Rebirth (Jennifer Lopez album)

Background

In November 2002, Lopez became engaged to actor and director Ben Affleck. Their high-profiled relationship garnered a substantial amount of media attention. The public and media began to refer to them as "Bennifer" and they became a prominent supercouple in the media and popular culture. That November, she released her third studio album entitled This Is Me... Then. The album was dedicated to Affleck, who was her "muse" for the record's lyrics. The album performed strongly, opening to her highest first-week sales and becoming one of the best-selling albums of her career. However, overexposure from the media and public interest in their relationship resulted in less admiration for their work and negatively affected their careers. The couple broke off their engagement and split up by January 2004, devastating Lopez. Following this, she decided to take a break from her career, and married Marc Anthony months later. Following this, Lopez became more private, stating: "I don't want to talk about anything that is personal or private at all, because what's the use? You're open with people, and then they try and make a soap opera out of your life."

In October 2004, it was reported that Lopez was in the studio working with Sean Garrett on material for her first album in two years. That December, it was announced that the album would be titled Rebirth. MTV News confirmed that artists such as Fat Joe, Fabolous and Anthony would appear on the album, and revealed multiple song titles including "Step Into My World", "Cherry Pie" and "Still Around".

Title

Rebirth is dedicated to Paige Peterson, an eleven-year-old cancer patient whom Lopez befriended during visits to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Peterson died in November 2004. The album's title is personal to Lopez, as she felt reborn and wanted to be rid of the "J-Lo" diva persona the public believed her to be. According to Digital Spy, Lopez stated, "I'm not J.Lo, she's not a real person. She was just a bit of fun that got really crazy. I've never been anyone but Jennifer." She considered naming the album Call Me Jennifer, as that would be her "way of saying goodbye to the whole J.Lo thing". This led to confusion with the public as to whether Lopez had dropped her moniker, with Lopez admitting that her comments were blown out of proportion. She later stated, "You can call me J-Lo or you could call me Jennifer or you could call me Jenny - I don't care!" Having recorded the album after a six-month hiatus, Lopez felt that she was "back where she started". Explaining that her she was "on such a roller-coaster ride" from her first album to This Is Me... Then, she stated, "[when] I came back, this was the first project I did. I felt like it was a new beginning for me, like I was, in a way, reborn. I was where I was when I made my first album."

Composition

Rebirth predominantly consists of dance and hip hop music, while also incorporating '80s pop-rock. Lopez was influenced by James Brown's music when creating Rebirth. The album opens with the song "Get Right", an R&B, dance-pop and funk-influenced song written by Rich Harrison, which contains heavy horn instrumentation. The song was originally recorded by Usher with the title "Ride" for his album Confessions, but was scrapped. "Step Into My World" contains African music influences, and is sung by Lopez through a breathy vocal.

"Hold You Down" is a "mellow" R&B song which features Fat Joe. It samples Shirley Murdock's "As We Lay". The track was a "last minute" add to Rebirth. Lopez recruited Fat Joe for the song because it was a "friendship record", and she didn't want to do it with anybody else. He said, "We don't talk every day, but we got mad love for each other whenever we see each other. It's always crazy love." "Whatever You Wanna Do", also written and produced by Harrison, makes use of drums and horn instrumentals. "Cherry Pie" is an uptempo pop-rock song which features drums and an electric guitar; Lopez describes the song as having a "Prince vibe". "I Got U", written and produced by Jerkins, lyrically speaks about her secretive relationship with Anthony, with lyrics such as "Sometimes real love can be not seen 'cause you're thinking what's right in front of you can't be the one for you."

"Still Around" is a summer-influenced R&B song which lyrically speaks about undying love. Anthony makes a spoken appearance in the track. "Ryde or Die" is an intense R&B and hip hop track which was co-written by Brandy Norwood for her unreleased album. The song was later given to Lopez who recorded it, with Norwood singing background vocals. "I, Love" is a mid-tempo song which contains staccato percussion and airy synths. The song's lyrics have Lopez convincing her lover that she cares about him, and that their chemistry isn't "pretend" or "make-believe", with her even stating that she'd die before hurting him. "He'll Be Back" and "(Can't Believe) This Is Me", the album's final tracks, have been said to address lingering issues in Lopez's own love life. "He'll Be Back", produced by Timbaland, has been viewed as a "dis song" to Ben Affleck, in which Lopez sings, "I know better than anybody how it feels to want somebody so bad after you breakup." "(Can't Believe) This Is Me" is a power ballad produced by Anthony, which references "every link in J.Lo's long relationship chain".

