Murder Remix version
Ain't It Funny is a song recorded by Jennifer Lopez. It was co-written by Jennifer and Cory Rooney for the 2001 Adam Shankman-directed romantic comedy "The Wedding Planner."
However, Adam felt that the song had too much of a Latin-influence to be featured in the film and it was instead included on Jennifer's second studio album J.Lo.
The song was released as the third single from the album on June 20, 2001 by Epic Records.
The single's music video (directed by Herb Ritts) was released around the same time.
The "Murder Remix" of the song featuring rappers Ja Rule and Cadillac Tah was released on March 4, 2002. The remix featured a reworking of the beat to Craig Mack's song "Flava in Ya Ear."
The remix version was written by Jennifer, Cory Rooney, Irving Lorenzo, Jeffery "Ja Rule" Atkins, Caddillac Tah, and Ashanti Douglas.
Original Version
Songwriting & Production
While watching a rough cut of "The Wedding Planner" in Canada, Jennifer Lopez and Cory Rooney brainstormed ideas for its accompanying soundtrack.
The two "pulled different thoughts and feelings" from the film's scenes.
The scene where Jennifer's character is in the backseat of a car listening to Matthew McConaughey and Bridgette Wilson's characters talk about the wedding made Rooney think of the line: "ain't it funny how some feelings you just can't deny and you can't move on even though you try."
According to Rooney, "all those words and melodies just started coming" to him while watching the scene.
After he conceived the idea for "Ain't It Funny," Rooney returned to his home and "roughed out the track" and came up with the song's chorus. He then worked with Lopez for an hour to complete the song.
Tommy Mottola was so enthusiastic about the song that he contributed to its melody.
However, Adam Shankman felt that "Ain't It Funny" had too much of a Latin influence for the film due to its usage of timbales.
Jennifer disagreed with Shankman and the two later agreed to use "Love Don't Cost a Thing" in the film.
Composition
"Ain't It Funny" is a Latin pop song with a duration of four minutes and six seconds.
The song contains a Mecca disco beat and a "bullfight trumpet" as well as a "solid dancefloor thump."
Lyrically, Jennifer sings about "creating the perfect romance in your mind, then facing reality when Mr. Right is less than ideal."
Critical Response
The song received mixed to positive reviews.
Josh Freedom du Lac of Wall of Sound wrote that "Ain't It Funny" steals its melody "wholesale" from Madonna's song "La Isla Bonita" although it has a better rhythmic base.
He concluded that it still "sort of runs in place as though Jennifer recorded it while standing on a treadmill."
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine responded positively to the song, calling it "terribly infectious."
However, he criticized the "overpowering choir of back-up vocalists" that sing the chorus
Jake Barnes of Dot Music called the song bland, writing that Jennifer should "check out" Jill Scott's 2000 song "One Is the Magic Number" for how Latin pop "should be done properly."
Billboard's Chuck Taylor praised the song's production as "Grade A" and its lyrics as "smart."
Live Performances
From September 22–23, 2001, Jennifer performed a set of two concerts in Puerto Rico entitled Let's Get Loud.
These served as the first concerts of her career, in which she was "flanked by a 10-piece orchestra, a five-person choir and 11 dancers."
"Ain't It Funny", among other songs, was included on the concerts' set list.
In December of 2001, Jennifer, Kid Rock and Ja Rule headlined a concert for the USO troops in a German military base.
Jennifer opened her set with "Ain't It Funny." After emerging from a center-stage trapdoor, she performed the song while backed by a line of male dancers "outfitted in military garb."
On January 1, 2002, the concert aired as a special on the MTV Network hosted by Carson Daly "For the Troops: An MTV/USO Special."
Joe D'Angelo of MTV News noted that Jennifer wore "a series of skimpy outfits despite chilly temperatures."
Certifications
The song was certified Gold in Sweden with sales of 10,000.
"Murder Remix" Version
Song Background
In July of 2001, Jennifer's number one album J.Lo was reissued with a murder remix of one of its original singles "I'm Real."
The R&B murder remix of "I'm Real" was written by Ja Rule (who also features on the track).
According to Ja Rule, he initially was "just f[uck]ing around" with the track after Jennifer's team gave it to him to remix, but it turned out to be "a hell of a record."
The remix was successful, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart for several weeks.
It also helped J.Lo to return to the top ten of the US Billboard 200 album chart. The remix allowed Jennifer to crossover from Pop to R&B.
Ja Rule said this put her in "another zone" and her fans aren't "gonna want the pop version of J. Lo no more, they gonna want the 'I'm Real' version."
Ja Rule enjoyed working with Lopez and called it a "real collaboration" because he actually worked with her in the studio.
