Each Music Monday will be formatted as followed: an overview/ my opinion on their said career, followed by the ranking of their top 5 songs. No artist is without flaws, their worst three songs will also be judged and ripped to shreds.
As a reminder, this is not going to be a series where I list no-name songs off an artist’s shitty second album that’ll you’ll hear occasionally in an urban coffee shop. We only grade hits here. I’m not looking for songs that have the best underlying message. I’m not looking for songs that represent the artist’s struggle and triumph over something shitty that happened to them. I don’t care about any of that. We are only ranking the cream of the crop, the pinnacle of an artist’s success. Before you ask, I will not be ranking The Beatles’ songs, as I do not want to tarnish my blog with overrated garbage. If you have a problem with that, or my rankings, and want to make your criticisms known, you can email all of your concerns to VinnieWontCheckThis@gmail.com. Prior versions of this series can be found here.
So with that, let’s get started
Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969, in The Bronx to Puerto Rican parents. At the age of five, Lopez began taking singing and dancing lessons. She toured New York with her school when she was seven years old. Her parents stressed the importance of work ethic and being able to speak English. They encouraged their three daughters to put on performances at home—singing and dancing in front of each other and their friends so that they would stay out of trouble. Senior year of high school she was cast in a low budget film. It gave her exposure and over the next couple of years she starred in various films in the late 90’s. Her breakout role in 1997, starring as the singer Selena in her biopic gave her worldwide recognition. Lopez was aware that she received her recording contract on the basis of her looks and an already established name in the entertainment industry, and she wanted to prove she had musical talent. Her debut album, On the 6, was released in 1999. It produced a number one hit (If You Had My Love), two top ten hits (Waiting for Tonight, Let’s Get Loud). Her second album, J.Lo, came out in 2001. To follow up a debut album as successful as hers was a tall task, but she stood up to the challenge and gave us some of her most iconic songs. A number one hit with Ja. Rule (I’m Real), a top 3 song (Love Don’t Cost a Thing), and a top 20 hit (Play), headlined the album, and it led to a successful clothing line and more movie roles for our triple threat artist. She realized how good her collaborations with Ja. Rule were, so they joined forces again and remixed another song off of J.Lo, which also reached number one on the charts (Ain’t It Funny). Another one of her songs she remixed also was a top ten hit (It’s Gonna Be Alright). Her third album, This Is Me… Then was released a year later in 2002 and I guess Ben Affleck was the inspiration for the album. I learned today that they dated and it appears like it was a big deal in the Hollywood circles. Jenny From the Block hit number three on the charts, and the other singles off the album hit number one (All I Have) and 30 (I’m Glad). This was the last album we’d get from Lopez for three years, as she wanted to focus on making terrible movies. Nevertheless, she came back to music in 2005 with her fourth album, Rebirth, and if this was a career ‘rebirth’ she should have just stayed dead. The album stunk, only had one song worth talking about and it hit number 12 on the chart (Get Right). But boy that song worth talking about is a banger. The rest of the album is a certified PU. She released another collab with LL Cool J later that year and that song hit number four on the charts (Control Myself). 2007 she released her second consecutive stinker of an album Brave. Moving on. After being irrelevant for close to 8 years at this point, J.Lo found success again in 2011 with her release of her seventh album, Love?. Jennifer Lopez was smart, she realized she couldn’t have chart success on her own merit anymore, she needed a huge star to help her attention for her music. Enter Pitbull. They changed the game when they came together and released On the Floor, it hit number 3 on the charts. J.Lo was back. She had momentum in her career for the first time in nearly a decade, she had to strike while the iron is hot. Naturally, she released her greatest hits album in 2012. She needed a new song to help promote the album though. Enter Pitbull. They collaborated again for a top 20 hit, Dance Again. I respect this move because who better to reach a large demographic than Mr. Worldwide. Now this is where Jennifer Lopez starts getting cocky, she wanted to ride this career rejuvenation that Pitbull provided her. so she goes ahead and releases her 8th album, AKA, in 2014, with one Mr. 305 absent from any song. Her the first single off this album, I Luh Ya Papi, featuring not Pibull but instead French Montana, peaked at 71 on the chart. Her second single, First Love, also lacking Pitbull, peaked at 87. At this point Jenny was sweating, she couldn’t afford to have three straight ducks on another album, it was 2006 all over again for Miss Lopez, so what does she do, before she releases Booty with Iggy Azalea, she calls her old friend Pitbull to record a remix to the song, replacing Iggy’s verse entirely. This song peaked at number 18 on the charts, her most successful song since 2012, when she released her last song with Pitbull. Since then its been a career of nothingness, which makes her as the choice for the Super Bowl Halftime show so strange. The disrespect for Pitbull IN MIAMI is real, and I’m not happy about it. Moving on to the rankings.
