Jennifer Lopez - Dance Again
Dance Again
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"Dance Again" is a song recorded by American entertainer Jennifer Lopez featuring Cuban-American rapper Pitbull. It was released on April 3, 2012 by Epic Records as the lead single from her first greatest hits album Dance Again... the Hits (2012). "Dance Again" is an uptempo dance-pop song, written by AJ Junior, The Chef, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull and RedOne, who also produced the song. The song features Lopez singing about wanting to dance and love, and it contains several sexual innuendos. Lopez credits the song as her anthem and metaphor, which stood for her surviving a rough divorce.[1] It marks the third time that Lopez and Pitbull collaborated on a song; the previous songs being the promotional single "Fresh Out the Oven" (2009) and the single "On the Floor" (2011). At the time of the song's production, Lopez was unsure whether or not the song is the lead single from a greatest hits album, or a new studio album. Following its release, it charted within the top ten of several international charts including Canada, Brazil and Spain. It also peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100. Critics were divided over "Dance Again", with many comparing it to "On the Floor".
An accompanying music video was directed by long-time collaborator Paul Hunter and choreographed by Frank Gatson, Jr. The video premiered during an episode of American Idol on April 5, 2012, where Lopez is a judge. Her boyfriend Casper Smart appears in the video. Though the clip was welcomed with positive reviews, several critics noted that the video's content wasn't suitable for a premiere on the family-friendly American Idol, with some even criticizing Lopez for debuting the video on the television show. On July 31, 2012, the music video received an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Choreography.[2]
Background
'Dance Again' became my anthem ... an expression of what I needed to do at that time in my life and for what I was taking on with [my career]. It was a beautiful metaphor that became my reality
-
—Lopez on what the song meant to her.[1][3]
“
”
After experiencing a decrease in her commercial success with her studio albums Como Ama una Mujer (2007) and Brave (2007), and the single "Louboutins" (2009) Lopez parted ways with Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment in 2010, her record label for over ten years. She then signed a record contract with Island Records by its CEO L.A. Reid, to release her seventh studio album Love? (2011).[4] She released her first single with the label "On the Floor" featuring American rapper Pitbull in February 2011. The song topped the charts across the globe; peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest peaking song on that chart in over eight years. The song became one of the most successful singles of the year.[5] Despite the success of the single, Love? received moderate commercial success, reaching the top ten in over twenty countries.[6] Following the release of "On the Floor", Love? produced two moderately successful singles: "I'm Into You" and "Papi", both of which topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.[7][8] In November 2011 it was revealed that Lopez was working on new material for a greatest hits album, to be released in 2012.[9][10][11] The following month, Lopez posted a message on her Twitter account starting that she was playing some of her new music for L.A. Reid, who was now the CEO and chairman of Epic Records.[12] This led further speculation that Lopez had moved back to Epic Records, which was first reported in July 2011.[13] However, in an interview, it was confirmed that Lopez was still with Island Records and that "Dance Again" was released under Epic Records because she owes them one final album to end her contract. She stated that she was deciding wether it would be a greatest hits album or a new studio album.[14] It was later decided to release a greteast hits album, entitled Dance Again... the Hits, on July 24, 2012 in the United States, which is also Lopez's birthday.[14][15]
During an interview with Ryan Seacrest, speaking on the concept behind "Dance Again", Lopez said "I love being able to collaborate with the producer RedOne again, and working with Pitbull again. We had a great chemistry the last time, and it was like 'We're going to have to do something again.' And this was the perfect song. I love the message of the song. That when something bad happens, your life is not over. You have to get up. You're gonna live. You're gonna to be okay. You're gonna dance again."[16] In December 2012, Lopez explained further what the song represented for her. She stated: "I was going through a divorce and the breakup of a family [...] Which was devastating to me because family means everything to me. I had to turn that into something better. I thought, 'I don't want to just survive it, I want to come out better than that.' I didn't want to be the woman who stayed in bed for months."[1] Lopez stated that she had to "beg and beg Enrique" to give the song to her, telling him that it was "her song".[1]
Release and artwork
Lopez announced on March 2, 2012 that she would release a new single by the end of the month.[17] On March 15 it was revealed during an episode of American Idol that the song would be released on March 30.[18][19][20] The song was sent to mainstream radio in the United States on April 3, 2012.[21] On March 26, a snippet of the song was made available online at y100.com.[22][23] Two days later, a one-minute snippet of the song appeared online.[24] The song made its world premiere on Ryan Seacrest's radio show On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.[25]
On March 27, Lopez posted a quarter of the single's official artwork through a puzzle piece; if 15,500 people shared the post on Facebook, a new piece of the puzzle (artwork) would be unlocked.[26] The three puzzle pieces were revealed, and Lopez posted the entire artwork on her website on March 29.[27] It featured her entangled with a group of half-naked men, wearing black masks on their eyes, and Lopez wearing a black top with a necklace and stockings.[24] Lopez has stated that she doesn't know if "Dance Again" would be the lead single from a greatest hits album or her eighth studio album.[16] It was later decided to make it the lead single from a greatest hits album, titled Dance Again: The Hits.[15][28]
Composition
Enrique Iglesias (
pictured) co-wrote "Dance Again".