Release and promotion

During the album's December 2004 release party in Stockholm, Sweden, Lopez and Anthony abruptly left the event because of reportedly disruptive loud men who were under the influence of alcohol. That month, Lopez also traveled to the United Kingdom to promote Rebirth, being interviewed by radio stations such as Capital FM. Rebirth was first released in Germany and the United Kingdom on February 28, 2005. In the United States, it was released by Epic Records on March 1, 2005. It was also released by Sony Entertainment in most other regions, including Australia. On January 4, 2005, Lopez engaged in a live chat on MSN.com with her fans, in which she answered questions about Rebirth and its conception. On the day of the album's release, Lopez appeared at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square, New York City, where she signed copies of the CD. On March 3, she appeared at Hot 97's Full Frontal Hip Hop concert.

Lopez was slated to embark on a short promotional tour of European cities as well as Dubai, but cancelled it. She later put out a statement saying that she was ill: "I very much wanted to be in London today but unfortunately I'm not well. At the advice of my doctors I'm unable to travel. Being sick has also caused me to cancel my European album tour." Lopez had expressed her hopes to embark on a world tour to support Rebirth. She told MTV News: "I've tried to plan a tour so many times. And we're planning it again. It's exciting." Lopez explained that her film career made it hard for her to tour, "It's been hard to map out that amount of time to really do it right." However, details for a tour were never unveiled and it subsequently did not occur.

Rebirth produced just two singles. "Get Right" was released on January 3, 2005. America Online broadcast the music video the previous day, while MTV screened the video's creation on Making the Video on January 5. The following day, the full music video aired on Total Request Live, BET and FUSE. In the music video directed by Francis Lawrence, Lopez plays a number of different characters in a nightclub, "examining all the little moments that happen almost simultaneously in a nightclub during the duration of a single song". "Get Right" charted at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. "Hold You Down" featuring Fat Joe was released as the album's second and final single. It peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song being released as a single was criticized, with PopMatters describing it as an "ill-fated, milquetoast duet".

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album received an average score of 52, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on nine reviews. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Rebirth as a "straight-ahead dance album, alternating between sweet, breezy pop tunes" and stated that whilst Lopez was not a "flashy singer", she was appealing on the record due to the fact that she was able to present her limitations in "tuneful packages with big, exciting beats". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone was unfavorable of the album, calling Lopez a "rinky-dink pop singer". Yahoo! Music's Dan Gennoe spoke positively of the album in comparison to the singer's previous works, stating that Lopez has "finally turned the autopilot off and decided to take her pop career seriously. The album’s called Rebirth for a reason." Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described Lopez's vocals as "heavily processed", giving the album a mixed review whilst opining that the album's first half "packs a certain fizzy effervescence, but the album sags as it approaches the finishing line." Entertainment Weekly's David Browne described Rebirth as "mild" and was unfavorable, stating that Lopez "wants her music to be inoffensive and as easy to swallow as baby food" so that it could appeal to a wide consumer base.

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the album a mixed review, concluding, "Despite the highlights, you're still left pondering the question: what happened to Jennifer Lopez?" Today Music's Tracy Hopkins observed, "Rebirth is a satisfying listen, but fans who like their Jenny from the block hot and spicy will be slightly disappointed by the disc’s milder dance-pop flavor." Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote in summation that the album "kind of is like a rebirth, but it's mostly just another Jennifer Lopez record: a few good songs, some badly sung filler, great production, and a whole team of collaborators to make it all work". Mike Schiller of PopMatters argued that Rebirth is "anything but the renaissance that its title promises", calling it a "slight shift in style" for Lopez which features "the occasional surprise" and is "totally harmless".

Commercial performance

In the United States, Rebirth performed moderately. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 261,000 copies. This was below This Is Me... Then, which sold 314,000 copies in its opening week. The following week, the album dropped to number four, with sales of 87,000 copies. During its third week on the chart, Rebirth fell to number seven, selling 60,000 copies, bringing its total after three weeks to 408,000. It slipped to number twenty the following week with sales of 27,000 copies. On April 14, 2005, Rebirth was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over one million copies. By June 2005, the album had fallen out of the chart's top 100. As of 2014, it has sold 745,000 copies in the US.

Rebirth entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number two, selling 19,700 copies. It was eventually certified platinum by Music Canada, marking shipments of 100,000 copies. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart, selling 41,000 copies during its first week. It had sold over 124,000 copies by the year's end, and was certified gold.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album booklet for Rebirth.

Production