March 18, 2005 @ 4:01 am

The Rebirth of J. Lo

Emale Gray

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After a brief hiatus, Jennifer Lopez has pressed pause on her acting career and play on her mu

Beat-wise, Jenny starts off on the right path with background sampling previously dismissed by Usher, then proceeds to "Step into My World," a seductive lil' track that expounds on the lyrics "like a moth to a flame." Songs like "I Got You" and "I, Love" prove to be as addictive as silk pie with an extra layer of creamy goodness. One of the best tracks, and probably a future single, "Whatever You Wanna Do" begins with Jenny demanding the DJ to "give me some of that funk," and he sure does follow through. Notice, there were only 6 out of 12 tracks mentioned above. In contrast, the rest of the songs were simply garbage. "Hold You Down" is one sad attempt at the success of the LL Cool J duet "All I Have." Two utterly forgettable songs follow afterward - "Cherry Pie," an unwanted 80s flashback, and "Still Around," a walk in the park gone horribly wrong. "Ryde or Die" sounds completely forced, lyrically, vocally, and musically. If the man who Jenny is speaking to in "He'll Be Back" hears that song, he definitely won't be back, and after listening to her depressing stab at a rock ballad "(Can't Believe) This Is Me," it was hard to believe such a bad track could come from Jenny. Lyrically, there is nothing special on Rebirth. Although, in Lopez's favor, has she ever been known to be a hardcore poet? The overall problem with the CD is that Lopez is still stuck in the bubblegum pop of the 90s, in which there's verse one, verse two, and then a "gentle" breakdown leading to an ineffective key change in the chorus. Many of the songs on this CD fit into that category in one way or another, some sliding by because of amazing production, and others simply failing. Overall, it seems that J. Lo needed a little bit more time to develop in the womb because only half of this album is truly worth listening to.

Article tags: Jennifer Lopez, J. Lo, Rebirth 

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