"Dance Again" is an uptempo dance-pop song, with a length of three minutes and fifty-seven seconds (3:57).[30] It was written by Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, The Chef, Enrique Iglesias, Achraff Janussi and Armando "Pitbull" Perez, who is also featured on the song.[31] During an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lopez said that the song was nearly complete when she heard it and stated that she only changed a few little things but kept the message of the song the same.[16] The electro beat begins, and the song kicks off with Pitbull's brief rap introduction.[32] The beat of the song shifts from upbeat pings and claps to a bass backdrop as Lopez takes over the vocals.
The first verse begins with "Nobody knows what I'm feeling inside. I find it so stupid so why should I hide that I love to make love to you baby."[32] The quick pace electro beat returns, revving up energy before Lopez goes into the chorus, "I wanna dance and love and dance again." Sara Gates from the Huffington Post said that the chorus line "will surely get stuck in your head."[32] It has been suggested that the chorus was "cheesy" and weak, and is trumped by the pre-chorus, verses, overall production and fist-pumping beat.[29] The song contains sexual innuendos, and Lopez sings the bridge with heartbreaking emotion.[33] The song has been compared to Lopez's song "Waiting For Tonight".[34] Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly noted that Pitbull's lyrics "Can't even show love 'cause they'll sue ya" was a reference to Lindsay Lohan suing him for using a reference to her without her consent in his song "Give Me Everything" (2011).[35][36]
Critical reception
Critics have been divided on "Dance Again".[37] Kate Callahan from MTV.com pointed out the similarities between "Dance Again" and "On The Floor"—"The song is a fun dance pop track with a great beat, very much along the lines of their 2011 collaborative effort 'On The Floor'."[30] Callahan said that the formats of the two songs were very alike, but also added that as the title implies, the song is danceable, despite not being her most original song.[30] Katherine St Asaph of Popdust gave the song a mixed review, stating "[without sampling a song] means “Dance Again” doesn’t have any of that swoon or allure, let alone one unifying riff, and it means that right before every verse-to-prechorus or prechorus-to-verse transition, you’re imagining the “la-lalalala...” chorus that doesn’t break out. What breaks out instead is the stately dance-pop that makes up the rest of “On the Floor,” more polite than pressing even when it’s even clearer that the metaphor here is dancing-as-sex."[34] Robbie Daw of the website Idolator gave the song a positive review, writing that it was far more superior and much more euphoric dance-pop offering than "On the Floor". Daw added that "the American Idol judge goes for more of a cheery, almost Kylie Minogue-esque dance-pop vibe with “Dance Again”. If we were gamblers, we’d put our money on this becoming another huge hit for J.Lo & Co."[38]
Glen Gamboa of Newsday gave the song a negative review, commenting that "She holds back for much of the song, with its airy chorus and moments where it seems ready to launch into a much broader anthem, but instead stays on a sleek, unpredictable line. Would it be better if it blossomed into "Waiting for Tonight" like it wants to? Maybe."[39] Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly gave the song a positive review, writing "Lopez once again sings over a buttery disco groove with an assist from Miami’s favorite bilingual MC." Anderson noted that the chorus of the song is "as pure a piece of effervescent pop as Lopez has ever been a part of, and while it probably isn’t the sort of thing meant to be listened to on headphones in a cubicle, it should play pretty well in places where grinding is encouraged (like clubs in Ibiza, and middle school dances)."[36]
Melinda Newman of Hitfix was positive in her review, saying that the song "It lives up to its title: You'll want to put on your dancing shoes and dance again. The song isn’t as interesting musically as the pair’s previous hit collaboration, “On the Floor” but it is more consistent in its commitment to being a full-on dance twirler [...] It’s totally charming, especially the "woo..ooh" background singing."[40] Newman compared the chorus of the song to Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)" (2010).[40] Gina Serpe of E! News said "don't think for a minute that the meaning behind the song was lost on Lopez, who's been through some personal travails of her own this past year," and briefly commented that the song was "Likely already destined to hit the top of the charts."[41] Similarly, Jessica Sinclair of Long Island Press commented that the song was a "sure-to-be-hit song."[42] Amy Sciarretto of Pop Crush labelled "Dance Again" as one of the best dance songs of 2012. She stated that: "The song has an infectious beat that'll get you moving and grooving."[43]
