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Dance Again... the Hits is the first greatest hits album of American recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez. It was first released on July 20, 2012 by Epic Records. Upon its release, Dance Again... the Hits received generally positive reviews from music critics.
Following the commercial and critical failure of her sixth studio album Brave (2007)-and while pregnant with twins Max and Emme-Lopez began working on new music for a future project in 2008. The project was kept under wraps until February 2009 when a new song from the recording sessions titled "Hooked on You" leaked online. Lopez addressed the leak on her official website in May 2009, stating that "I'm always excited about my music and this is one of a few tracks I'm currently working on. I'm flattered by everyone's interest in the track and really excited for you to hear the real thing..." Following the leak of "Hooked on You", "One Love" and "What Is Love?" (later re-titled "(What Is) Love?") were subsequently leaked online in May. The leaked songs were, at the time, meant to appear on a greatest hits album; that later turned into a studio album. The following month, Lopez told MTV's Larry Carol that the songs hinted at the musical direction of her then-upcoming seventh studio album. She also stated that she was keen to finish the album and several singles, with a potential release date for the end of 2009. Lopez released "Louboutins", a song written and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the project's lead single in November 2009. However, upon release, the song failed to garner enough airplay to chart, despite topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Lopez subsequently left Epic Records in February 2010, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release Love? under a new label. Her departure from the label temporarily halted production on the album, however upon signing a new contract with Island Def Jam Music Group, recording resumed on the album. The New York Daily News revealed that Lopez would be taking some of the records recorded under Sony Music Entertainment to her new label so that they could be included on the album.
User Album Review
Like all good pop stars, Jennifer "J.Lo" Lopez has managed to ride the commercial zeitgeist with a certain amount of aplomb, drawing in whichever producer or rapper is hot at the time and bringing out something approaching their best work.
You want Irv Gotti-produced hip hop featuring Ja Rule? You've got it with I'm Real. You want horn-laced, Rich Harrison-produced RnB? There's some of that in the shape of Get Right. If your tastes are more dancefloor-based, ideally produced by RedOne and featuring Pitbull, then there's fare to suit your needs: namely Dance Again and On the Floor.
That a lot of her collaborators have fallen by the wayside is testament to J.Lo’s enduring appeal. Indeed, it's surprising that she hadn't unleashed a hits collection before now given that she's what you might politely call a "singles artist" ”“ none of her seven studio albums have reached the number one spot in the UK.
Yet there a couple of glaring omissions. For one, there's no room for the Christina Milian-penned Play, which slinked its way into the top three in 2001; and whoever decided to leave off the ridiculously toe-tappable RedOne-produced Papi needs to have a long, hard look in the mirror. But it's hard to argue with most of what's on offer, Lopez slipping effortlessly into different guises with each song.
On the brilliantly disingenuous Jenny from the Block she half-raps about being “real” at a time when she was dating Hollywood superstar Ben Affleck, while Love Don't Cost a Thing’s empowerment message chimed perfectly with the Independent Woman mantra of Destiny's Child. There's a versatility to her voice that means she can employ cooing innocence on debut single If You Had My Love and supernatural levels of sultriness on I'm Into You.
J.Lo's has had her fair share of missteps, but the success of 2011's On the Floor (her first US top 10 in nine years) proves she's not given up just yet. A cipher for good songs rather than the reasons those songs are good she may be, but there are few that do it better.
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