I'm Real/I'm Real (Murder Remix)

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"I'm Real"
CD 1 cover
Single by Jennifer Lopez
from the album J. Lo
Released	2001
Format	CD single
Recorded	Sony Music Studios, New York City, New York; 2001
Genre	Pop/R&B
Length	4:57
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Jennifer Lopez, Troy Oliver, Cory Rooney, LeShan Lewis
Producer(s)	Cory Rooney, Tory Oliver
Chart positions
#1 (U.S.) #3 (Australia, New Zealand) #4 (UK) #6 (Canada) #13 (Ireland)
Jennifer Lopez singles chronology
"Ain't It Funny" (2001)	"I'm Real" (2001)	"I'm Real" (Murder Remix) (2002)

"I'm Real" is the name of two songs by Jennifer Lopez. One is the song taken from her second album J. Lo (2001), and the other is "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", which features rapper Ja Rule of The Inc. Records (formerly known as Murder Inc. Records), included on the special edition of Lopez' second album, her remix album J to tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002), and Ja Rule's third album Pain Is Love (2001). They reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 8, 2001, and remained there for five weeks. Ja Rule had been brought in after disappointing sales of "Play", the second single from J. Lo. Singer Ashanti also provided backing vocals on the Murder Remix. The two songs are essentially different songs with the same title.

Contents 1 Controversy 2 Track listings and formats 3 Chart performance 4 Charts 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Controversy

Although the song was relatively successful, there is a bit of controversy over the use of the single's sample and the structure of the song. There have been reports that the sample used for "I'm Real" was originally planned to be used for Mariah Carey's "Loverboy". According to the music publisher of the song "Firecracker", Carey called to license a sample of the song which had never been sampled before and within a month Lopez called to do the same.

Irv Gotti, who produced the remix of "I'm Real", openly admitted during an interview with XXL magazine that Tommy Mottola contacted him with instructions to create a song that sounded exactly like a song he had made with Carey for the Glitter soundtrack.^[1]

Lopez also drew criticism due to her use of the word "nigga" on the song.

"I'm Real (Murder Remix)"
CD 2 cover
Single by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule
from the album J. Lo (special edition) and J to tha L-O!: The Remixes
Released	2002
Genre	Pop/R&B/Hip-hop
Length	4:22
Writer(s)	Jennifer Lopez, Troy Oliver, Cory Rooney, LeShan Lewis, Jeffrey Atkins, Irv Gotti, Rick James
Producer(s)	Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius
Jennifer Lopez singles chronology
"I'm Real" (2001)	"I'm Real" (Murder Remix) (2002)	"Ain't It Funny" (Murder Remix) (2002)
Ja Rule singles chronology
"Always on Time" (2002)	"I'm Real" (Murder Remix) (2002)	"Down Ass Chick" (2002)

[edit] Track listings and formats

• CD 1

1. "I'm Real" (Murder Remix featuring Ja Rule)
2. "I'm Real" (Radio Edit)
3. "I'm Real" (Dezrok Club Mix)
4. "I'm Real" (Dreem Teem Master)
5. "I'm Real" (Pablo Flores Club Mix)
6. "I'm Real" (André Betts Remix)

• CD 2

1. "I'm Real" (Murder Remix featuring Ja Rule)
2. "I'm Real" (Radio Edit)
3. "I'm Real" (Dezrok Vocal Radio Edit)
4. "I'm Real" (Dreem Teem UK Garage Mix)
5. "I'm Real" (DMD Strong Club)
6. "I'm Real" (Pablo Flores Euro-Dub)

[edit] Chart performance

"I'm Real" (Murder Remix) debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number sixty-six the week of July 7, 2001. By its fourth week, the song had reached the top twenty, fueled by increasing airplay of the single. By September 8, 2001, the single topped the chart, dislodging Alicia Keys' "Fallin'" from a three-week stint at number one. "I'm Real" spent the next three charting weeks at the summit, and was subsequently knocked out of the top spot by "Fallin'", which boasted an additional three consecutive weeks at number one. After three weeks stalled at number two, "I'm Real" returned to number one again for a final two weeks, through October 27, 2001. "I'm Real" (Murder Remix) was a staple on R&B/hip-hop and pop radio during the summer and fall of 2001, spending fifteen weeks on the top five of the Billboard Hot 100.

The chart position of the "Murder Remix" was boosted by radio play of the album track, which lead to complaints of unfairness and change of Billboard policy in 2002. Afterwards, airplay of identically named songs but with substantially different melodies was not combined when computing chart positions. Lopez' follow-up was "Ain't It Funny" (Murder Remix), another Ja Rule remix, which also reached number one in the U.S.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales	6
U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Airplay	28
U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay	21
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard ARC Weekly Top 40	1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	3
Austrian Singles Chart	25
Belgian Singles Chart	8
Brazil Hot 100 Singles	6
Canadian Singles Chart	6
Danish Singles Chart	8
Dutch Top 40	3
Finnish Singles Chart	16
French Singles Chart	3
German Singles Chart	11
Greece Singles Chart	9
Irish Singles Chart	13
Italian Singles Chart	16
Mexican Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart	8
Swiss Singles Chart	6
UK Singles Chart	4
United World Chart	5

[edit] See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 2001 (USA)
• ARC Weekly Top 40 number-one hits of 2001 (U.S.)

[edit] References

Preceded by "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys

Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 8, 2001 - October 27, 2001

Succeeded by "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige