I'm Real (Jennifer Lopez song)

I'm Real is the title of two songs by American singer Jennifer Lopez. One appeared on her second music album J.Lo (2001) and the other song I'm Real (Murder Remix), in collaboration with American rapper Ja Rule appeared on Lopez's remix album J to tha L-O! The Remixes (2002), as well as on Ja Rule's third album Pain Is Love (2001). I'm Real (Murder Remix) reached number one on the American Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks on September 8, 2001. After the minor success of the single Play, J.Lo wanted to collaborate with Ja Rule on the song I'm Real to make the song more successful on the charts. The singer Ashanti acts as a background vocalist on the Murder Remix. Both songs are different songs with the same title.

Music video

In the music video for I'm Real, Lopez rides a motorcycle through the streets. There is also a cameo appearance by model Travis Fimmel and Cris Judd, who dances in the music video. The music video for the Murder remix of I'm Real additionally features Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. Jennifer Lopez sang the song at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards and won Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.

Controversy

In addition to the success of I'm Real, there has also been controversy, for example over the sample and structure of the song. The song contains a sample of Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1978 hit Firecracker, and the remix version samples Mary Jane Girl's 1983 hit All Night Long and borrows the melody from Rick James' Mary Jane. There have also been rumors that the Firecracker sample was originally intended for Mariah Carey's number two hit Loverboy. According to a Firecracker musician, Carey asked for a license to use the song's sample, months earlier J. Lopez did the same. Carey had the thought that her former husband and head of Sony Music (Columbia Records), Tommy Mottola, was interested in hindering Carey's career, in which he personally handed the sample to Jennifer Lopez.

Because of Lopez and her ex-husband, Carey referenced the song in her single Loverboy, her first single released on her new record label Virgin Records. The lines can be heard in Da Brat's rap verse, where Carey sings, "Hate on me, much as you want to, you can't do what the fuck I do, bitches be, emulating me daily" over the tune of Firecracker. The word "bitch" was used in the song, but when the song was played on the radio, the word was deleted.

Irv Gotti, who produced the remix version of I'm Real feat. Ja Rule, revealed in an interview with XXL Magazine that Mottola contacted him and asked to produce a song that sounds exactly like a song from Mariah Carey's album Glitter, titled If We, which also features Ja Rule as a guest rapper.

Furthermore, critics and the African American population criticized Lopez for singing the word nigga in the Murder Remix.