Jennifer Lopez Finally Set the Record Straight on Her "J.Lo" Nickname

Jenny from the Block. J.Lo. No matter what name she goes by, Jennifer Lopez doesn't need an introduction, but last night on World of Dance, she did offer up some background. During one segment, Lopez explained where her J.Lo monicker came from — and it goes way, way back.

The new story is in contrast to a 2019 story published by Business Insider, which stated that Lopez told the Chicago Tribune, back in 2001, that "J.Lo" was a name that her fans gave her.

"It's something my music fans named me. I'd go to MTV or wherever and there would be kids carrying signs that said J.Lo," she said. "It's kind of like street terminology, and it kind of caught on."

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Last night, Lopez said that the name was actually given to her by rapper Heavy D, not by her fans. She explained that while she was recording her first album, On the 6, which was released back in 1999, Heavy D was a mainstay in the studio. Thanks to her simply being in the vicinity of the other recording artists, she ended up being namedropped on some records, only she was being called Jenny Lo. That, she said, eventually turned into J.Lo and the name has stuck with her.

"J.Lo came from Heavy D," Lopez said. "The rapper. He would come into the studio when I was making my first album, and he would always call me Jenny Lo. And I was dating Puffy at the time, and so, Puffy and Jennifer Lo, or Jenny Lo, was showing up in records. Like, they were talking about us in records and stuff like that."

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Jenny Lo doesn't quite have the same zing as J.Lo, but Lopez said that while just about everyone uses her nickname, it's not something that her family calls her — except her mom.

"No," she said when Insider asked her about her family using any nickname. "But my mother is so taken with the whole thing. She's all 'J. Lo, J. Lo.'"