famous Latin stars have sha pop culture and given the world some extra Sublet sit back and get comfortable, because we are going in the only way we know how, with buenas and a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to find out what makes them so iconic. Okay, so let me set the stage for all of you. The year is nineteen ninety nine. Everyone was downloading music

on Napster. Bill Clinton was acquitted people, including myself. We're scared shitless about why Duk and kids are robbing each other for Pokemon cards? And wasn't this the year of the Green Grammy's Dress. No, that's the next year. Nineteen ninety nine was actually the year of the Latin explosion. At the Grammys explosion, I hate that term, y'all know how I feel about this. But that night at the Grammys, Ricky Martin took the stage and performed La Copa, his

hit song from the nineteen ninety eight World Cup. I don't know if y'all remember this, but it was Craig Well Craig for the Grammys at the time. There were dancers on stilt. He had dancers and drummers in the aisles. He lit up the stage and everybody loved it. Joseph, do you remember seeing this performance or hearing people talk about it. I remember seeing it and just kind of being in shock that it was just so different and

it was kind of lively and vibrant. But when I first thought, I was like, oh my god, this is he is so handsome. These people are so into it and clapping and dancing, And what did you think about it? Well, I remember feeling that the Grammys felt like a funeral. First of all, the room was dead, like typically before you're saying like in general, I just felt the whole

show was dead. It was like you could hear a pin drop and this is supposed to be a music award show, and then all of a sudden you hear all of the brass instruments and the drums and Ricky swaying his hips. This man literally brought the Emmy's to Life. The turn up was real. Yes, And here's the thing.

That night was major because I feel after that night the door opened, it blew open for Spanish music on a global scale, because that same year you also had Mark Anthony Santana, Shakira Jlo of course, and let's just be honest, Ricky look was really good in those leather pants. Now, I mean, go, go go. After this one performance, the entire world wanted an album from every Latino performer, including one from a young actress sitting in the front row

that night. This was after the movie Selena, right, Yes, that's right, So in Selena Jlo had shown the world that she was a triple threat. We knew she could dance, now, we knew she could act and she could sing, but at the time her focus was really unbecoming a serious actress. But with the rest of the world ropping these albums, the Latin explosion was everywhere. By the way, why did we have to explode? Why why couldn't it just been the Latino movement, the Latino wave? Why are y'all trying

to kill us? Okay, okay, let's bring it back. Okay, fine, fine, fine, I have feelings. I'm very passionate about this, Okay. This Latin explosion meant that everyone was also asking Jennifer about her album. What they didn't know was that Jenny was ahead of them. She was already plotting her musical takeover, to the point that she actually passed on touring with Janet Jackson. What shut up, We're going to talk about it in the next episode. There's some stories there that

y'all may not know. I hate you. Jaylo was going to be more than just a movie star. She was going to be more than a performer. She wanted to be a household name, an icon exactly, and she needed to prove her singing chop. So she cut some demos and here's the thing. It actually worked because Sony Music, which at the time was run by Tommy Mottola aka Mariah's first husband, signed Jlo to a deal, but Sony

wanted her to sing in English instead. On June first, nineteen ninety nine, Jlo dropped her first album on the sixth, inspired by the subway line that would take her from the Bronx to Manhattan and back. While she was studying by day and dancing by night like a Latino Batman exactly, and people were so drawn to these Latin beats mixed with pop, R and B and hip hop. Well, Jennifer loved a variety of music, and she put that all

into her album. She would remember listening to wrap and hip hop on the train home, but as soon as she stepped through that door, it was all Celia Cruz one and of course modern day music like Madonna. And I think that you really feel all of that in the first album, don't you. I think you can feel it throughout all of her career. To be honest, do you remember where you were in life when on the six came out? Are you for a real bitch? I

don't even know that. I want to know if you had my love and I give you, would you comfort me? The way she said to Rust on that song just killed me every time I heard it, So I remember where I was, what I was doing, because I was like, did she just say to Rust to make it run? Say it again? How did she say it? She gave me to us? She says, you have to go back and listen to it. There are words that just drive me crazy. But I was obsessed with if you had

my love and feeling so good. The remix really interesting. Do you have a favorite song if You Had My Love? Because you have to remember this was the very first single off her very first album, So this is the moment that everyone will define Jennifer Lopez by for the rest of her life. And as a style expert, I have to go back to the white bikini tom with the white pants and the pin straight hair. I loved If You Had My Love. So I just remember that video and I've also dressed up as that j Lo.

