Is JLo a style and music thief?

[The Greatest Show]

there have been a lot of videos lately exposing JLO as a vocal, song and style thier. What are your thoughts? Do you like her and not care? Do you hate her for it?

 

[Roxxy]

I don't hate her for it, nor do I care. I'm loyal to all my childhood queens of pop. 

[BritneyMinaj]

i mean she's not a producer or engineer so u can't hate her for it 

it's like bashing knee for myah jean  

i love jlo, saw her live 

i mean even the mariah thing isn't her fault so yeah blame tobby mattola 

[Jordan Miller]

I wrote about this at-length last year. Figured I'll paste the article in my comment. Would love to hear what you guys think.

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Jennifer Lopez is under fire for allegedly stealing most of her biggest hits.

By the books, JLo is one of the most commercially famous musicians of our time. She has a lengthy list of famous hits, and for those of you questioning that I challenge you to fire up Spotify and confirm you’re not pretty (if not VERY) familiar with at least 10 of her songs. 

Alright, so we’ve established she’s a bonafide recording artist, but how? That’s the point of contention. Lopez’s body of work is being questioned, and it’s caused a **** storm on the Internet. 

A Twitter user by the name of @PallahAbdul has a bone to pick with the triple threat. They created a thread ripping apart the singer’s singles, but it’s not without merit. They provide receipts, and it’s undeniable that Jenny from the Bronx had a one-up on the way to the top over most rising musicians.

“There is not one JLO hit that isn’t a stolen song of another artists. Not ONE,” @PallahAbdul wrote. They point out multiple instances where this is seemingly the case.

Spoiler alert: if you like the illusion that is Jennifer Lopez™, stop reading now. Otherwise, carry on with this fascinating uncovering. 

“If You Had My Love”

JLo’s first single, “If You Had My Love” was directly inspired by singer Chanté Moore’s song, “If I Gave Love.” Diddy, who played a pivotal role in creating Lopez’s debut album, requested Darkchild hand “If I Gave Love” over, but couldn’t due to previous agreements. Instead he created a carbon copy, and when Lopez’s version blew up Moore had no choice but to scrap hers.

 

“Waiting For Tonight”

This one is a straight up cover by pop trio girl band 3rd Party featured on their 1996 album. Don’t know who they are? Yeah, you’re not supposed to.

 

“Let’s Get Loud”

I’m probably most upset about “Let’s Get Loud.” The track was originally created and recorded for Gloria Estefan’s album, but ultimately passed it on to JLo because she felt it was too similar to her previous songs. Estefan ended up sharing her version of the song as a bonus track on her 2011 album, Miss Little Havana.

 

“I’m Real”

Mariah Carey’s iconic phrase, “I don’t know her,” aimed at Lopez, appears to stem from drama surrounding stolen melodies in JLo’s song and remix for “I’m Real.” It is believed Carey’s ex-husband and head of Sony Music at the time, Tommy Mottola, secretly stole samples and melodies Mariah created for Glitter and gave them to Lopez, beating Mariah to the punch and blocking the elusive chanteuse from releasing her own material. 

Adding insult to injury, R&B singer Ashanti presented JLo with a remix for the track using her own vocals, however the final version of the remix kept Ashanti’s voice intact with Lopez’s. 

 

“Ain’t It Funny Remix”

Ditto for the “Ain’t It Funny” remix. Ashanti’s vocals, no credit.

 

“Play”

You really won’t like this one. Christina Milian wrote “Play” in about 15-minutes, and when Tommy Mottola heard it he wanted it for JLo. Cool, cool, except they didn’t even bother to include Lopez’s vocals on the iconic chorus. Yup, that’s entirely Christina Milian. Is that a crime? Alright then. 

 

“Jenny From The Block”

No doubt “Jenny From The Block” was handcrafted for Lopez. A woman named Natasha Ramos sang the demo, but after her version leaked it was evident Ramos’ vocals are almost exclusively heard on the bridge and chorus on Lopez’s version. Ramos never received a credit. 

The song also appears to steal a sample from The Beatnuts’ song “Watch Out” from their album, A Musical Massacre. They put JLo on blast for it at the time. “Anybody familiar with our music who heard Jenny From The Block knew it was a Beatnuts beat. There’s no getting around it. That’s a straight-up bite. It’s the same drums, the same flute, the same tempo… everything is our idea.”

 

“Get Right”

That infectious beat on “Get Right” was originally created for Usher’s 2004 album, Confessions. Originally titled “Ride,” Usher co-wrote it with producer Rich Harrison, but it was ultimately scrapped and given to JLo without Usher’s permission. He said at the time, “I hate it, but I’d better get some of the publishing rights or else. I didn’t put it on my album because I couldn’t get it right. But I didn’t expect J.Lo to just take it.”

 

“On The Floor”

Kat Deluna co-wrote a song titled “Party O’Clock.” The song, produced by RedOne, debuted months before JLo released “On The Floor,” also produced by RedOne. Fans noticed similarities between the two, but when Lopez was asked about it she actually had no idea what they were referring to. I genuinely believe her, but that doesn’t justify it.

 

Bebe Rexha’s “Self Control”

In a curious turn of events, pop singer Bebe Rexha shared a sample of Lopez singing her song, “Self Control.” It’s not clear whether they had a remix in the works or if she passed it along to JLo at one point to record as a solo song. I’m betting on the latter, because I can’t imagine Bebe would scrap a remix with JLo if she had the opportunity. Lopez probably recorded Bebe’s demo word-for-word first but decided to pass. 

 

What does it all mean?

