Ahead of ‘American Idol’ debut, Jennifer Lopez gets ‘On the Floor’ in leaked RedOne-produced single
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It’s no secret that this writer has an inexplicable appreciation for Jennifer Lopez.
But after a few, well, not-so-hot moments in her mostly hit-filled music career, including 2007’s poorly-recieved “Brave” and and her departure from longtime label Epic, Jenny from the Block has spent the first few weeks of 2011 back in the spotlight.
Her debut as a new judge on “American Idol” is only a few days away, and her new L’Oreal commercial premiered during Sunday’s Golden Globes telecast.
So it should come as no surprise that this weekend also saw the leak of her new single, “On the Floor,” featuring Pitbull.
The RedOne-produced track isn’t quite as inventive as the pop gems he crafts with muse Lady Gaga -– of course, he’s likely saving his most epic cuts for her -- but the thumping track is vintage J.Lo.
‘On the Floor’ is a sweat-inducing, sticky dance floor track with heavy synths and that ubiquitous European edge that makes the single ripe for club DJs and house remixers. (Heck, she basically pleads for the track to burn up dance floors in ‘Brazil, Morocco, London to Ibiza/Straight to L.A. New York/Vegas to Africa.’) [Updated at 5:45 p.m.: Adding to the global feel that RedOne is known for, the song seems to borrow a few elements of Kaoma’s 1989 hit ‘Lambada.’]
Listeners haven’t heard this dance-electro-pop side of Lopez since 1999’s “Waiting for Tonight”; much of her back catalog flirts with more gritty urban-pop sounds.
“On the Floor” is instantly catchier than either buzz single “Fresh Out the Oven,” which, like this track, features a throwaway verse from Pitbull, or ‘Louboutins.’ The Moroccan-born RedOne, whose real name is Nadir Khayat, gushed about the ‘Floor’ leak to a sold-out audience at the Grammy Museum attending the first Los Angeles Times Music Producers Roundtable on Saturday.
“It’s crazy. It shocked me too,” he said. “She’s a superstar to me. I’m very excited about J.Lo.”
Khayat is reportedly producing additional tracks for “Love?,” Lopez’s serially delayed seventh album and her first for new label Island Def Jam.
A leaked trailer for her viral video “Good Hit” also surfaced over the weekend and it is, well, full of hair-raising divatude. Welcome back, Jenny Lo.
Listen to the track below.
-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
