"Ain't It Funny" is a song by American singer
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 ...
. It was written by Lopez and
Cory Rooney for the
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a permanent judge on seasons 6–7 of the television program ''So You Think You Can Dance (American TV ...
-directed romantic comedy ''
The Wedding Planner'' (2001). Shankman, however, felt that the song had too much of a
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
-influence to be featured in the film, and it was instead included on Lopez's second studio album, ''
J.Lo'' (2001). Released internationally months before in the summer of 2001, "Ain't It Funny" was released as the fourth and final single from the album in the US on December 4, 2001, by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
.
The song was used as background music in three
television advertisements
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
in Japan to promote the 2001
Subaru Legacy
The is a mid-size car built by Japanese automobile manufacturer Subaru from 1989 to 2025. The maker's flagship car, it is unique in its class for offering all-wheel drive as a standard feature, and Subaru's traditional boxer engine. The Leg ...
for a special campaign which was known as ''Three Keys Legacy''. Lopez herself was also featured in all three ads. The song shares the same title with Lopez's 2002 song "
Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", which is a completely different song.
Writing and production
While watching a
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut (also known as the first cut or editor's cut) is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still ...
of ''
The Wedding Planner'' (2001) in Canada,
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 ...
and
Cory Rooney brainstormed ideas for its accompanying soundtrack. The two "pulled different thoughts and feelings" from the film's scenes.
The scene where Lopez's character Mary Fiore is in the backseat of a car listening to
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...
and
Bridgette Wilson
Bridgette Wilson Sampras (born September 25, 1973) is an American former actress, singer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 1990. She began her career in acting, playing the character of Lisa Fenimore on the soap opera '' S ...
's characters Steve Edison and Fran Donolly talk about their 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 composed the song's chorus. He then worked with Lopez for an hour to complete the song.
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American businessman, record executive, television producer, theater producer, film producer, investor, and serial entrepreneur. Mottola is the chairman of Mottola Media Group, co-founder of Nter ...
was so enthusiastic about the song that he contributed to its melody.
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a permanent judge on seasons 6–7 of the television program ''So You Think You Can Dance (American TV ...
, however, felt that "Ain't It Funny" had too much of a
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
influence for the film, due to its usage of
timbales
Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfic ...
. Lopez 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
Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...
song, with a duration of four minutes and six seconds (4:06).
The song contains a
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
beat and a "bullfight trumpet",
as well as a "solid dancefloor thump".
Lyrically, Lopez 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
The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...
wrote that "Ain't It Funny" steals its melody "wholesale" from
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's "
La Isla Bonita", although it has a better rhythmic base. He concluded that it still "sort of runs in place, as though Lopez recorded it while standing on a treadmill".
Sal Cinquemani of ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' 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 ''
Dotmusic'' called the song bland, writing that Lopez should "check out"
Jill Scott's 2000 song "One Is the Magic Number" for how Latin pop "should be done properly".
''
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 ...
''s
Chuck Taylor praised the song's production as "Grade A" and its lyrics as "smart".
Chart performance
"Ain't It Funny" was a commercial success, peaking within the top ten in multiple countries. In Poland, the song peaked at No. 1 for eight weeks on the
Polish Singles Chart.
In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at No. 3, making it her fifth top-ten single there, gaining popularity there it is still played on many radio stations regularly. "Ain't It Funny" charted at No. 3 in several other countries including the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.
In Sweden, it exceeded sales of 10,000 copies and was certified Gold by the
Swedish Recording Industry Association
Grammofonleverantörernas förening (GLF) (English: Swedish Recording Industry Association), was an organisation representing the music recording industry of Sweden. It compiled and published the official record charts for the Swedish music recordi ...
. In Belgium, the song peaked at No. 8 in
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
and No. 5 in
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
.
"Ain't It Funny" debuted and peaked at No. 25 in Australia on September 2, 2001.
"Ain't It Funny" peaked at No. 9 in Norway,
and Ireland for the week ending August 9, 2001.