I’m not gonna deny that Lopez has hits, maybe it’s a me problem but I am just not a fan of some of her biggest hits. Her songs with LL Cool J fall flat for me, and this ranking was way easier than it should have been. That’s on me but regardless I’m going to rank these with my heart.
Toughest Omission: Love Don’t Cost a Thing: Apparently she didn’t sing the chorus to this song. I had this song at 4, but due to uncovering this knowledge I bumped it down here.
5. I’m Real/ Ain’t It Funny (both feat. Ja Rule): I thought long and hard about which Ja Rule collab is on here. This was a choice I didn’t take lightly, I listened to both numerous times (see the sacrifices I make for you people, I listen to good music for this list, you’re welcome), before ultimately deciding there is never enough Ja Rule on any list.
4. Get Right (ft. Fabulous)- Start playing Get Right by J Lo at bars and clubs more often. Song is certified hit.
3. On the Floor (ft. Pitbull/Mr. Worldwide/Mr. 305): the song that saved J.Lo’s singing career. I’m going to be honest, I almost put this at number one, because it is my favorite J.Lo song. Nobody SHOULD have a problem with it, but this is the Internet, so people would.
2. Jenny From the Block: At the time I am writing this, (the 26th) is the 17th anniversary of this song. That’s pretty neat (not really). What I do find neat though is that not only did Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez date, but he was the star in the music video. I’m learning so many new things!
1. Let’s Get Loud: this song is going to 100% going to open the Super Bowl and I have no problem with it. Normally an artist’s best song is saved for the end but this will set the tone of the entire set. Start the set with bangers and go from there.
This blog is long enough but real quick here is a ranking of the best Jennifer Lopez Movies.
5. The Backup Plan (2010)
4. Made in Manhattan (2004)
3. Hustlers (2019)
2. Out of Sight (1998)
1. Selena (1997)
Your Turn
If you had a blog and were to rank every Jennifer Lopez song that hit top 20 on the charts, what are your top 5?
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| If You Had My Love | 1999 | 1 | On the 6 |
| Waiting for Tonight | 1999 | 8 | On the 6 |
| Let’s Get Loud | 2000 | 9 | On the 6 |
| Love Don’t Cost a Thing | 2000 | 3 | J. Lo |
| Play | 2001 | 18 | J. Lo |
| I’m Real | 2001 | 1 | J. Lo |
| Ain’t It Funny (ft. Ja Rule) | 2002 | 1 | J to the L-O! The Remixes |
| I’m Gonna Be Alright | 2002 | 10 | J to the L-O! The Remixes |
| Jenny From the Block | 2002 | 3 | This Is Me… Then |
| All I Have (ft. LL Cool J) | 2002 | 1 | This Is Me… Then |
| Get Right (ft. Fabulous) | 2005 | 12 | Rebirth |
| On the Floor (ft. Pitbull) | 2011 | 3 | Love? |
| Dance Again (ft. Pitbull) | 2012 | 17 | Dance Again… The Hits |
| Booty (ft. Pitbull) | 2014 | 18 | A.K.A |
Vin'sane Thoughts 