“Jennifer Lopez is brilliant.” That is what I said in a recent Facebook post. And man, was I unprepared for the flood of unfiltered comments, anger emojis and shares that are currently blowing up my notifications! Did I say something wrong? I knew that there was some controversy about her not being a strong singer, and using other singers’ voices in her backgrounds on tracks, but my post was to voice my own gratitude for her strides in eliminating sexist and ageist barriers placed on women in the music industry. I was inspired to say something positive after watching her new visual album. 

For further context, here is some of what I wrote: “I think one of the things I’m most grateful for is her bold creativity, and how she has helped change how we see age in a woman by the way she shows up as her authentic self. I really struggled with this fear that I was losing what made me valuable, the moment I turned 18, and even before that, I recognized as a child how the industry worships youth in a woman. I noticed how James Bond got older and older as his women stayed the same age. Male rappers could gain weight, and have bags under their eyes, but women needed to inflict self harm to stay eternally young.  Certain fashion, certain music styles, and even personalities were suddenly no longer appropriate, if you’re an older woman.

Part of the reason why I stopped music is because I genuinely felt that I had passed my time for being a woman in the industry. I fell into the trap of believing that my dreams had an expiration date and according to the cruel industry rep in my head, I had failed to achieve them. In reality, there were unlimited possibilities and many doors open, waiting for me to walk into that I just didn’t feel worthy of. It took me years to dismantle and deconstruct the expectations of sexism in the industry and in the world and finally start again. So when I see J Lo daringly creating an epic movie full of fantastical CGI and dance numbers that reflect the storyline of her love life , or even Dolly Parton rocking short shorts, I feel these women are destroying a double standard. They pave the way for women to take the limits off and truly be present in their art. ” 

An alarming amount of people insulted me and the Latin singer, spewing accusations of song theft. One person asked if I was paid to make a post complimenting her. I wasn’t claiming she was a saint or comparing her to Beyoncé!  Sheesh! Thankfully, others commented their praise and gratitude for my defense of a beloved icon that has been a target of recent persecution. But is the persecution justified? Like.. Did I miss something?  I decided to dig a little deeper and bring it to the Tuned Up audience.

Right now on her Facebook, you’ll see a post for her new single, Rebound. The music video is part of the visual album that portrays a woman in an abusive relationship. Of course, I went straight to the comments to see if they would echo the ones on my post. Sure enough, lots of hate! I expect that to some extent for any public figure, but what disturbs me are the amount of comments about her age. Words like “elderly” were used negatively. One person said, “She’s too old for this abusive relationship routine,” assuming that this video is a present reflection of her own love life. But if they watched her special, they would know that this song is actually just Lopez finally sharing the story of the first major heartbreak that happened to her as a young woman, and how that relationship traumatized and affected her future relationships. I personally see a fearless storyteller sharing her romantic testimony, who still looks good enough to play her younger self. You go, girl! 

Haters might say, “Okay fine, but what about her ‘stealing’ the vocals of other artists?” An easy YouTube search will reveal the facts surrounding both situations that people are referring to. The first instance is a song called I’m Real that was written by Hip Hop artist, Ja Rule. Ashanti recorded the demo for the song long before she was a signed artist. This is a common step for a singer trying to make it. It allows them to work with industry producers and they get paid in money and exposure to record executives. Every singer, of course, hopes that their performance on a demo will blow people’s minds so much that the executives decide to let them keep it and put all of their resources behind them instead of selling it to a bigger artist. But that rarely happens. In this case, it was decided by everyone in charge that J. Lo was best for the record. Ashanti admitted in an interview that she was super excited to meet J. Lo, but that it was bittersweet because she wished she could be the one officially doing the song with Ja Rule. They kept Ashanti’s background vocals and some of her runs on the record. This means they were good enough to keep and matched J. Lo’s voice. This is pretty normal. There are so many talented singers that demo songs and sing backgrounds for famous artists. We just never hear about it because those singers never make it out of the background. I remember meeting a singer in New York that did backgrounds for Fergie. She too had a bittersweetness about her. She was so close and yet so far from her dream, yet grateful to be making money singing in any capacity in such a competitive industry. While this is the story of so many artists singing their hearts out hoping for their big break, thankfully, Ashanti eventually got her shot with Ja Rule when she was officially signed to his label and launched her own career. That’s incredible! She and J. Lo have no beef, even if people want there to be.

“Okay, whatever! But she totally stole Christina Milian’s song… right?” Christina said in her own words that she was stoked as a starry-eyed young fan to get her song in the hands of J. Lo and that she got paid well for it. That’s it. She laughs about it now and looks flattered that people are defending her rights to the song, because selling the song was just a stepping stone to garnering attention to her own talent and finally making it as a singer herself! So if Ashanti and Milian both are cool contributing to Lopez’ career, why is everyone else calling her a thief? I could go deep into it, but at the risk of making this article 3,000 words long, I’ll boil it down to haters gonna hate. This is just a reminder that people are often more interested in canceling others over rumors, past mistakes, and out-of-context sound bites than learning the truth. And unfortunately, being in the spotlight only amplifies that reality. We are all against bullying, until it’s a celebrity. And that’s why people like Lopez are to be admired for lasting in the game this long. 

Author: Gabrielle Solange