Jennifer Lopez says that she was advised to change Feelin’ So Good, one of the singles from her debut album, On the 6, because she was told that it sounded too similar to a Whitney Houston hit that had been released a few months previously.
Appearing on Track Star, Lopez told the story after she correctly identified Whitney Houston’s 1999 hit, It’s Not Right But It’s Okay.
“Funny thing: I had written a song called Feelin’ So Good and they were so similar and they were like, ‘You should change it, Whitney Houston has this other song,’” she recalls.
It sounds like Lopez demurred, though: “I was like, ‘But I like my song,’” she says.
While there are some melodic and rhythmic similarities between the two songs’ respective choruses, we can’t say that they sound too much alike, so Lopez was probably right to stick to her guns. What’s more, she has nothing but praise for Houston herself.
“There is no person who is a singer on the face of the earth in the history of the world who doesn't admire Whitney Houston,” she reckons. “She's probably one of my favorite singers of all time. You like different singers for different reasons – not just because they have this kind of range – and it was her tone. I think that was the most beautiful thing, ‘cos there's a lot of singers with range. There's a lot of singers who can do all the runs and the tricks and she had everything.”
In terms of her own career, though, it sounds like a more direct influence on Lopez was Janet Jackson.
After being played Jackson’s 1986 single, When I Think Of You, Lopez said: “She was one of my biggest inspirations. I actually got to dance for her for a little while. I did a video with her when I was still a dancer. And I think [1987 single] Pleasure Principle, that video made me want to become a pop star, in a way.”
Lopez also offered indirect praise for Jam and Lewis, the production duo who worked with Jackson to create her signature sound.
“She had a sound, a real sound. Her brother was huge and how do you live in that shadow? But she just kind of paved a whole other path with a totally different sound than the Jacksons.”