The success of "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" lead him to begin working on a remix for "Ain't it Funny" the following August which would later be announced as the lead single to Jennifer's remix album J to tha L–O!: The Remixes in December of 2001.
Songwriting & Production
Cory Rooney explained:
"We had changed the sound of Jennifer Lopez [with "I'm Real"] and we didn't have anything else on the [J.Lo] album we could release as a single. We had to do another remix to keep the momentum going."
Then-upcoming artist Ashanti dropped by Irv Gotti's studio in New York. She recalled:
"Everyone was there and Ja [Rule] was on the floor playing video games, and they had the beat playing in the background. Chris Gotti, Irv Gotti's brother, said 'Ja's supposed to be writing this record for J-Lo, but it doesn't look like he's going to be doing anything tonight. Why don't you go in there and see what's happening?' So that's exactly what I did."
Ashanti wrote two verses and recorded a demo for the new version of "Ain't It Funny" for Jennifer.
On September 10, 2001, Gotti and 7 flew out to Los Angeles to record the song with Jennifer.
The song was due to be recorded the following day, but it was postponed due to the September 11 attacks.
When work resumed on the song, Gotti called Ashanti from Los Angeles asking her to write another verse for the song. She recalled: "I had to write it over the phone and two-way Irv the lyrics."
Composition
The "Murder Remix" of "Ain't It Funny" is a Hip Hop song with a duration of three minutes and forty-nine seconds and contains no similarities to the original version.
While he was working towards the remix, Ja Rule boasted:
"I'm about to f--- ya'll up" stating that the song's sampling of Craig Mack's "Flava In Ya Ear" would be "remixed" and "vamped up crazy.."
Ja Rule said, "It's totally not J. Lo." Over the reworking of the "Flava In Ya Ear" beat, Jennifer sings about "a boyfriend who keeps messing up" while Rule and Cadillac Tah "drop rhymes" on the track.
Ja Rule raps that he's "Off the wall like MJ in his early days," which is a reference to Michael Jackson's 1979 album "Off the Wall."
He also says "Oh I, never been a sucker for chocha," choca meaning pussy (the slang term for vagina).
He continues on to say that people "want" him after they see him "workin' with money" meaning working with Jennifer.
Music Video
The single's official music video was directed by Jennifer's then-husband Cris Judd.
Critical Response
While reviewing the original "Ain't It Funny," Billboard's Chuck Taylor said of the remix release:
"Sony has got to be kidding, calling it "Ain't it Funny" when not one note of it is held in common with the original. It's a disturbing trend, but one that will surely push J.Lo to a new high."
Commercial Performance
"Ain't it Funny" was released to appeal to not only pop, but "street-leaning" outlets.
For the week ending December 29, 2001, "Ain't it Funny" debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, a few positions shy of winning the week's "Hot Shot Debut" title. It also debuted at number 75 on the Hot 100 Airplay.
In its second week, the song jumped to number 53 on the Hot 100 and 56 on the Airplay chart.
The following week, "Ain't it Funny" broke the top 40 of the Hot 100 and the Airplay chart.
After its fourth week, the song progressed to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, winning the chart's "Greatest Airplay Gainer" title of the week, having jumped to number 17 at the Airplay chart that week.
For the week ending February 9, 2002, "Ain't it Funny" jumped from number 12 to ten on the Hot 100 and Airplay chart, making it Jennifer's fifth top-ten hit at the time. This week, it once again won the "Greatest Airplay Gainer" title.
The next week, again claiming the "Greatest Airplay Gainer" title, the song jumped to number four on both charts while also entering the top ten of Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart at number eight.
After remaining in the top five of both charts for another three weeks, "Ain't it Funny" peaked at number one on the Hot 100 and Airplay for the week ending March 9, 2002.
This week, the single's parent album J to tha L–O!: The Remixes returned to number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 102,000 units, giving her simultaneous number ones.
Also this week, the album had reached number five on the magazine's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart while "Ain't it Funny" had reached the same position on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart.
Additionally, the song unseated the track "Always On Time" at the summit of the Hot 100, which was coincidentally by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti (the two people who worked with Jennifer on the remix).
For five weeks and well over a month, "Ain't it Funny" remained at number one on the Hot 100 and Airplay chart, before dropping to number three on both charts for the week ending April 20, 2002.
The song peaked at number three on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks Chart.
The murder remix for "Ain't it Funny" attained moderate success internationally. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number four, becoming her seventh top-ten hit there.
The remix entered the Swiss Singles Chart at number 16 for the week of March 17, 2002.
Three weeks later, it peaked at number seven, where it remained for an additional week.
The song also peaked at number seven in The Netherlands for the week ending March 30, 2002.
In total, it spent five weeks in the top ten on the Dutch Singles Chart. The song entered the top twenty in Belgium Flanders, Spain and Denmark.