Jenny from the Block

This Is Me... Then was scheduled to be released in November 2002. However, "Jenny from the Block" featuring rappers Jadakiss and Styles P of the LOX was leaked by a pop station in Hartford, Connecticut, and later distributed to other stations owned by Infinity Broadcasting. In response, Jennifer Lopez and Epic Records pushed forward the single's release date to September 26, the same day "Jenny from the Block" was officially sent to US radio. In comparison to her previous albums, On the 6 (1999) and J.Lo (2001), Lopez had a more "hands-on" role with This Is Me... Then. The Age newspaper said the album was a "declaration" of love for Affleck. Several critics highlighted that the album showed how "smitten" she was, and that the content was borderline "annoying". During the production of the album, Affleck and Lopez were a prominent super couple in the media, and were dubbed "Bennifer". Lopez stated "We try to make the best of it I'm not saying there's not times that we wish [we] could just be going to the movies and come out and there's not a crowd there waiting. You just want to spend your Sunday afternoon not working, but at the same time we both love what we do. If that's something that's part of it, then that's fine. We feel the love and we're very happy about it." ==Production and lyrical content==

"Jenny from the Block" is an uptempo R&B and old school hip hop song. It was produced by Troy Oliver, written by Andre Deyo, remixed by Samuel Barnes, Jean-Claude Olivier, and contained samples by Enoch Light, Lawrence Parker, Scott Sterling and Michael Oliver. Trackmasters produced the song alongside Oliver and Cory Rooney. The song's lyrical content is about Lopez maintaining her integrity and remembering her roots, despite her recent wealth and fame. It differs from most of the material on This Is Me... Then, which was heavily inspired by her courtship with Affleck. "Jenny from the Block" was also a "celebration" of her success, with Lopez stating: "[Y]es, there’s a public image that I enjoy — I love dressing up. I love feeling glamorous. I love jewelry and beautiful things ... But I’m still that little girl who’s playing the part of a movie star, that same girl from the Bronx wearing big hoop earrings and listening to hip-hop. "Jenny from the Block" samples a number of songs. The opening line of the track, "Children grow and women producing, men go working, some go stealing, everyone's got to make a living", is derived from 20th Century Steel Band's 1975 song "Heaven and Hell Is on Earth". The group said: "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. If we never flipped that sample, there would be no 'Jenny from the Block'." ==Critical response==

"Jenny from the Block" generated a polarized reception among music critics and audiences, with some applauding it as a "strong self statement" and homage to Lopez's roots, and others dismissing it as "silly". Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly was favorable, writing: "Lopez insists that fame hasn't changed her, and seduced by the breezy pleasure of her new music, we're almost inclined to believe her". Arion Berger of Rolling Stone opined that the song "is worth listening to — its windup/wind-down chorus is as sly and curvy as Lopez". Complex magazine praised the inclusion of the "South Bronx" sample, writing: "What better way to connect to her roots musically than to put on for her hometown with the greatest Bronx anthem ever put to wax ...?" Billboard praised the song's "sticky-on-first-listen catchiness". AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the song an unfavorable review, calling it "silly" and describing the lyrics as "laughable". James Poletti of Yahoo! Music was also negative, calling it "agonizing" and a "cynical appropriation of hip-hop culture". Critical of the song's themes, AOL Radio remarked: "Yup, just your average girl, willing to risk a national TV gig over the size of her 'dressing-room compound.'" Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush observed in 2012: "'Jenny From the Block' is quite a polarizing track ... Either you love the 'J. Lo' tune because it's boastful and oozes confidence or you hate it because it's cheesy and makes use of flutes." Years later, Lopez opined that many had taken the song "too literally": :People are dumb enough to have thought that you meant it literally, like you were still in the ’hood, or "She’s changed, she’s different, she’s so rich now, she’s not the same." It was a huge hit at the time, so I never thought of it in any negative way. I didn’t feel like people were saying that — it’s probably better that I didn’t know. ==Commercial performance==

North America On the US Billboard Hot 100, "Jenny from the Block" debuted at number 67 for the week of October 12, 2002. By its third week on the Hot 100, the song had propelled to the top twenty, reaching number 17. For the Billboard issue dated November 23, 2002, it entered the top ten of the Hot 100, jumping to number eight. It also reached the top ten of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, at number nine. The following week, the song continued climbing the Hot 100, moving to number six, while also reaching the top five of the Hot 100 Airplay chart. By December 14, it had peaked at three on the Hot 100, where it remained for three weeks, and also jumped to three on the Airplay chart. Three weeks later, on December 28, "Jenny from the Block" remained stalling at three on the Hot 100 and the Airplay chart. For three weeks it had been blocked from the top spot of both charts by Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and Missy Elliott's "Work It". It peaked at two on the US Mainstream Top 40 Pop Songs and 22 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Italy, it debuted at its peak of number four on December 21, and remained on the chart for sixteen weeks, all of which it remained in the top ten for; exiting on March 6, 2003. ==Music video==

