On the 6

When Jennifer Lopez was a child, her parents tried to teach the rules of etiquette and correctly speak English. They encouraged their daughters for giving performances at home, singing and dancing for each other and for their friends ^[3] . Studying in the last class of school, Lopez learned about the picture for adolescent girls for a small role in the film. After going karting, she got a role in the low-budget film “ My Little Girl (1986), co-authored and directed by Connie Keizerman ^[4] . After filming the movie, Lopez realized that she wanted to become a “famous movie star.” She told her parents about this, but they thought it was a "very stupid" idea, so "it is not in Latin American." Disagreements with her parents forced her to leave her home and move to a small apartment in Manhattan . At this time, Lopez took part in several musical productions, and soon she was accepted into the choral ensemble, which toured Europe for five months. She did not like to participate in the ensemble, as she was the only participant who did not have a solo party. Soon she became a dancer, singer and choreographer in the Japanese show Synchronicity . She then became a dancer for the Fly Girls troupe in the television comedy In Living Color . Together with her beloved David Cruise, she moved to Los Angeles , and was a member of the troupe until 1993, when she decided to start a full-fledged film career ^[5] .

Having played several minor roles, in 1996, Lopez made a major breakthrough in his career, receiving a leading role in the film " Selena ", a biographical tape about the late American singer and songwriter. In the film, Selena’s real voice was used for musical accompaniment, but nevertheless, Lopez sang herself in the episodes of the film ^[6] . Answering a question in an interview about whether her film inspired the beginning of a musical career , she replied: “I was very, very inspired, since I started my career in musical theater. This film reminded me of singing, dancing, and the like, which I missed so much ... ” After filming the film, Lopez “felt her Latin roots” and recorded a demo tape in Spanish ^[7] . Then, her manager sent a song called “Vivir Sin Ti” to Work Records, a company owned by Sony Music Entertainment , and they became interested in her singing. The head of the label Tommy Motolla invited her to sing in English . She agreed and began recording her debut album, On the 6 . While working on the album, Lopez realized that she had been contracted only because of her appearance and already known name in show business. She wanted to prove that she really has a musical talent ^[8] . Even before the beginning of her musical career, critics wondered why she was risking her career in music so much. It was noted that “if the album turns out to be a failure, this will not only put Lopez at a disadvantage, but also could harm her career” ^[9] .

To record the album, Tommy Motolla and Lopez gathered a team of producers, among which was at that time the beloved Lopez Sean "Puffy" Combs , her future husband Mark Anthony , Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins , Poke & Tone , husband and wife Gloria and Emilio Estefan and others ^[10] . Corey Rooney , one of the producers and songwriters of the album, later told that when he met Lopez, they “immediately found a common language” with her. He played for Motolla and Lopez on the piano and sang the song Talk About Us. Lopez and Motolla liked this song, and the singer recorded it the next day, and in close collaboration with Corey Rooney began working on the rest of the songs ^[11] . Grammy winner and vocal producer Betty Wright , known by the song " Clean Up Woman "(1971), worked closely with Lopez on the album and inspired her greatly ^[10] . According to Wright Lopez, “amazing energy”: “She was with me [in the studio] day after day helping me. I am a young singer, do you understand? Young studio singer. Maybe I sang all my life, maybe I sang on stage and so on, but in the studio everything is completely different. And you need someone who will help get through this. ” ^[10]

Once, while working on the album, Lopez “was lucky” to record in the same studio with American singer Marc Anthony. Anthony, who was intrigued by Lopez after watching the film “Selena” (1997), went into her studio and asked her to play in his music video for the song “No Me Conoces” ^[12] . She agreed, but on condition that he recorded a song with her, to which he, in turn, agreed. About this Lopez told in a documentary film, which was included in her video album Feelin 'So Good : “Then I called Tommy [Motolla] and said:“ Listen, Marc Anthony said that he would record a song with me, and I don’t want to sing a duet with anyone. I want to sing with him. Can you get him to sign something so that he recorded the song with me if I acted in his clip? "". The performers first shot the video and then began working on the song.

“ Let's Get Loud ” was originally written for Gloria Estefan , but she felt that the song is very similar to her previous compositions. She then transmitted this song to Lopez, finding that she would get more pleasure from her performance ^[13] . Lopez understood that the recording of the first album is “a different world”, which differs from the film career in Hollywood : “The film career is very structured by time and the like. But the music business is so free that you can start whenever you want ” ^[14] . She hoped that the same people would like On the 6 like her: “English is my first language. I grew up here, I was born here. I did not have a Spanish-speaking career at the very beginning. I think that the album will definitely please my generation, [since] we grew up in America, but we have Latin American parents or parents of a different nationality ” ^[15] . She wanted the album to reflect both its sides, calling the Spanish-speaking people their "main audience" ^[14] .

