"(What Is) Love?" is a song recorded by American entertainer

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

. Originally entitled "What Is Love?", the song appeared on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to ''

The Back-up Plan ''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Alan Poul, starring Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson and Linda Lavin.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael ...

'' (2010), a film in which Lopez stars, and was presented in Italy at the

Sanremo Music Festival 2010 The Sanremo Music Festival 2010 (), officially the 60th Italian Song Festival (), was the 60th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 16 February 2010 and 20 February 2010 and broadcast by (RAI). The show wa ...

. The song was later included on Lopez's seventh studio album '' Love?'' (2011), as the album's title track. "(What Is) Love?" is a midtempo

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

song written by Diana "Wynter" Gordon, with the song's producer Emile "D'Mile" Dernst II. The song is about "not knowing what love is", according to Gordon. A

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "(What Is) Love?", entitled "What Is Love? Part II", was produced by Jean-Baptiste. It was considered for inclusion on ''Love?'' and was

leak A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a Water tank, tank or a Ship, ship's Hull (watercraft), hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can e ...

ed onto the internet in April 2013. The song was due to be released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

from ''Love?'' on April 26, 2011, but was "unlocked" and released on April 22, 2011 by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

through a campaign on Lopez's Facebook page. Upon its promotional release, the song debuted at number 97 on the South Korea Gaon International Chart and at 33 on the

Productores de Música de España Productores de Música de España (; shortened as Promusicae) is the national organisation responsible for the music charts of Spain. it is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the Inter ...

Writing and production

"(What Is) Love?" written by Diana "Wynter" Gordon and Emile "D'Mile" Dernst; the latter who also produced the song. Lopez's vocals for the song were recorded and produced by

Kuk Harrell Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In 2011, K ...

, with recording assistance from Jim Annunziato and Josh Gudwin at Conway Studios in Hollywood, California. Annunziato and Eric Eylands handled

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

of "(What Is) Love?", while the song was later mixed by Mike "Handz" Donaldson at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. "(What Is) Love?" deals with the topic of "not knowing what love is". The song's co-writer Gordon stated that: "I felt like so many woman have that same story. No fathers, families, abusive boyfriends and husbands..no parental support, they feel alone .. I've had my few relationships and have yet to feel love ."

Leak and release

"What Is Love?" was leaked onto the internet in May 2009.

Wynter Gordon Diana Gordon, formerly known as Wynter Gordon (born August 25, 1985), is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. He ...

, the co-writer of "What Is Love?", expressed her dismay at the "unfinished and unmastered" song's leak in a post on her official MySpace blog. She stated: "I wrote this song from a deep place in my heart. If the world was gonna hear it, I wanted them to hear it right... It's as good as gone to me now... The story was given a Lifetime TV special instead of a movie... sad." Gordon did note that she was dissatisfied with the circumstances, but was in "no way dissing Lopez." A mastered version of "What Is Love?" was included on the

to ''

'' (2010), a film in which Lopez stars. "What Is Love?" was re-titled as "(What Is) Love?" and appeared on '' Love?'' (2011). "(What Is) Love?" was due to be released as a

from ''Love?'' on April 26, 2011, but was "unlocked" and released four days earlier, on April 22, 2011 by through a campaign on Lopez's Facebook page. It was released in many European countries on April 25.

Critical response

The song received a positive review from

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's Robert Copsey, who although stating that it isn't any "we haven't heard before," Lopez carries "it off with her unrivalled glamour and effortless sophistication". He concluded by stating that the song was worthy of a standalone release. Monica Herrera from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' commented that on the song, Lopez channels "J.Lo circa 2003." Herrera added the song would have been "slayed if the gender had been flipped", and it had been sung by

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. Joey Guerra from the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' said that Lopez uses "(What Is) Love?" (and the album cut "Starting Over") to play the jilted lover. ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...

'' noted the song's lyrics to be pointing "a few fingers" at Lopez's previous relationships, seen in the line dissing "blind dates" and the declaration of: "Musicians are the worst."

"What Is Love? (Part II)"

During the first album listening party for ''Love?'' in 2009, ''

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'' magazine revealed that Jean-Baptiste had produced a second version of the song called "What Is Love? (Part II)". It was considered for included on the album but ultimately did not make the final track listing. It samples the "club-friendly" riff of

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

's 1970 single "

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

".">Jennifer Lopez's "What Is Love (Part II)": Listen To The Leaked Song , Idolator
/ref> "What Is Love? Part II" was

ed onto the internet on April 22, 2013.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Love?''. *Jim Annunziato – audio engineer, vocal recording engineer *Anesha Birchett –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Mike "Handz" Donaldson – mixing engineer *Emile Dernst II (

D'Mile Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II (born January 24, 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City. He received his first production credits on Rihanna's 2005 album ''Music of the Sun'', as well as Mary J. Blige's '' The ...

) – songwriter, producer *Eric Eylands – assistant audio engineer *

– vocal producer, vocal recording engineer *Shani Gonzales – additional A&R * Dianna "Wynter" Gordon – songwriter, background vocals *Josh Gudwin – vocal recording engineer *John "J-Banga" Kercy –

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

engineer *

– lead vocals

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:What Is Love? 2011 songs Jennifer Lopez songs Island Records singles Electropop songs Song recordings produced by Kuk Harrell Songs written by D'Mile Songs written by Diana Gordon