For weeks Spotify has teased the launch of its new ¡Viva Latino! podcast and today it is officially here. ¡Viva Latino! A Spotify Original Podcast takes you behind the streams of Latin music’s biggest superstars. Every two weeks, artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Jesse & Joy, Becky G, Bad Bunny, Carlos Vives, and Bomba Estéreo will sit down for an intimate interview at the Spotify office to share the stories behind the hits, discuss how they’re shaping Latin culture around the globe, and reflect on key moments in their journey to superstardom.
The debut episode, features global superstar Jennifer Lopez. In the interview, JLo opens up about singing in Spanish again, working creatively with Marc Anthony on her upcoming album, her bucket list, how she wonders where Selena would be now at her age, and more.
Whether she’s reminiscing on some of the most defining moments of her life and career or looking ahead at what’s next, Lopez stays true to her beloved Jenny From the Block persona. Lopez also took time to record two original tracks at Spotify's own recording studio in NYC as part of Spotify’s Singles sessions.
For her cover song, Jennifer decided to record her own stripped-down version of "Vivir Mi Vida" as a tribute to Marc Anthony's late mother, which she also discusses on the podcast for the first time.
¡Viva Latino! A Spotify Original Podcast - Jennifer Lopez
- On the meaning of her upcoming Spanish album, Por Primera Vez [For the First Time]:
"I've learned so much and I've done so much and I haven't done an album in a couple years and I feel like I'm so different now than I was a few years back. There was like a growth spurt emotionally and kind of spiritually for me. And I said, ‘You know it's different now for me.’ Everything is like the first time. Things are going to be different for me. Even when it comes to love, especially when it comes to love because for the first time, I'm going to put myself first."
- On her relationship with Marc Anthony:
"It [collaborating on the album] actually kind of repaired certain parts of our relationship that had been fractured from our marriage and our divorce and it kind of made us friends again. Like, because when we first started working together it's how we met, we met working. And so we remembered that like, oh right, we connect on this level of music. And we have that. And that's what the album came out of."
- On recording a Spotify Singles cover of "Vivir Mi Vida":
"The first thing that came to my mind, because Marc's mom had just passed away, you know, my kids' grandma, was "Vivir Mi Vida." And I thought, I think that's a good song to sing right now. But, in a different way. Not in the kind of up-tempo, rhythmic, salsa way that Marc did it, but in a way where you really hear the words to that song, which is, you know, you have one life and you have to live it."
- On Selena Quintanilla:
"She was such a bright light and she was such an amazing artist and such a talent. She was so damn talented. It's like those things you're born with, she just, she had the light inside her. She was a star. It was sad to not see where she would be now at my age. She would be around my age right now."
- On staying true to her roots throughout her rise to superstardom:
"I don't know if it was deliberate, I was just so proud of who I was that I never felt I had to shed that to fit into Hollywood or to make music. I was going to be Jenny From The Block always and Jenny From The Block is, like we said, it's salsa, it's R&B, it's hip hop, it's pop, and all of that is what you get when you get me, and such a big part of that, because I'm Puerto Rican and I grew up on rice and beans, and I grew up on Spanish music, both my grandmas not speaking a word of English, is so part of who I am. And so no matter where I go, even though I blend very well, I'm from the generation that blends very well into America, it's such a big part of who I am. So I just can't leave that behind or make believe that that's not part of who I am."
- On her unrivaled work ethic:
"God gives us all different gifts and I believe that that's one of the gifts he gave me. Because I remember, we were talking about this the other day, being ten years old. And I, you know, living in the Bronx got a job at my mom's beauty salon to sweep up the hair. And nobody had to wake me up and I would get up at six thirty in the morning and I would go and I would sweep up the hair and I'd wash the bottom of the sinks and the chairs and all this stuff, at ten years old. There's just something in you. There's a drive. There's a need to be productive and to do something with your life."
- On her bucket list:
"I think I'm going to direct very soon..."
To tune into the Spotify podcast, click here.
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