Lopez’s debut single “If You Had My Love” was released on May 4, 1999. It was produced by Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jenkins III and Corey Rooney and instantly became a hit, taking first place in the United States . He also achieved international success, becoming number one in Australia, New Zealand, Finland and other countries. He hit the top of charts in more than ten countries ^[16] . Reflecting on the success of the song in the United States, Lopez said: “I think that the work was done with a bang, because this is my first single, and he achieved success. This is just an overwhelming feeling ... For me it is very important " ^[17] . The director of the video for this song was Paul Hunter ^[18] . In the video, the theme of voyeurism was touched on, and he also got into the rotation of the MTV music channel ^[19] . He was well received by critics, but Entertainment Weekly did not particularly appreciate him. ^[20] The song “ No Me Ames ” (duet with Marc Anthony) became the second single from the album. Despite the fact that the track was released on the back of the single “ If You Had My Love ” ^[21] , both songs were rotated onto the radio and hit the Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart ^{[22] [23] [24]} .

The third single from the album “ Waiting for Tonight ” was released on November 15, 1999 ^[25] . The video for him was shot on New Year's Eve and became party-themed based on Y2K features ^[26] . He is considered the best single (and video) for the entire career Lopez ^[27] . In early 2000, the single climbed to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 (which makes it the second single by Lopez, which hit the top of the chart) ^[28] . On January 25, 2000, together with rappers Big Punisher and Fat Joe , the fourth single from the album “ Feelin 'So Good ” was released ^[29] . Due to the Big Punisher non-appearance on Saturday Night Live , Lopez and Fat Joe sang the song together. Later on MTV News, it was announced that the rapper had died of a heart attack associated with being overweight ^[30] . Later Lopez made a statement about his death: “He was a source of pride for the Latin community, a great performer and a great man. We will miss him terribly. ” ^[31] Against the background of the rapper's loud death, “ Feelin 'So Good ” failed to repeat the success of the previous singles from the album and he took 51st place in the United States ^[28] . Nevertheless, he received a hard rotation on MTV . The clip, which was filmed in Manhattan , was attended by friends Lopez ^[32] . In June 2000, before Lopez began recording her new album, she released the final single from the album, “ Let's Get Loud ” ^[33] .

The album's name refers to the 6th subway station in New York , where Lopez went to work in Manhattan , as well as home in the Bronx during her early career ^[35] . On the day of the album's release, Lopez performed at the Virgin Megastore in the New York City entertainment complex and signed her fans' CDs ^[36] . On June 4, 1999, she presented the album in the Los Angeles shopping complex Beverly Connection , at the Wherehouse Entertainment Store . According to the Yahoo! Music , "she will make a grand passage on the red carpet and sign autographs for people awaiting the event" ^[37] . On July 9, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin took part in the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the “breakthrough of Latin American music” on the English-language music market ^[38] . The next day, she performed at the closing of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup , which was held at the Rose Bowl Stadium ^{[39] [40]} . On August 12, Lopez was leading the Teen Choice Awards ^[41] . A week later, on the BET channel, a documentary film titled From Fly Girl to Major Star was shown. On August 23, the Making Video program (episode 108) on MTV showed the shooting of the video for the song Lopez “ Waiting for Tonight ” ^[43] . Also in October on MTV about her was shown a documentary film that showed her “the path to fame, as one of the most popular stars of show business,“ by returning ”to her those days when she lived in the Bronx , where her dream to perform on stage began to be performed at the age of five, when she studied ballet and flamenco ” ^[44] . On December 8, 1999, Lopez opened the Billboard Music Awards ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena , performing the song "Waiting for Tonight" ^[45] .

On December 27, 1999, Lopez and at that time her lover, rapper and producer and Sean Combs (who co-produced On the 6 ) were arrested with two other people in connection with the shooting in a club on Times Square in New York . They were accused of using weapons for criminal purposes and stealing other people's property. Soon Lopez was found not guilty; her lawyer made a statement that “Jennifer Lopez does not know how to use firearms and does not approve of his use,” while Combs publicly stated that Lopez “has no relation to shooting” ^[46] . However, Combs was accused of having committed the Manhattan court ^[47] . It was expected that this dispute could adversely affect the promotion of the album, however, a spokesman Lopez said that this is unlikely ^[29] ; shooting, mainly attracted attention in New York . With the release of the single “ Feelin 'So Good ”, Lopez again started promoting the album with television interviews in early 2000 ^[29] . On February 23, Lopez appeared at the 42nd Grammy ceremony in an exotic green dress from Versace that allowed to eclipse the rumors about the shooting. The dress became one of the most famous in history, in which they walked along the red carpet ^{[48] [49]} . At the 13th annual Kids 'Choice Awards , held on April 15, 2000, Lopez sang the song “Fellin' So Good” ^[50] . On May 2, on Saturday Night Live, she sang the songs “Feelin 'So Good” and “Waiting for Tonight” again ^[51] . Also in November, SMV Enterprises , Sony Corporation and Sony Music Entertainment released a video album called Jennifer Lopez: Feelin 'So Good . The album includes a documentary showing the beginning of Lopez's musical career with several interviews, backstage footage, clips and recordings from live performances ^[34] .