So when Jaylo went on tour for her fiftieth birthday, my friends and I all went. It was a group of six of us and we each had to be a different j Lo. I love that. It was so much fun, so we all dressed up as different j Lo's. I personally wanted that one, but this girl, Tanya decided that she wanted to be that one. So I changed to Jenny from the Block j Loo, but she was if You Had My Love j Loo because you can't

dress up like j Loo and not do that. It's one of the most iconic video looks of her career. So you said, what was your favorite song waiting for Tonight? Do you remember that one? Seriously, shut up, I'm about to end the podcast. Okay, that's a rap on j episode two. But let me tell you why Waiting for Tonight really kind of set out to me. So. I was a young baby makeup artist at that time, and Kevin o'quan had done her makeup, and now as a

celebrity a makeup artist, I was just so. I didn't even know I wanted to be a celebrity makeupartist until you know, here I am. But when I found out Kevin o'quand did her, I was just so mesmerized by what he had done. And the crystals, like no one had seen crystals like that in the video. That was definitely a glam moment. You know what's amazing is that, looking back, that was her very first album. It was her very first kind of shot out into the world.

And to know that she was working with Kevin o'quan on the makeup and she had all of these iconic looks, and girl, you know, she didn't have the budget she had now. So this album obviously produced five major singles, three of them which hit the main US Hot one hundred charts. You know what else is on that album? Tony ballad with the future mister Lopez as known as Mister x Lopez m Mark Anthony. So there's this heart wrenching song called noma Amis. Have you heard the lyrics?

Though the whole song, Mark is like, I'm a mess, I'm not good for you. You shall bounce, and She's like, I love you. We can make it work. Literally the story of my life. And he's got her back to him the entire video. He has his back to her. Take a hint, j Lo. When it came to Lopez and Anthony in real life. Well, yeah, there's so much to unpack there, So we're going to save that for the relationship episode. You're definitely not going to want to miss that one. I hate you. You're such a tease,

I know. So let's jump forward a year. Jennifer is back at the Grammys, but this time he Diddy is on her arm. Yes, we're bringing them back. They attended the Grammy Awards and we all know what happened that night. I can imagine what happened that night, but history the green Versati dress is back front Encore on becoming an icon, y'all that it is the dress that changed the world, makes an appearance again on the show as she attended the awards ceremony with her then partner, who was also

a producer for on the six. It didn't stop there. Homegirl went back to work and released another album in two thousand and one, while also starring in a romantic comedy Talk about a Multitask or j Low. That's right. She became the first woman to have a number one film alongside an album. Her sophomore album, j Lo was released at the same week as The Wedding Planner. So let's talk about Love Don't Cost a Thing? Where were you?

I was living in Spain at the time, if I remember, And it made it all the way there, Joseph, this is the second time I'm gonna end the episode. Okay, okay, Love Don't cost a Thing was so good and I'm like, well, my love cost a thing? Can I have your sugar, daddy jr. Loo. I mean it costs a lot of things. Let me tell you. You know, she was out there telling people she didn't need the diamonds she in the car. She threw a Fendi baggett bag out of her convertible.

I was like, girl, I'll catch that Fendi bag. Throw it in. Yeah, I was right there. I was on the p you were on the causeway trying to catch that Fendi Baghett. I will say about this album, I don't remember it getting lots of awards. Yeah, I don't remember it getting a ton of critical acclaim, but it didn't really matter because it made fans out of everybody. Not only was Love Don't Cost a thing on this album, not only was Chris A. Judd in that video but said,

but we also got Ain't It Funny? Okay, which is one of my favorite songs. And then we also got I'm Real, which we're going to talk about later because we cannot just quickly graze over that. We got to have like a whole moment about that. Okay. But here's the thing. Around the time of this album, something else happened, something that has kept every everyone talking for almost twenty years. Are y'all ready for Little Cheesement? Oh? You better serve this shit up. Let's go. So I'm gonna tell you

a story that involves another mega super icon. I have the chills right now. What are you going to say? Okay, So, remember when we're talking about Tommy Mantola, Mariah's X Okay. So at the time, Tommy was a power player. He was the head of Sony Music. He was a certified hit maker. He founded Hall and Oates. For God's sake, what is that some sort of breakfast that comes with brunch and Mimosa's Joseph, Yeah, are you serious right now? Just kidding. I know you're obsessed and you get worked up.

