CD ** 1/2 / DVD ****
J-Lo's hybrid CD/DVD release encompasses a CD featuring her new, kind of bland song "Baby I Love U!" And five remixes. "What's that," you say? "Remixes?" And the answer is yes. There are remixes on this CD, but as with most official major label-released remix collections, the track selection appears kind of slapdash. "Jenny from the Block," in the Seismic Crew's Latin Disco Mix, is kind of boring, while the Ignorants' reworking of "All I Have" is nice, though distinctively a hip-hop remix. The Paul Oakenfold Mix of "I'm Glad" is next, and while it is full-on house music, the half-time compression on the chorus vocals kill it dead. That, and the fact that the Murk Remix of "I'm Glad" was a disco masterpiece that brought some deep drama to the track. That mix is not to be found on this CD, but it wouldn't be one of my reviews if I wasn't complaining about specific mix choices and acting like I could have done a better job. Bastone & Burnz' remix of "The One" is so refreshingly weird for a house mix that I can't help but be overjoyed at its inclusion. I can't say it's a flawless remix or one that everyone should embrace, but the distinctiveness of its sound and the fact that it is getting some serious play as part of this package
should make anyone who delights in the continuing evolution of house music very happy. The final CD track is R. Kelly's Remix of "Baby I Love U!" and those expecting something along the lines of Kelly's Ignition Remix or "Step in The Name of Love" will be disappointed. There's just nothing there.
The DVD on the other hand, is essential J-Lo. Encompassing sixteen videos, it serves as a surprisingly thematically-consistent collection, which shouldn't be a surprise since Lopez was an acclaimed actress long before she became a singer. It stands to reason that her videos would enable both aspects of her performing personality to find some common ground to play in together (Though we find that her greatest joy in the cinematic process is in editing). Structured as an interview/conversation between La Lopez and MTV 'personality' Sway, the linking pieces are sometimes insightful and sometimes playful (with Lopez as a very intelligent observer of how visual media works) though they are overshadowed by hypercut imagery from her videos banging away on the video monitors around them.
"If You Had My Love" was a fitting music video introduction, appropriately mysterious and seductive, with that delightful sequence where the song stops and Lopez kicks loose with a freestyle dance number some Latin house. "No Me Ames," her duet with Marc Anthony, is a wonderful condensation of an entire season's worth of telenovela drama into four minutes. "Waiting for Tonight (the Hex Hector Mix)," Lopez' self-proclaimed favorite video of all that she has made, is still striking four years and change down the road. Who can forget how this remix video was the unofficial Y2K theme song on MTV, all verdant jungles and green lasers and ass-shaking trancy progressive house and it was all over everything for weeks. If only this much love could be shown to other dance videos, the world would be such a better place.
"Feeling So Good" is notable primarily for its great Bronx locations and the cameos from Fat Joe and the late Big Punisher. There's another the-video-stops-for-a-dance-sequence section, and that's nice. "Love Don't Cost A Thing" is perfunctory and acceptable, but doesn't rank among her best videos. "Play" is laden with CG bling
and all its trappings (conspicuous consumption and cinemascope) but still entertains, even though Lopez in Tarsem Singh's The Cell is a better example of using complete and heightened artificality to stunning effect around Lopez- her presence in Singh's vision humanizes its Cg-enhanced vistas and labyrinths while at the same time those backgrounds mesh perfectly with Lopez, elevating her to icon.
"I'm Real" appears in two versions; the first is the original version, which is playful and pleasantly silly, with a stop-the-video dance sequence cut to Zapp's immortal "More Bounce to The Ounce," the second version being the only one U.S. audiences ever saw, that of the Murder Remix with Ja Rule. This marks a very transitional period of Lopez' career. This was the first time when the "remix featuring rapper" became the de facto Top 40 format. That's still the case now, as anyone who keeps track of contemporary pop can tell you, and that's not a bad thing, but credit is due Lopez for starting the trend. "Ain't it Funny" follows the same trend, presented here in two versions; the former a sepiatone Gypsy romance, the latter a vibrantly-colored throwdown built around that immortal Craig Mack "Flava in Your Ear" hook.
