J to tha L–O! The Remixes is a remix album by American singer Jennifer Lopez, released February 1, 2002 by Epic Records. It contains remixes from Lopez's first two studio albums: On the 6 (1999) and J.Lo (2001). It features artists including P. Diddy, Ja Rule, Fat Joe and Nas, and includes dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It was Lopez's second album to feature a Parental Advisory warning, after J.Lo, and the last to have one until the release of her eighth studio album, A.K.A., in 2014.
It garnered mixed reviews from music critics, but debuted atop the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 156,000 copies in its opening week—the first remix album to reach the chart's top spot, and Lopez's second number-one album. The lead single "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", featuring Ja Rule, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100; and its second, "I'm Gonna Be Alright (Track Masters Remix)", reached the top ten. It also contained the song "Alive", which failed to chart. J to tha L–O! The Remixes became the fourth best-selling remix album of all time, after Michael Jackson, Madonna and Linkin Park's remix efforts. It has sold 1.5 million copies in the United States.
Background and development
Lopez's second album, J.Lo (2001) debuting at the top spot of the Billboard 200 in the United States, followed by a successful re-release on July 24, 2001 (Lopez's 32nd birthday). Following the success of J.Lo, Lopez and Epic Records announced plans to create a remix album. On December 18, 2001, MTV News reported that Lopez had teamed up with Ja Rule (who was featured on her song "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" which topped the Billboard Hot 100) and other artists for her remix album, which would be released in February.
It was also announced that Lopez would rework her 2001 single, "Ain't It Funny" into a Murder Remix which would feature Ja Rule. Ashanti wrote three verses and demoed the new version of "Ain't It Funny" for Lopez. "I got a call from Gotti in Los Angeles. He asked me to write another verse [...] I had to write it over the phone and two-way Irv the lyrics." Ashanti's vocals were later added to the final song as background vocals.
On January 18, 2002, Epic Records confirmed that a Lopez's live DVD and remix album would be arriving soon. Lopez's ex-boyfriend Sean Combs produced and featured on a reworked version of "Feelin' So Good" for the album. "Alive", a ballad which was created for her thriller film Enough (2002) was the only original song written for the album by Lopez and her ex-husband Cris Judd. The song speaks of not being afraid anymore. Track Masters produced a remix of "I'm Gonna Be Alright" which served as the album's second official single; 50 Cent and Nas's vocals were added to separate versions of the song in its commercial release. This was without controversy; Lopez and Epic Records picked Nas to be featured on the radio version due to his popularity on the music charts, which upset 50 Cent, who felt betrayed by Nas. Despite, at this time 50 Cent was still an upcoming artist. According to rumors, 50 Cent hadn't hard feelings for Lopez, but did "hate" Nas. Lopez's management said this was all completely business.
The 50 Cent–featured version appeared on the American pressing of J to tha L–O!: The Remixes album (however, some editions feature a no-rap version) while the Nas-featured version appears on the European pressing of Lopez's 2002 album This Is Me... Then. Commercial CD singles were issued containing Nas' version. The 2002 U.S. compilation Now That's What I Call Music! 10 also contains the version featuring Nas. "I'm Gonna Be Alright" features a bassline from Club Nouveau's "Why You Treat Me So Bad". Pablo Flores reworked "Let's Get Loud" with more of a charged dance beat with a house interpretation of "Waiting For Tonight" included too. All of the songs remixed on J to tha L–O! The Remixes had previously been released as singles from their respective albums, with the exception of "Walking On Sunshine" and "I'm Gonna Be Alright", which was released as a single from the remix album only.
Singles
The album spawned three new singles, two of which attained chart success. The first single from the album, "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)" was released on January 7, 2002. The single topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 becoming Lopez's third number-one single and Ja Rule's third number-one single.
"I'm Gonna Be Alright (Track Masters Remix)", which was previously on her J.Lo album and was officially released as the album's second single on April 1, 2002; impacting the charts by July 2002 and reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. "I'm Gonna Be Alright" spent 23 weeks on the chart.