Do not disrespect John Hall and Darryl Oates. Okay, God please protect them. They are old. What I'm saying is that at this time, back in the nineties, everything that Tommy touched was gold. He had hit after hit, but most people at the time really knew him as Mariah Carey's husband now her ex of course, or Dahlia's current husband. Yes,

that is Tommy. Okay. So back in the nineties, Maria and Tommy got married in this crazy, over the top fairytale wedding on Long Island, and then the Prince Charming takes his beautiful young bride back to their castle and that motherfucker basically locked her up. No, you guys, for a real dead ass, Maria was a prisoner. No seriously, y'all. She had guards following her everywhere. There were cameras all over the house. Cinderella was literally locked up in that

mansion on Long Island. It's keeping more a Fiona and Shrek and all that was missing is the dragon. It's true. So finally Maria was like, you know what, enough is enough and she actually filed for divorce the Emancipation of Mimi. Oh such a good album. Yes, So all of this is to say, this is happening. Mariah is finally stepping out on Tommy, and Tommy, being the piece of shit that he is, needs to exact revenge on Mimi. So

listen to what he does. He gets on Nosy finds out that Maria has just optioned the rights to a beat from a seventies band called Firecracker, and that her next album is actually going to be led by a song using that track. So what does this scabroon do next. M graciously accepts that Maria needs to be a free butterfly. No, he options the rights to the song himself, puts together a dream team to make this song using the sample, basically stealing it from Maria before she can release hers.

That's spiteful, trifling ass, and then he has the nerve to call up job Rule and says jah, I need this track right now. And do you know who Tommy enlists as Jaz's partner on the track I can't I can't take it. My palms are sweating. Tommy Mettola's newest protege, a young Latina named Jennifer Lopez. That's right, you guys, I'm Real is released. It is a straight banger and goes to number one. Are you do you remember this song? I was that song. I just want to say that

I really was that song. But were you jaw Rule or were you j Lowe and her pink, juicy couture outfit. I was a combo like why you Gotta? I was both. Listen, we were all a little jaw, a little murder inc and a little jay And you know, it was the nineties, speaking of I wonder what a Shan Tivas is up to. You need to take some icons add like medication right now. You are all over the place. I love you, okay?

So yes, it was the nineties, all right. So we were telling you the story because it all goes back to Mariah and the Cheeseman of all cheesebooks. So it's a follow two thousand and one. Mariah's out on a press store for a movie called Glitter, and it doesn't take long for the rest of the world to realize that this movie is not good. Okay, I enjoyed Glitter for the campy spectacle that it is, but it's bad.

It's real bad. It's real bad. Okay. So Mariah has just had this song stolen from her by her crazy ass X given to j Lowe goes to number one. She's out having to promote this shit ass movie in Germany. Everyone knows the movie's a mess. She hates her X. He gave her song to somebody else, and the woman that he gave that song too has a number one

song along with the number one movie. So a reporter asks her, what do you think of Jennifer Lopez, and Mariah answers with four words that launched a twenty year feud. I don't know her. That is still my favorite line that exist. I don't know her. The shade the shade, and it's crazy. I looked it up in the dictionary and it is just the photo of Mariah Carey and her forced teethy smiles saying I don't know her. I

don't know her. I wonder if secretly one of them has tried to communicate and put the kabash or do they like that there's this feud. Well, first of all, I hate anytime the world pins two women against each other that are both so incredibly successful in their own right. It's annoying because there's tons of successful men and no one's like, oh, Tom Brady, do you hate Aaron Rodgers? Like?

It doesn't work like that in man world. But for some reason, especially in music and film and television, you can't have two incredibly talented, beautiful, successful women be at the top at the same time because they automatically have to hate each other. So, of course, leave it to Andy Cohen, the chief chismosa in charge, to dig a little bit deeper on a feud. So Mariah Carey agreed to go into Andy's clubhouse and watch what happens live. By the way, Andy switch sides with her because Maria

always has to be on the left. So Maria's sitting there and Andy's like, can we please talk about that moment? And Mariah Carey gave it a little bit more context, which is what she meant by saying, I don't know her wasn't that she didn't know who Jennifer Lopez was. Of course she knew who she was. What she was saying is I don't personally know her. I'm not down with her, I don't vibe with her. We don't hang out. You and I knew Jennifer as much as Mariah did.