Commercial performance
In the United States, "Dance Again" experienced moderate chart success. For the week ending April 2, 2012, it debuted on Billboard's Pop Songs chart at number 34, and ultimately peaked at 17.[44][45] In its official first week of availability, the song sold 118,000 digital copies following the release of its accompanying music video, launching at 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, her third highest debut on the chart after "All I Have" which debuted at 25 in 2002 and "On the Floor" which debuted at nine in 2011.[46][47] "Dance Again" also debuted at 14 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart following its release.[44] While an improvement on previous singles "I'm Into You" and "Papi", it was considerably low compared to "On the Floor" which debuted with 170,000 copies sold in its opening week.[48] In its second week, it fell seven slots on the Hot 100 to 34 with 85,000 digital copies sold.[49] The following week it climbed to 29 with sales of 74,000 digital copies.[50] Its fourth week saw sales of 76,000 digital copies, allowing it to reach a new peak of 25.[51] Following her performance of the song on American Idol, it sold an additional 104,000 digital copies which brought it to a peak of 17. However, airplay for the song began to fall.[44][52] "Dance Again" managed to reach a peak of nine on the Hot Digital Songs chart.[53] It entered the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Chart at 56, and has since reached a peak of number one, becoming her 12th number one there.[44][54] As of September 30, 2012 "Dance Again" has sold over one million digital copies in the United States, receiving a platinum certification by the RIAA.[55]
"Dance Again" performed moderately outside of the United States. The song debuted at 13 on the Canadian Hot 100, winning the "hot shot" debut of the week, remaining at the same position the following week. The song has since peaked at four, becoming her tenth top-ten hit there.[44] In the United Kingdom, "Dance Again" made its debut at 11 on the UK Singles Chart.[56] The song also fared well in other regions of Europe; topping the Polish Singles Chart as well as the Greek charts.[57][58] It charted at four on the Spanish Singles Chart and at six on Finnish Singles Chart.[59][60] It reached the top ten in Austria, Italy, Scotland.[61][62][63] In Germany it debuted at number 19. After her performance at television show Wetten, dass..? in October 2012 the song climbed from number 70 to 14 in it's 21st week.[64] In New Zealand, it reached 12.[65] In Australia, "Dance Again" debuted at 44 on May 20, 2012, and peaked at 28 three weeks later.[66] It also received a platinum certification in Greece, Canada, Italy and Mexico. Despite not matching the chart success encountered by Lopez's single "On the Floor", "Dance Again" was more successful than subsequent singles released from Love? (2011). According to a press release from Island Def Jam Music, "Dance Again" reached top-ten in seventeen countries and as of March 2012, has sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide.[67]
Music video
Background
Promotional poster for the music video for "Dance Again".
On March 3, after her music video for "On the Floor" surpassed 500 million views on YouTube, Lopez tweeted out the news that she was going shoot a new music video: " [sic] SO GRATEFUL we reached [half a billion views] of OnTheFloor same night I get ready to shoot new video [sic] R U Ready 2 #DanceAgain!"[68] The music video for "Dance Again" was directed by Paul Hunter; a longtime collaborator of hers.[18][19] Hunter had previously worked with Lopez in her debut video for her single "If You Had My Love", "Feelin' So Good" and "Papi".[69] On March 4, she tweeted a sneak peek of the shoe she would wear in the video via her official website.[70] The music video will premiere on April 5, 2012 during an episode of American Idol.[71] On March 30, moments after its radio premiere, a lyric video was uploaded to Lopez's official VEVO page on YouTube.[72] On March 31 and April 1, Lopez posted pictures from the video for "Dance Again" on her official website.[73][74] A sneak peek of the video was shown on the April 5 episode of American Idol, while the full video premiered later that day on Lopez's official VEVO Channel.[75] Lopez's boyfriend Casper Smart appears in the video.[76] Lopez told Extra TV that it was very "natural" working with Smart, "It was just a very natural thing for us to do that together. Everything that the song is saying — where I'm at — it was just very natural. It didn't feel forced."[77] The video uses product placement for both Lopez's upcoming fragrance, Glowing[78] and Voli vodka,[79] for which Pitbull is a spokesperson for.[80]
Synopsis
A scene from the clip where Lopez and Smart are seen recreating the famous
Spider-Man kiss, among other positions.
