Pitbull Jennifer Lopez On The Floor Original Song

[Yogprasad Moneta]

On the Floor" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her seventh studio album, Love? (2011). Featuring American rapper Pitbull, it was released by Island Records on February 8, 2011, as the lead single from the album. "On the Floor" was written by Kinnda "Kee" Hamid, AJ Junior, Teddy Sky, Bilal "The Chef" Hajji, Pitbull, Gonzalo Hermosa, Ulises Hermosa, along with the song's producer RedOne. It is a pop song combining techno, Latin, dance-pop and house music and with a common time tempo of 130 beats per minute. Lopez recorded a Spanish-language version of the song titled "Ven a Bailar" (English: "Come Dance"), which includes additional lyrical contributions from Julio Reyes Copello and Jimena Romero.

The song's development was motivated by Lopez's Latin heritage and pays homage to her career-beginnings as a dancer. Interpolated within the song are recurrent elements of the 1982 Bolivian composition "Llorando se fue" written by Gonzalo and Ulises Hermosa of Los Kjarkas, a composition that gained notoriety when it was covered by Kaoma in their 1989 single "Lambada". Lopez described "On the Floor" as an evolution of her classic sound and as something which sounded very current. The debut and release of "On the Floor" coincided with Lopez's appointment as a judge on the tenth season of US reality TV show American Idol, as well as several other product endorsement deals. American Idol also provided a platform to debut the single's music video, as well as the stage for Lopez's first live performance of the song.

Editors from BBC Music and Los Angeles Times drew comparisons to Lopez's debut single, "If You Had My Love" (1999) and follow-up single "Waiting for Tonight" (1999). In the United States, it was Lopez's first single in four years to garner airplay, and has sold 3.8 million copies, earning a triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was ranked by Billboard as the eleventh-biggest hit of 2011 on the year-end Billboard Hot 100 chart. "On the Floor" was a monster hit reaching the top spot in 37 countries and finished in first in Austria, Finland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and other countries.

A music video was directed by TAJ Stansberry and choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr, with fans being given the chance to vote for their preferred ending for the video. The completed clip premiered simultaneously on Vevo and during the March 3, 2011 episode of American Idol. It depicts a Los Angeles underground club culture where Lopez portrays a "queen of the nightclub", among other characters. The video received critical acclaim for its lavish production, styling, and choreography, all of which critics felt highlighted Lopez's skills as a dancer. "On the Floor" sold over eight million copies worldwide in 2011, making it the best-selling single of that year by a female artist.

Let's face it: With J.Lo, you have to go big or go home, to make a song that sounded right for Lopez [we] would need "dance, parties and her Latina heritage. She's a dancer. She can sing. I was really amazed, and I had so much fun working with her, her energy, and everything about her is a star, and it was natural for me to do what we did

Lopez's seventh studio album Love? (2011) was conceived in late 2007 and early 2008.[4] During that time frame, under contract to Epic Records, Lopez released "Louboutins", a song written and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the project's lead single.[5] However upon release, the song failed to garner enough airplay to chart, despite topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.[6] Lopez subsequently left Epic Records, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release Love? under a new label.[7] Upon signing with The Island Def Jam Music Group, Lopez continued working with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, in addition to collaborating with new producers such as RedOne.[8] It was not until January 2011 that Lopez teased the media about the new lead single for Love?. In a tweet on her Twitter account, Lopez posted: "I see u @RedOne_Official! We're making BIG things happen 'On the Floor' this new year!!!".[9] Subsequently, on January 16, 2011, an unfinished snippet of "On the Floor" leaked online, labelled as a RedOne production and featuring rap vocals from Pitbull.[10] It is the second time that Lopez and Pitbull have collaborated on a song, the first being "Fresh Out the Oven", the 2009 buzz single which reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.[11]

According to the Los Angeles Times's Gerrick D. Kennedy, a full-length unfinished version of "On the Floor" leaked online over the same weekend in time for Lopez's new L'Oreal commercial, which premiered during the telecast of the 68th Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.[12] The timing of the leak also coincided with Lopez's debut on judges panel for season ten of American Idol.[12] Lopez confirmed the single's title as "On the Floor" during the red carpet ceremony at The Golden Globes, before appearing the following day on the radio show On Air with Ryan Seacrest for the song's US premiere.[9] The final version of the song was uploaded to Ryanseacrest.com, where the site's editor, Sadao Turner, revealed that the final master of the song was different from the previously leaked and unfinished version.[13] "On the Floor" made its debut in the United Kingdom, on January 28, 2011 when it was played by DJ Scott Mills on his radio show, Ready for the Weekend.[14] Benji Eisen from AOL Music stated that Lopez had used "genius marketing and branding" by synchronizing the digital release of "On the Floor" with the premiere of its music video on American Idol.[15] It was added to the B-playlist on the UK's biggest mainstream radio station, BBC Radio 1, on March 16, 2011.[16]