And that's what she was saying, right, And the question is still a specific thing, what do you think of Jennifer Lopez? Right? And Maria says in the moment, she answered very dryly and very honestly, which is I don't know her. She knows of her, but she doesn't have personal relations with her. But it makes her a damn

good story. And of course the feud has gone on and on, and I believe one time Jennifer was texting during one of Mariah's performing and people thought she was being shady, and then they were both had various residencies at the same time. So listen, I'm gonna go by the age old adage of where there's smoke, there's fire. They're probably not besties, but they probably don't hate each other. It's true whole time. But I have to go back to one point that you made. You were saying the

world depending each other. It wasn't the world. It was fucking Tommy Mottola painting girls against each other. Oh my god, so now we know who it was. It's always a damn man. So here's the thing. Jennifer's a star. The charts say it, the fans obviously recognize it. Her albums are gold, and she's dropping it after hit. So she releases an album with remixes, the debuts at number one, and her third studio album, This is Me Them, and

that album was inspired by someone in her life. Can I say it as you're like foaming at the mouth benefer was born, Yes, and with that birthkave a different kind of media frenzy that would affect all aspects of the empire she was trying to build and almost ended it all for her, which makes it so much juicier. When it comes to her albums, Jennifer has always been

inspired by her relationships, love and sex. This is Me then came at a particularly interesting time because it was late two thousand and two and there was only one thing or person, I should say, on j Lo's mind, her high profile relationship with none other than mister Ben Affleck. Yeah, and despite the album having the biggest opening sales of her career. It only reached number six on the Billboard two hundred and that was due in part to the

Benefit Mayhem. So let's talk about it a bit. I want you to tell me as an entertainment journalist, let me tell you that's why I'm asking. Benefer was the gift that kept on giving. Here. You had to majorly high profile A list celebrities, one from the music world, one from the entertainment world, and when you put those

two worlds together, you have pure combustion. I always say, it's a lot of times you have an A list actor dating a B list celebrity, or a B list reality star or B list musician, but when you have an A and an A together, it's just all spectacle. It's also completely doomed and destined to fail because you can't have that much wattage and expect it to sustain and survive. I get what you're saying, but I'm going to do this really weird Latino thing. So weren't there

already big people together. Let's just say, not like Brad Pitt and Angelina, but like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. So I'm talking about the wattage of how big they were, right, but with it a little bit more salacious because she was Latina. Yes, two things are different, and you hit on one of them. Yes, she was Latina. And Ben was the industry golden boy at the time. Right. He was Matt Damon's bestie. They had written and starred in Goodwill Hunting, They had won an Academy Award. He was

Hollywood's golden boy at the time. Then you have Jennifer, right, she's un around the way, a girl from the Bronx. She was a fly girl, she was self made, she was Puerto Rican and proudly Puerto Rican. And then you also have the combination of her coming from music and he came from film. Bringing together two stars in different industries, both at their kind of peak was unique. At the time, you had so much star power. But I do think that Jennifer was so different and maybe not who they

thought Ben should be with. Maybe they wanted a Gwyneth Paltrow type for Ben Affleck and instead they had Jennifer Lopez who was from the block. But you guys, we're gonna dig very deep. We're going to unearth all of the benefit drama in a future episode. So let's get back to the album. Okay, So what do you remember

about this? We got Jenny from the Block and all I have with Elly, She set aside her dance pop sound and let R and B and soul take the front seat this time around, and that was a callback to the sounds of the Bronx that she had grown up with. Lopez was influenced by works of Michael Jackson, Luther Van Dross, and Stevie Wonder, among others, and she always said with this album she really tried to capture their sound because their music made her quote heart sing

when you talk about this is me. Then it's an interesting album because it got kind of mixed reviews from music critics and from me first foremotion, here he goes. Okay, so let's get to the facts. It did sell two point six million copies in the US, It did reach number two on the Billboard two hundred and it went out to sell six million copies world Why. So this was a success whether the critics panned it or not. But what really made it for me was simply one song.

It was the lead single, Jenny from the Block. That video was hot. Now This is the Jennifer that I usually dress up as for Halloween, for Jennifer themed parties. This is my Saturday Saturdays when I go pick up my kid from preschool. Hello, this is my Jennifer. Because, by the way, this look is so back right now, to the cargoes, the high heeled tims, the whole vibe, the page boycap, her dancing in the streets in the Bronx.

This video for me, brought me back in a way that I didn't realize I needed to be brought back at the time, and even now when I watch it, it's just pure nostalgia for me. There is such a feel good vibe to old j Loo songs and that's what fans really connect to. It takes us back to the nineties. In two thousand and one. Things were different, we didn't have social media. It just felt like a simpler time. This video, for her, it was the old Jalo and the new j Lo in the fight Oh

my God, like Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe. Yes, who will prevail? Right? So she had all of this glitz and glam and attention. She was with Ben Athleck. She was living the yacht life, right, but then she was like, hold up, hold up, I'm still Jenny from the Block, and she gave us the most poetic line ever written in the history of me. I don't know which one you're gonna say. What are you going to say? Don't be fooled? Oh yeah, by the rocks that I got.