[81]
The video for "Dance Again" opens with a black and white title card reading the words: "Always remember... You will live, you will love, you will dance again".[82] Lopez then enters a zero-gravity room where a stream of vodka is flowing in the air.[78] She looks up to an "(clothed) orgy of scantily clad dancers", piled up on one another according to Jocelyn Vena from MTV.[79][83] Lopez is airlifted from the ground, and joins the erotic orgy. The skirt she was wearing when she entered the room is ripped off, revealing a low-cut top. Smart then enters the room. Vena added "In the bevy of people, Lopez crawls to her guy, he crawls to her, and from there they embark on a love affair, full of pop-and-lock dance moves and blindfolded shenanigans."[79] Lopez and Smart partake in several different dance routines together in three locations, while Lopez "struck a number of sexy poses" herself according to Daily Mail.[81] At one point of the clip, the couple are recreating the "famous" upside down Spider-Man kiss, with Lopez sporting a low cut top and a shirtless Casper leaning in the for the clinch.[81] RadarOnline commented that "In the video, Casper is extra friendly to J.Lo’s derrière, caressing his lady love’s famous rear end as she shows off her fab figure in a black Basque and hellacious heels. Casper shows off his sturdy build, which is covered by tattoos."[83] The couple also break into one of Lopez's signature dance breaks.
Between this, several other scenes are shown—Lopez appears with very little clothing cavorting in wet sand, swishing her hair during the chorus of the song and dancing "wildly" in a gold outfit covered in glitter.[81] Scenes with Pitbull shown sitting down in front of a door are shown, too.[78] Casper too, is later seen dancing with Lopez while they are both covered in glitter.[84] Towards the end of the clip, Lopez is seen dancing in between two stripper polls in a black studded crop top, which Eleanor Gower from Daily Mail said "showed off her amazingly toned stomach".[81] She is joined once again by Smart, who she blinds with a blindfold that reads "love is blind", and they later swap roles (these scenes reflected the photo stills posted to Lopez's website days earlier).[84][85] The video closes with a shot of Lopez's fragrance, "Glowing."[79]
Reception
Critics were divided over the video. Sarah Maloy from Billboard noted the amount of sexual content in the video, "[The video] has body glitter, random choreographed dance numbers, poles and sex—lots of sex. Oh and Pitbull's there too, hanging out on the sidelines while J.Lo gets dirty, dabbling in orgies and bondage."[84] Marc Snetiker from Entertainment Weekly gave the video a mixed review, writing that "although the song is relatively harmless and catchy, the video is...confusing." Snetiker, however added that the video was worth seeing.[78] Jenna Hally Rubenstein from MTV Buzzworthy praised Lopez, writing "holy moly, how can this woman have birthed TWO HUMANS and still look this amazing?" but also commented about the video's content not being appropriate for a family show; Rubenstein added "we thought "Idol" was a family show? This video is less "sit on the couch and chill with dad" and more "call your boyfriend over immediately."[86] Access Hollywood compared the scene in which "Jennifer can be seen grinding on the floor, surrounded by a host of hot bodies" to Kylie Minogue's music video for "All the Lovers", pointing out the similarities between the two.[87]
Ed Masley from AZ central.com said that the video was on the verge of being too "steamy" for the family friendly American Idol, "Steven Tyler swaggers past the family-friendly threshold nearly every week on "American Idol." But Jennifer Lopez made Tyler appear a bit prim and retiring by comparison when "Idol" screened her video for "Dance Again," seductively slithering on hands and knees across the floor to meet a lover who's tugging at something in his trousers. I'm not saying there was anything explicit going on. And the version on VEVO goes much heavier on kink. But "Idol" viewers did get scenes of J.Lo's multi-platinum booty being handled with care by a shirtless male dancer [...] She eventually blindfolds the shirtless male dancer, caressing his chest until most five-year-olds could figure out what happens next [...] I enjoy a tawdry music video as much as anyone. My problem with the J.Lo clip is "Idol" still pretending it's a family friendly show while screening it—because you can't have everything both ways, despite what Pitbull suggests for your girl in the version on VEVO."[88] A representative from a Right Wing Group, Dan Gainor, condemned the video, saying it was too steamy for "family-friendly American Idol" and went as far as saying her "skanky new video shows how desperate she is to retain her fame despite her fading relevance."[89] E! Online's Natalie Finn commented, "Pitbull gets to keep his suit on, but Lopez, clad for the most part in a bodysuit and fishnets (and at times a solid coat of glitter) is bare for the grabbing. Her fellow ladies in the video... may have even less on—which is perfect since there's a gravity-defying orgy taking place in the background as Lopez and the well-muscled Smart make eyes at each other."[90]
Live performances
Lopez performed the song on the May 10 results show of American Idol where she used to be a judge.[91] She was dressed in a skin-tight blue bodysuit and black stockings, surrounded by a dozen back-up dancers.[92] On October 6 she performed at the German television show Wetten, dass..?, which is the biggest show in Europe.[93] The song is also a closing number of her first ever world tour, Dance Again World Tour.
| Author: | Bling King |
| Published: | Mar 23rd 2013 |
| Modified: | Mar 23rd 2013 |