Background and synopsis The song's accompanying music video was directed by Francis Lawrence and prominently co-stars Lopez's then-boyfriend, Ben Affleck. Its themes revolve around voyeurism and the media invading Lopez's life. Lawrence came up with the video's concept and convinced Lopez to ask Affleck to appear in it. Lopez later admitted in 2024 that she would have chosen a different concept: "'Jenny from the Block' should have been me back in the Bronx kind of walking around the neighborhood." The video was filmed entirely in Los Angeles from October 18–20, 2002. It premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on November 5, 2002. In a scene where Lopez performs the song amid New York City traffic, she sports a mesh tank top, a newsboy cap, cargo pants and heeled Timberland boots. In another scene, she wears only a white fur coat and silver bikini bottoms. In 2003, Rob Walker of The New York Times wrote: "If J. Lo really thinks her public might punish her for losing touch with the block, then why rub our noses in her flagrantly bejeweled lifestyle on MTV?" Academic Jo Littler wrote that Lopez, as a Latin woman from the Bronx, offers "a celebration of materialist young feminism" in the song and music video: "It has long been recognised that cultures of ostentatious wealth are ways for disenfranchised people to stick two fingers up to those who held them down and back." Lopez's fashion in the video, particularly the outfit she sports while standing amid New York City traffic, is considered iconic and among the singer's signature looks. Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters wrote that Lopez's response to negative media coverage "is admirably calculated. She meets it head-on." Publications like Elle and Business Insider have ranked "Jenny from the Block" as Lopez's best music video, with the latter saying that it "stands the test of time." Affleck's appearance in the video became notorious, having been released at the peak of the couple's "frenzied" tabloid coverage. Kalhan Rosenblatt of NBC News stated that the scene where Affleck kisses Lopez's "rear end" had become "enshrined in pop culture history". Paper magazine wrote: "Love makes people do crazy things, and that's our only explanation for this." Journalists have regarded the video as a response to the "moral panic" the couple's relationship generated, including around issues of race and gender. Writing for The Telegraph, Helen Brown described "a confident Latin woman with a trophy white male film star on her arm" as "political", "considering this was an era when only men were encouraged to flaunt their conquests." In 2008, Affleck said he nearly "ruined" his career by starring in the clip: "If I have a big regret, it was doing the music video. But that happened years ago. I've moved on." He also stated: "It not only makes me look like a petulant fool (to blame Lopez), but it surely qualifies as ungentlemanly? For the record, did she hurt my career? No." In response, Latina magazine wrote: "Riiiigght. So it wasn't a string of bad movies starting with Reindeer Games in 2000 and a general lack of on-screen appeal that ruined your career, right Ben? It was a music video. What else can we blame on a music video? Global warming?" Following Lopez's marriage to Marc Anthony, she reportedly attempted to have the music video blocked from television networks such as VH1 and MTV. ==Live performances==

in 2012, where the stage was "turned into an urban New York City scene." Since its release, "Jenny from the Block" has been performed during all of Lopez's concert tours and residencies as of 2025. It was included on the setlist of the Dance Again World Tour in 2012, as part of the show's second act where she "returned to her Bronx roots". "Jenny from the Block" was the final song in a "Back-to-Bronx" medley choreographed by Parris Goebel that included "I'm Real", "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)" and "All I Have". It was performed during a similar hip hop-themed section of her Las Vegas residency, Jennifer Lopez: All I Have (2016–2018). At the It's My Party tour in 2019, which was a celebration of the singer's 50th birthday, the song was included during the hip hop portion of the show, during which she wore a "cheeky jumpsuit and shimmery New York fitted cap." At Up All Night: Live in 2025, Lopez performed a rock version of the song mashed up with "We Will Rock You" (1977) by Queen. Lopez performed the song with Taylor Swift at the latter's Red Tour, with Swift bringing Lopez on stage as a surprise guest during her August 24, 2013, concert in Los Angeles. Lopez performed "Jenny from the Block" as the encore during her first concert in the Bronx, which took place in Orchard Beach on June 4, 2014. "Jenny from the Block" was included in Lopez's medley at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards on August 20, 2018, where she was presented with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Lopez wore a "sparkle-drenched" jumpsuit as she performed the song in front of a prop 6 train. The song was performed by Lopez during the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show, where it served as the opening of her set. She appeared on stage atop a small model of the Empire State Building, a nod to her roots in New York City, as she began singing "Jenny from the Block". According to Lopez, this was a reference to King Kong and symbolized women being "on top of the world". She was clothed in a biker-inspired black leather outfit paired with a pink satin ball gown skirt; she tore the skirt off during her performance of the song, revealing black leather chaps. Greg Evans of Deadline Hollywood said it "let the world know in no uncertain terms that she and co-headliner Shakira belonged exactly where they were, at the heart of this most American event." Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote: "Clasping a pole, looking down from a tower of human bodies, she started by serving regality: that of Queen Cleopatra's steely gaze, but also that of King Kong, the New York City titan." ==Impact==

