On the 6

On the 6
Studio album by Jennifer Lopez
Released	June 1, 1999
Recorded	1998-1999
Genre	Pop, R&B, latin pop
Length	64:49
Label	Work
Producer	Darrell Branch, Tommy Mottola, P. Diddy, Loren Dawson, Lawrence Dermer, Emilio Estefan, Jr., Rob Jenkins, Darkchild, Richie Jones, Poke & Tone, Lance "Un" Rivera, Cory Rooney, Kike Santander, Dan Shea, Ric Wake, Alvin West, Juan Vicente Zambrano
Jennifer Lopez chronology
On the 6 (1999) J.Lo (2001)
Singles from On the 6
"If You Had My Love" Released: May 11, 1999 "No Me Ames" Released: May 11, 1999 "Waiting for Tonight" Released: November 15, 1999 "Feelin' So Good" Released: March 17, 2000 "Let's Get Loud" Released: August 8, 2000

On the 6 is the debut studio album by American recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez, released on June 1, 1999 by Work Records. Lopez, who was well known only as an actress, began working on the album in late 1998. On The 6 debuted at 8 on the Billboard 200 charts in the United States, selling 112,000 copies in its first week. Since Work Records was absorbed into Epic Records, Lopez signed to Epic and later pressings of On the 6 were released by Columbia Records.

The album spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "If You Had My Love", the top-ten hit "Waiting For Tonight", and three other singles which achieved moderate chart success, "Let's Get Loud", "Feeling So Good" and "No Me Ames". On The 6 had sold three million copies worldwide by August 2000,^[1] and has sold 8 million copies so far.^[2] The album garnered Lopez two Grammy Award nominations and two Latin Grammy Award nominations. It is one of Lopez's most commercially successful albums to date.

Composition

The Spanish-Pop influenced album lyrically spoke about the topic of Love, and incorporated parts of Lopez's life, which is evident in the track "Feeling So Good".^[3] On The 6 includes elements of pop ballads, Latin pop, R&B and R&B.^[4] The opening track, "If You Had My Love" is a soulful Pop and R&B influenced song which was written by Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels and Cory Rooney. The next set of songs are ballads, "Should've Never" and "Too Late" show off the gentler and lighter side of Lopez's vocals.^[4] In "Should've Never", Lopez has an "orgasmic Spanish moan."^[5] "Let's Get Loud" has a more fiery upbeat sound.^[4] "Feelin' So Good", produced by her then-boyfriend Sean Combs is one of the Hip-hop influenced songs on the album. "Waiting for Tonight" and "Open off My Love" draw inspiration from rap, R&B and Latin styles and make use of horns, keyboards and intense beats.^[4][5]

Background

In early 1999, Lopez invested money into recording a 4-track demo and submitting it to Sony's work label. The label "loved it", however suggested that she sung in English, as the demo was Spanish based.^[6] Publicity for the album began in May 1999.^[7] On The 6 is a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill. Lopez said that she hoped On The 6 would appeal to people like her, saying "English is my first language. I grew up here. I was born here, I didn't have a career in Spanish first. I think it [the album] appeals definitely to my generation of people, we grew up in American but had Latin parents or parents of different ethnicity."^[7] The album's title refers to the 6 subway line in New York City, which Lopez used to commute to work in Manhattan from her home in the Bronx during the early years of her career.^[8] The original title for On the 6 was Feelin' So Good since Lopez wanted the song "Feelin' So Good" to be the lead single instead of "If You Had My Love".^[9] The album includes cover versions of two songs by Diana Ross: "Promise Me You'll Try" and (as a bonus track on select non-U.S. pressings) "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)".

Singles

The first single from the album, "If You Had My Love" was released on May 21, 1999. It debuted at the lower ends of the Billboard Hot 100 at 64, and due to high airplay and sales, it reached the top spot on June 12, 1999, her first number-one lead single; it remains her only song to reach the top spot without a feature.^[10][11] "If You Had My Love" stayed on the chart for a total of 25 weeks, and in addition peaked at number-two on Billboard Pop Songs Chart.^[11] Looking back on the record's success, during an interview in 2011, Lopez stated "Still I think about that and still it's like wow, my first record I ever did went to number one. It's just an overwhelming feeling. This does not happen all the time. This is a very special thing."^[12] It was proceeded by the release of "Waiting For Tonight", which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was a dance club hit.^[13] Prior to the release of "Waiting For Tonight" as a single, a Spanish language Latin-flavored ballad with Marc Anthony (her husband from 2004 to 2011), "No Me Ames" was released which received airplay on Latin radio stations in the United States where it became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart.^[14] "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards – "Best Pop Duo/Group with Vocal Performance" and "Best Music Video".

On the 6 featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good", which had moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100, however failed to reach the top 50. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001 Grammy Awards.^[15] "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year.^[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Entertainment Weekly	(C) link
Rolling Stone	link
Urban Latino	link
Los Angeles Times	link

Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone gave the album (and Lopez) a positive review, saying "The happy surprise of On the 6 is that she knows what she's doing. Instead of strained vocal pyrotechnics, Lopez sticks to the understated R&B murmur of a round-the-way superstar who doesn't need to belt because she knows you're already paying attention. When she gets the right support from a top-shelf song daddy like Rodney Jerkins, she's all brassy, breathy confidence, evoking her great precursor Ann-Margret's 1964 classic with Al Hirt, Beauty and the Beard. Behold jiggy Jennifer Lopez, song-and-dance woman: She makes a little va-va and a whole lot of voom go a long way."^[17]

Heather Phares of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, writing that "On the 6, showcases the actress' sultry, versatile voice in a number of settings."^[4] A writer from Newsday said "she's serious about a recording career, despite lukewarm critical reviews for On the 6, which refers to the IRT subway line that took her from the Bronx to Manhattan, reviews that say the slick packaging and production are better than Lopez' personal sound."^[18]

David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C rating, writing "As soon as Lopez opens her mouth, though, all this advance work falls by the wayside. On record, the husky-voiced voluptuousness that has become Lopez's trademark in films like Out of Sight simply vanishes. Her voice is higher and thinner than expected — not embarrassing, but sadly ordinary, like a younger, even blander sibling of Estefan."^[5] The album was expected to be a "crossover disaster", with Browne saying "In the year 2020, this album will be part of someone's doctoral thesis on the dangers of crossover,"^[5] yet after On The 6, Lopez successfully converted herself from an actress to a singer within 12 months.^[19]

Commercial performance

It debuted at number eight on the U.S. Billboard 200 the week of June 19, 1999, with first-week sales of 111,500 copies,^[20][21] remaining in the top 20 for 11 weeks and on the chart for 53 (including one re-entry). For her work on the album, Lopez was nominated for more awards then any other at the 1999 The Billboard Music Video Awards, scoring seven nominations in total, leading the likes of Christina Aguilera.^[22]

Track listing

Charts

Sales and certifications

References