I'm Real

Recorded during 2000–2001 for Jennifer Lopez’s second studio album, J.Lo, with sessions at Daddy’s House in New York City and Criteria in Miami. The original release was built by Jennifer Lopez with Troy Oliver, Cory Rooney, and Leshan David Lewis, with Sean Combs contributing the spoken ad-lib. Released as the third single from J.Lo, it became Jennifer Lopez’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 and confirmed her move into a tougher R&B and hip-hop crossover lane. The track drew strong radio and club attention and helped define the era’s remix-friendly pop rollout. The song remains one of Lopez’s signature records because it delivered her first U.S. chart-topper and launched the widely known Ja Rule remix era around the title. Its success helped make remix-as-single a mainstream pop strategy in the early 2000s.