"Jenny from the Block" is considered one of Lopez's signature songs and most iconic single. It began a trend of songs which juxtaposed "the performer's upbringing to their celebrity status". The lyrical content of country artist Faith Hill's 2005 song "Mississippi Girl" was considered to be influenced by the song; Rolling Stone described it as "country music's version" of the single, and Billboard called it "a countrified 'Jenny from the Block'". Other songs noted to have followed the theme of "Jenny from the Block" were Gwen Stefani's "Orange County Girl" and Fergie and Ludacris' "Glamorous". American singer Taylor Swift described "Jenny from the Block" as her favorite song as a child, one that she would sing into her hair brush in front of her mirror. In 2020, while accepting an award for her series Fleabag at the 25th Critics' Choice Awards, actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge thanked Lopez for "accidentally" inspiring the show: "I decided that the priest's favorite song was 'Jenny from the Block' and it opened the whole character up for me." {{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=275 Australian rapper Iggy Azalea referenced the song in her verse from Lopez's 2014 song "Booty", stating: "The last time the world seen a booty this good, it was on Jenny from the block." In Lopez's 2018 single, "Dinero" featuring DJ Khaled, American rapper Cardi B ends her verse by referencing rapper's and Lopez's beginnings: "Two bad bitches that came from the Bronx, Cardi from the pole and Jenny from the block". Rapper Drake, who Lopez was believed to have been romantically involved with in the past, references her and the song in his 2018 single "In My Feelings" from his album Scorpion, stating: "From the block like you Jenny/ I know you special, girl, 'cause I know too many." Mexican-American recording artist Becky G recorded a cover version of the song, entitled "Becky from the Block". The song's accompanying music video was shot in Inglewood, California. Lopez made a cameo appearance towards the end of the music video. The lyrics of this version are significantly different from the original. Entertainment Tonight described the version to have "give[n] Jenny's NY-based tune a West Coast slant". Lopez featured interpolations of "Jenny from the Block" on the song "Hearts and Flowers" from her ninth studio album, This Is Me... Now (2024), which was inspired by her reunion and 2022 marriage to Affleck. The song was referred to by some critics such as The Arts Desk as a "sequel of sorts" to "Jenny from the Block". South Korean singer Jennie was noted to have paid homage to "Jenny from the Block" on the song "With the IE (Way Up)" from her debut album Ruby (2025). The song also samples "Hi-Jack", while its title references the different spelling of "Jenny". Since the song's release, Lopez has been nicknamed "Jenny from the Block" in the media, a name news reporters and journalists often use. At the 68th Golden Globe Awards in 2011, comedian Ricky Gervais referenced the song while introducing Lopez: "She's just Jenny from the block. If the block in question is that one on Rodeo Drive between Cartier and Prada." The song has also been referenced with respect to other public figures hailing from the Bronx. United States Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor has been referred to as "Sonia from the Block" in the media, a nickname used by her own clerks. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referenced the song's lyrics while showing off a plaque for her Capitol Hill office, writing: "Don't be fooled by the plaques that we got, I'm still, I'm still Alex from the Bronx" on Twitter. The song has appeared in multiple viral videos. In October 2015, a video clip filmed in Afghanistan years ago surfaced online of two US Marines singing "Jenny from the Block" moments before being fired at by the Taliban. In 2020, actress Ana Coto went viral on TikTok with a video of her roller skating to "Jenny from the Block". Coto's video led to the revival of roller skating as a hobby. ==Track listings==

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