It's true. Okay, I'm going to frame that ship that is really good? Is really good? Not even don't be fooled by the rocks that I have. She could have said no, but it would have been. But then you can't rhyme it with blocks, and you can't be don't be fooled by the rocks that I got. I'm still I'm still Jenny from the block. Used to have a little, Now I have a lot. Can you try it with have and see? Don't be fooled by the rocks that I have. It just doesn't go. It really just doesn't.

It doesn't work. I was sorry, you can't sing that line and they get your ass slapped by Ben Affleck on a yacht. It doesn't work. It is a whole vibe, my friends, well also things. Speaking of being a whole vibe, it reached number two in the Billboards two hundred and earned double platinum status in the US. That's right, and that wasn't the only song on the album. We also need to talk about I'm Glad, which a lot of people don't like, but honestly, this is one of my

favorite Jlo videos. I loved that song. It was so happy, it was so happy, and that, to me, is the best Jlo has ever moved in I'm Glad. So, in case you guys don't remember this video, this is when she kind of did that like flash dance rip off and people were she's a richel thought in her mind, but and she dances on the chair under the water. So I was taking a dance class in New York one of the first years that I moved there, and I hired a private teacher to teach it to me,

and I quit after ten minutes. Yeah, it wasn't going to happen. That is not a true story. Are you serious? It's a true story. Have you seen the video? Yes? Okay. I was like, I just need to learn thirty seconds of choreo and they're like, cool, no problem. So he did it for me and I was, okay, I can do this, y'all. I was twenty three at my peak and couldn't even do ten seconds of the choreo no Bitch. You saw him walk in with a bucket of water

and you were like, we're not doing this yet. It is one of my favorite songs on that and she honestly has never looked better. That's when we get her in the leg warmers and little black undis and we get curly hair j Lo, which personally I love her hair. Oh natural, I love early bouncy hair Jlo, and it's just all good. I kind of feel that curly hair caused a frenzy. Well, it might have caused a frenzy, but it certainly didn't cause a frenzy bigger than the

benefit of frenzy. But the frenzy around this pairing ultimately became the catalyst for benefit breaking up. Yeah, they weren't overexposed. I'm just going to say it, and it actually really negatively affected both of their careers. I just don't know why I love them. They called it quits, resulting in one of the singer's biggest heartbreaks ever. And he was

Jennifer's muse. This was the man that inspired this whole album and on This Is Me, then she had more co writing credits on this album than any of her previous albums, and the most interesting writing on the whole album the dedication girl, let me read it to you. You are my life, my soul, inspiration for every lyric, every motion, every bit of feeling on this record. Come on,

it's really romantic. Jay Loo loves to be in love, and y'all, she was head over heels for Ben, just that sentence alone when she's saying the rock says she got and now she's like, you are my life, my sole inspiration for every lyric. She was definitely fucking in love. When she looks back at this album. Here's what Jennifer had to say about this is me then. She said, twenty years from now, if I give this album to one of my kids, I'll be like, this was me then.

At that moment, it was all very telling about where she was in her life. And I have to point out that now that here we are in twenty twenty two, Ben and jen back together, it was destiny and by the way, he is the only man that she has ever made this kind of romantic gesture too, not even to Mark Anthony, the father of her kids. Jayla has gone on to say that that's her favorite album out of all of the ones she's ever recorded, because it's

the most vulnerable she's ever been on a record. After the Benefit explosion, it took a lot for her to rebuild herself. Everything had gotten to her and Homegirl was feeling soups to Presso. Yeah, she had fired her longtime manager, Benny Medina. He was the man who basically put her on the map. She called off her wedding to Ben and then got married to Mark Anthony a year later. It was a lot, but she still managed to release

her fourth record, Rebirth, in two thousand and five. Alexis Petritus of The Guardian had remarked that the album title suggests that even Lopez has realized that something is amiss with her career, and despite the highlights, you're still left pondering the question what happened to Jennifer Lopez? On the next Becoming an Icon Girl, it's a twenty year career. We had a lot more to say about the music, yes, and since we're talking about music, you got to know

how to shake your ass. Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoro and Ihearts Michael Kuda Podcast Network Listen to becoming an icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast