This week, in all the official trades, we see the announcement of J.Lo’s new project. Notice that the Anglo media doesn’t call her J.Lo anymore…could it be because she wants the “Lopez” to be the new focus of her career? Considering that she has a new Spanish album, I’m sure she’s channeling that Latina in her. I would expect this sort of move from Christina Aguilera, but J.Lo?

I recall being at the Hispanic upfront in NYC over 3 years ago when Telemundo announced a project with J.Lo…we never saw it. I believe it was going to be a mini-series or two from her “urban” production company.

A year ago, Univision teased us with buzz around a J.Lo project about the times of the upfront…..and again, nothing. Now, we’re at upfront time again and here come the promises…yet another J.Lo production announcement. Don’t get me wrong, I think its genius, but I also think its way overdue and over-promised. How can we take any of these claims seriously when none of them manifest?

I think she’s a wonderful asset to the market, however, I don’t think the market is a priority for her. Building a close association to her Hispanic fan base does not always present the biggest financial opportunity; rather, appealing to the masses seems to be her strategy on this one. Shakira did it with her Spanish music and didn’t lose her street credibility.

Where I believe J.Lo went wrong is to forget the “little people” who are the core consumer of Latin music. For this, the #1 Latino music chain Ritmo Latino Music Stores refuses to carry her new Spanish-language album because she has done nothing for these independent retailers whose bread and butter is Latino music sales. They are a dying breed. She will only be appearing in the likes of FYE and Virgin stores for which she it getting major heat.

In a statement, Ritmo Latino President David Massry, said: “Jennifer has refused to personally promote her new CD in any of our stores. We’ve supported her from the beginning, now we’re told by her record company; she will only visit Anglo retail outlets. This is a Spanish-language CD and if she wants to discriminate against the Latin community then we will not sell her product. This is not the first time that this has happened. Celebrities have this notion that when they reach a certain level of crossover appeal they forget quickly where they started. We will no longer tolerate these situations.”

I’ll take J.Lo over Shakira’s latest sellout with Beyoncè and her “phonetic Spanish singing”. I will never know how she was ever able to convince Shakira to do a song together. We can talk about that sell out in another posting. Stay tuned.
Say whatever you want about Mrs. Anthony, the album’s first single “Que Hiciste” is amazing! And if you think the album version is hot, you should check out the remix done Reggaetón-style. Ouch!

You can catch her video below…

- Written by Miamiadguy