This isn’t a Jennifer Lopez takedown post. But it’s fascinating that she has so many instances where a track is given to her, re-recorded, yet remains so close to the original. That’s obviously problematic when she’s making millions of dollars and creating ripples in the fabric of music, because that means those who helped her get there aren’t seeing a fraction of that financial gain or the notoriety (or even gd credit, for that matter).

PopCrush points out that this could be a matter of powerful men making “behind-the-scenes power moves to accomplish something that paid off for them in some way,” but I can’t chalk things up to that. Lopez has been and is still very much in control of her career, so to water down her success and hits in the biz to business men’s executive decisions feels irresponsible. If that’s true, she could care less where the hit comes from, as long as she gets it. Meaning, artistic integrity is nowhere to be found and she’s playing to grab a spot on the Hot 100. It’s a realization I’m not prepared to face quite yet. So if these men in suits aren’t to blame… does that mean JLo is the mastermind behind this facade? Then she’s responsible for cultural appropriation and sidelining a handful of talented black men and women for her benefit. No one wins here.

Another important question to ponder is: despite how the songs landed in JLo’s lap… would they have seen so much commercial success had she not recorded and released them? Does it matter if she did? How many other songs has she allegedly lifted that we don’t know about? Look, her star power is undeniable, and adding that special ~Jenny from the Block~ touch certainly elevates a record that might’ve sat on the cutting room floor otherwise. Should she go out of her way to share the wealth, or is it just the name of the game? I guess we’ll have to ask Mariah, Usher, Christina Milian, Kat Deluna, 3rd Party and Natasha Ramos.

[Roxxy]

Nothin' phony, don't hate on me. What you get is what you see~

[Haha-Hehe-Haha-Ho]

7 minutes ago, JordanMiller said:

This isn’t a Jennifer Lopez takedown post.

[Brat]

3 hours ago, The Greatest Show said:

there have been a lot of videos lately exposing JLO as a vocal, song and style thier. What are your thoughts? Do you like her and not care? Do you hate her for it?

 

Look up “MV” by CDAN 

[Britneyarmy8]

She kinda um isn’t a real singer sorry, like yes brit lips but she can sing if she wants to, jlo literally can’t sing (LIVE) good no matter how hard she tries

and her dancing really doesn’t do anything for me 

it’s a lot of exaggerated moves done confidently mixed with her showing off her booty 

I like maybe 4 songs from her

[Haha-Hehe-Haha-Ho]

9 minutes ago, Britneyarmy8 said:

She kinda um isn’t a real singer sorry, like yes brit lips but she can sing if she wants to, jlo literally can’t sing (LIVE) good no matter how hard she tries

and her dancing really doesn’t do anything for me 

it’s a lot of exaggerated moves done confidently mixed with her showing off her booty 

I like maybe 4 songs from her

Omg I just got to the part where they go into her live vocals. I'm truly astonished. She literally sounds as basic as me when I sing. And I totally agree about Brit, for various reasons she's been either unwilling or unable to record some vocals or perform them live but she's 100% able to in a controlled studio environment. JLo can't even carry a tune and it seems to labels have been glad to just straight up nix her from lead singles. I'm beside myself honestly 

[BritneyMinaj]

18 minutes ago, Britneyarmy8 said:

She kinda um isn’t a real singer sorry, like yes brit lips but she can sing if she wants to, jlo literally can’t sing (LIVE) good no matter how hard she tries

and her dancing really doesn’t do anything for me 

it’s a lot of exaggerated moves done confidently mixed with her showing off her booty 

I like maybe 4 songs from her

jlo outdances gaga so idk how u feel abt gaga's dancing

[Britneyarmy8]

1 minute ago, Haha-Hehe-Haha-Ho said:

Omg I just got to the part where they go into her live vocals. I'm truly astonished. She literally sounds as basic as me when I sing. And I totally agree about Brit, for various reasons she's been either unwilling or unable to record some vocals or perform them live but she's 100% able to in a controlled studio environment. JLo can't even carry a tune and it seems to labels have been glad to just straight up nix her from lead singles. I'm beside myself honestly 

And people had the audacity to say she deserved her own halftime show when it was the other way around 

there’s a reason shaki is still selling out stadiums world wide and jlo is 

idek what she’s doing 

[Britneyarmy8]

Just now, BritneyMinaj said:

jlo outdances gaga so idk how u feel abt gaga's dancing

Meh 

two different styles 

personally Gaga gets the credit cause she sings and dances 

[Born2Die]

10 minutes ago, BritneyMinaj said:

jlo outdances gaga so idk how u feel abt gaga's dancing

Your fave could nevah!

[FullyDattAndDatt3full]

I like JLo's tone of voice

[RadicalOptimism]

She is an icon like it or not 

[Jordan Miller]

1 hour ago, Haha-Hehe-Haha-Ho said:

[Jordan Miller]

12 minutes ago, Born2Die said:

Your fave could nevah!

My last 5 brain cells trying to grow Exhale 

[OnlyFacts]

Is water wet? Why ask such a blatantly obvious question? Ashanti sang half of her songs anyways 

[BritneySpurs]

JLo is one of my faves. She's amazing in every way. She's the best performer out there right now. Her style is hot. She does just about everything (not saying every project is amazing but she's a hard worker and takes her career seriously). I've seen three of her shows: Dance Again Tour, All I Have in Vegas, and It's My Party Tour and she's just so good live. 

I don't know about her stealing songs and I don't really care to look into it honestly. She has some great pop songs although her music doesn't do super well. You can't deny her force, especially after Super Bowl. She has the reputation I wish Britney had. And about Ashanti... she's one of the biggest flops in music so let's not even go there.

[BritneyMinaj]

42 minutes ago, BritneySpurs said:

JLo is one of my faves. She's amazing in every way. She's the best performer out there right now. 

i looooveee jlo but 

*beyonce enters the chat*