On The 6 was the first professionally produced studio album released by Jennifer Lopez in 1999. As her debut album, which was released in the midst of a new and blossoming acting career, many wondered why the Lopez would want to jeopardize her possible future successes as an actress to record an album. In fact, her role in the film Selena prior to the releasing of the album earned her $1 million dollar check, making her the highest paid actress of the time. Despite this, she maintained that music was something she was truly interested in creating. The inspiration for creating the album at that point in her career came from her recent starring role in the 1997 film Selena which was a biographical picture about the life of the late Latina singer (Sacksteder 2016). Her live and sometimes lip syncing scenes seemed to fuel a desire to record music of her own. Although Lopez has since acted in more movies and released a few albums since On The 6, the album can provide insight into the singer/actresses theme’s drawn from her experiences and the culture of the time the album was recorded and released in. Granted that at the time of its’ release On The 6 was a few months shy of being an album of the new millennium, it is still rich with ‘90s flare.

Even though I was a toddler when this album was released, while I listened to it a few songs were quite familiar to me. Some of them being former top ballads on US record charts such as “If You Had My Love,” and “Waiting For Tonight”, and others such as “Open Off My Love,” and “It’s Not That Serious.” Knowing some of these songs caught me by surprise and I can’t help but wonder if my mother had this album playing in one of our past apartments. I realized however, that it is one thing to recognize a few hits from an album you thought you knew, and another thing to actually listen to it in its’ entirety. I was apprehensive after hearing the few songs that were recorded almost entirely in Spanish. I wondered what themes I would be able to draw from music I had trouble even understanding. I also found it a little difficult transitioning from an upbeat pop song to a slow R&B tune about love and heartbreak, which is what listening to the first few songs on the album is like. The more I listened however, the more I was able to appreciate the mixing of beats, dynamics of Spanish and English lyrics, and emotions emanating from the music. I enjoyed how a song would start off with a distinctively Latin drum and rhythm, and then morph into the background of a fusion of a pop and hip-hop beat. This led me to wonder how important it was for her to incorporate her culture into an album targeted to be a part of the pop hits and culture of the time. The transitioning from upbeat pop to slow R&B love songs were representative of the ups and downs of her life trying to make it as a celebrity in New York City.

Initially, the lyrics seem to be centered around love and the singer’s experiences in dating and being a joyful young woman. This is just the surface value of the music however. As the album contains ballads that play on different emotions and explore themes that contrast, such as happiness and sadness, so does the life of a young Latina woman that desires a future in show business. There are triumphs and failures mixed into the journey Lopez took to make it into the places she wanted to be then and now.

The neighborhood she resided in on any given day would’ve been dotted with the differing sounds of Latin music, pop, and hip-hop, perhaps inspiring her to combine the three along with R&B into the sounds of her album. All three genres turned out to be suitable in helping portray her experiences and culture into the music. Like many other artists in the Bronx she was especially influenced by Latin music, this was also reinforced by her Puerto Rican background. This is evident when one takes into consideration that Lopez chose to have songs sung in Spanish on the album.

Lopez was a product of the Bronx’s legacy of artistic spirit, having grown up in the 70’s and 80’s seeing those around her strive to create positive forms of expression. As she took singing and dancing lessons however, her goal was to transcend the local scene and display her talents to the world. Although her neighborhood in Castle Hill was not immune to the decline seen across the South Bronx due to fires, poverty, and lack of investment in the 1950s and 60s, it was able to bounce back to lower crime rates and the restoration of housing since the 80s and continuing into present day. This structural and social renewal taking place around the time Lopez was an adolescent and teen in Castle Hill might’ve allowed her a more flexible opportunity to pursue the career she wanted.

Unlike many members of underrepresented groups that come from minority families and depraved neighborhoods, Lopez was able to realize the dreams of fame shared by millions of New Yorkers. She has celebrated her journey and that of others through her music in On The 6.