On the 6 became a commercially successful album, which surprised critics, as it was considered a great risk for Lopez ^[52] . For the week ending June 19, 1999, he debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 . If you sold 112,000 copies during the same week, If You Had My Love spent its second week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 ^{[53] [54]} . The following week, the album dropped to twelfth line, although its lead single remained at the top of the Hot 100 ^[55] . In the third week, the album remained in the same place ^[56] . According to Nielsen SoundScan, 400,000 copies of the album were sold in the first three weeks ^[40] . Throughout July, the album remained in the top twenty of the Billboard 200 chart ^[57] . On August 21, the album spent ten weeks on the top twenty, while If You Had My Love was in the top ten of the Hot 100 for twelve weeks ^[58] . By October, 1.6 million copies of the album were sold in the United States ^[59] . After the album spent one year on the chart, in the week of June 3, 2000, he flew out of the chart, taking 173 positions ^[60] . Two weeks later, he returned to the chart at number 179. Next week, he dropped to number 186. Overall, On the 6 experienced a “53-week run” on the Billboard 200 ^[61] . The album also reached the eighth line of the Top R & B / Hip-Hop Albums chart , and was three times platinum according to the Recording Industry Association of America for a sale of three million copies ^[62] . By October 2010, Billboard magazine reviewer Harry Trust reported that 2.81 million copies of the album were sold in the United States, making it the second best album by Lopez ^[63] .

The album also enjoyed international success, hitting the top 10 albums in several countries. In Germany, On the 6 debuted on the chart on June 19, 1999, at number eight. Two weeks later he reached the third line ^[64] . He received gold status in this country from the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for sales in excess of 250,000 copies ^[65] . The album also reached third place in Switzerland , and also received a gold status for selling 15,000 copies ^{[66] [67]} . In Canada, On the 6 ranked fifth ^[68] and was certified as five times platinum for the sale of more than half a million copies ^[69] . In Belgium, the album reached the tenth line in Flanders and sixth in Wallonia ^[70] . During the week of July 10, 1999 On the 6 the Dutch chart entered at number 55. Almost a month later, on August 7, it reached number six. The album spent a total of 82 weeks on the Netherlands charts, and went platinum for selling 60,000 copies ^{[71] [72]} . On the 6 became very successful in Australia, where he debuted (and peaked) at number 11 on July 18, 1999 ^[73] . In 2002, it became platinum from the Australian Recording Industry Association for selling 70,000 copies ^[74] . The album also reached number 14 in the United Kingdom , and became platinum according to the British recording industry for selling over 300,000 copies. ^[75] . July 3, 1999 album debuted in the French album chart number 24, reaching 15 lines in two weeks. He spent a total of 38 weeks on the charts, and received a double gold status from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique for selling 210,000 copies ^{[76] [77]} . On November 26, 1999, 2 million copies of the album were sold worldwide ^[78] and 5 million by June 2000 ^[79] . By 2003, the album sold over 8 million copies worldwide ^[80] .

The album was very warmly received by music critics. Eliza Gardner from the Los Angeles Times gave the album a positive rating, praising him for “combining elements of urban and Latin music and groove with a bright touch of pop music” and vocals by Lopez, describing it as “as seductively emotional as her work on the screen " ^[85] . In the NME magazine noted that "millionaire film star Jennifer Lopez entered the music industry and her sultry murmur alone conquers the audience in need of performers such as Whitney Houston , Christian Dior and other beloved in the world diva <...> Eternal quest for glory Mariai Carey a serious blow has just been dealt ” ^[86] . Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine put the album 3 points out of 5, praising Lopez's serious attitude to her music: “A pleasant surprise of the album is that she knows what she is doing. Instead of intense vocal performance, she sings a completely intelligible R & B murmur of a world star, which you do not need to chase away, because she knows that you have already paid attention to her. ” Sheffield described Lopez as a “singing-dancing woman” who is able to “turn a little movement into a large flow of energy” ^[84] .