The single debuted at No. 14 in Switzerland on July 29, 2001, and peaked at No. 9 three weeks later. It had a successful chart run in Switzerland, remaining on the Swiss Singles Chart for a total of twenty-six weeks.
In Spain, "Ain't It Funny" peaked at No. 10 for the week ending July 28, 2001.
Additionally, it reached the top twenty in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Hungary and Italy.
Live performances
From September 22–23, 2001, Lopez 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 2001, Lopez,
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...
and
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...
headlined a concert for the
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
troops in a
German military base. Lopez 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
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...
, ''For the Troops: An MTV/USO Special''. Joe D'Angelo of
MTV News
MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...
noted that she wore "a series of skimpy outfits despite chilly temperatures."
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was filmed in
sepia tone
In photography, toning is a method of altering the color of black-and-white photographs. In analog photography, it is a chemical process carried out on metal salt-based prints, such as silver prints, iron-based prints ( cyanotype or Van Dyke ...
and directed by
Herb Ritts
Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...
. It opens with Lopez traveling on a road where she finds a
fortune-teller who shows Lopez her future with the cards. A group of female
gypsies
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, ...
(one of them played by
The Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainstrea ...
member
Carmit Bachar) show up and make over Lopez so as to make her one of their own. Then Lopez finds a man (played by Mexican soap opera actor
Eduardo Verástegui) she could not resist, falling in love with him. In the middle of the video, there is an extended dance sequence, in which she performs a
flamenco
Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
-influenced routine. Eventually all the people there start dancing together, including Lopez and her lover. The video debuted the week of July 2, 2001, internationally and in late 2001 in the US.
Track listings
"Ain't It Funny"
* Australian CD single
# "Ain't It Funny" – 4:05
# "Ain't It Funny" (
Silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
's house mix 7-inch) – 3:59
# "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew radio mix) – 3:45
# "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix pt. 1 & 2) – 8:28
# "
Play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
" (Gene Lefosse remix) – 7:16
* European CD single
# "Ain't It Funny" (album version) – 4:05
# "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew radio mix) – 3:45
* European maxi-CD single
# "Ain't It Funny" (album version) – 4:05
# "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix pt. 1 & 2) – 8:28
# "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew extended) – 4:54
# "Ain't It Funny" (Tropical dance remix) – 3:49
# "Ain't It Funny" (D'Hip mix) – 4:20
* European 12-inch single
:A1. "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix pt. 1 & 2) – 8:28
:A2. "Ain't It Funny" (album version) – 4:05
:B1. "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew extended) – 4:54
:B2. "Play" (
Rui da Silva mix) – 7:19
* UK CD single
# "Ain't It Funny" – 4:05
# "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix pt. 1 & 2) – 8:28
# "Ain't It Funny" (Almighty mix) – 7:22
# "Ain't It Funny" (video)
* UK 12-inch single
:A1. "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix pt. 1 & 2) – 8:28
:B1. "Ain't It Funny" (original mix) – 4:05
:B2. "Play" (Rui da Silva mix) – 7:19
* UK cassette single
# "Ain't It Funny" – 4:05
# "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix 7-inch) – 3:59
# "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew radio mix) – 3:45
* Japanese CD single
# "Ain't It Funny" – 4:08
# "Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)" – 4:08
# "Pleasure Is Mine" – 4:18
"Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)"
* Spanish maxi-CD single (Remixes)
# "Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)" (Tropical dance remix) – 3:47
# "Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)" (Radio Traffic mix) – 3:12
# "Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)" (Tribal mix) – 6:02
# "Qué Ironía (Ain't It Funny)" – 4:07
# "Ain't It Funny" (Silk's house mix 7-inch) – 3:59
# "Ain't It Funny" (Brandnew radio mix) – 3:45
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{authority control
2001 singles
2001 songs
Jennifer Lopez songs
Songs written by Cory Rooney
Songs written by Jennifer Lopez
Songs written for films
Song recordings produced by Cory Rooney
Song recordings produced by Dan Shea (producer)
Number-one singles in Poland
2002 singles
Music videos directed by Herb Ritts
Epic Records singles