When talking about "On the Floor", during an interview with MTV, Lopez said that she wanted a song that would evolve her sound, "it feels like me today, which I like. It's not something that you hear and you're like, 'That's not her,' but you also go, 'Is that her? I like that. It's new,' and that's what I wanted. I wanted it to be very me, but I wanted it to be me not from my first album or my second album, but for today."[17] Additionally, Lopez felt a strong connection to "On the Floor" because it captured both sides of her career, singing, and dancing, "The minute RedOne played it for me, I made him play it 20 times in a row, and I just sat there at the board and I kept listening to it and listening to it ... Because I really feel like, emotionally, I connected to it, but also because of how much I love to dance and how much that's always been such a big part of who I am since I started. Since I was a little girl, I just totally connected with the idea of getting out there."[18]

"On the Floor" was produced by RedOne with additional vocal production by Kuk Harrell. Josh Gudwin joined Harrell to record the vocals whilst the whole composition was recorded and engineered by RedOne, Christopher "TEK" O'Ryan and Trevor Muzzy at Cove Studios in New York and Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles.[21] O'Ryan, RedOne and Harrell also edited Lopez's vocals while the latter two also arranged vocals for the final track, with Harrell also providing background vocals.[21] All instruments and programming were carried out by RedOne with the exception of the accordion which was tasked to Alessandro Giulini. Pitbull appears courtesy of Mr. 305, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. His vocals were recorded by Al Burna at Al Burna Studios in Davie, Florida and At El Studios Indamix in Dominican Republic. Final mixing was carried out by Muzzy.[21]

According to Idolator and Gerrick Kennedy from the Los Angeles Times, "On the Floor" is reminiscent of Lopez's single, "Waiting for Tonight" (1999).[12] Kennedy elaborated on the comparisons, stating that "listeners haven't heard this dance-electro-pop side of Lopez since 1999... much of her back catalog flirts with more gritty urban-pop sounds."[12] Editors for the New York Daily News made some comparisons between "On the Floor" and another RedOne production, Kat DeLuna's 2010 single, "Party O'Clock".[25] DeLuna's song contains the lyrics "Party in Ibiza, Party in New York/All the way to Africa/Love in the Caribbean/On my way to Vegas" whereas Lopez sings the nearly identical line, "Brazil, Morocco/London to Ibiza/Straight to L.A. New York/Vegas to Africa."[25]

"On the Floor" garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Rolling Stone called the song "music worth getting lost in".[1] Mikael Wood from the Los Angeles Times agreed, calling "On the Floor" the standout track from Love? Wood said, "On the Floor" "returned Lopez to the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100" but added that the rest of the album was unlikely to match its success.[26] The Houston Chronicle's Joey Guerra concurred with his following critics, nothing that "On the Floor" was one of the four standout moments on the album, typyifying the "aggressively sexual anthems that are likely to soundtrack the summer."[27] Comments echoed by The Observer's Hermione Hoby read, "the song ['On the Floor'] was a particular triumph."[2]

In his article for the Los Angeles Times, Gerrick Kennedy said the song is a "sweat-inducing, sticky dance floor track" which was "vintage J.Lo" and catchier than either of her previous releases, "Louboutins" or "Fresh Out the Oven".[12] Although Kennedy praised the song's overall appeal, he commented that RedOne had produced more inventive "pop gems" with the likes of Lady Gaga and that Pitbull's appearance was a "throwaway verse."[12] In her review for AOL Music's Radio Blog, Nadine Cheung commented that Lopez "reinforces her renaissance woman status."[9] Nick Levine from Digital Spy called "On the Floor" a song that The Black Eyed Peas would have been "proud to have released".[20] Levine's review agreed with others that the song was a "welcome comeback for Lopez," and praised the use of a "not so-subtle" sample with the "Latin-tinged electro-housy" production. Overall, he said that the production was "the antithesis of classy", and although not original "there's no denying that this gets the job done."[20]

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