Jennifer Lopez Goes Country With Jennifer Nettles—Taking a Page From Beyoncé's Book?

Beyoncé had debuted a country song on her new visual album, Lemonade

By Corinne Heller May 05, 2016 8:38 PMTags
Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer NettlesColumbia Pictures, Michael Caulfield/WireImage

Beyoncé is quite the trend-setter...

Jennifer Lopez is the latest non-country artist to go country; The Latin pop star duets with country singer Jennifer Nettles on the latter's new song "My House." The track is featured on her new album, Playing With Fire, which is set for release on May 13.

And do not fret, J.Lo fans: She is still Jenny from the Block. She even reiterates this in the song, during which she and Nettles sing about how they're different, but not that much.

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Sample lyrics include, "We hang on the porch / We hang on the stoop / Our boys shootin' deer / Our boys shootin' hoops / We're really not that different / It's in the way we live / It's in way we talk / I'm Jenny from the dirt road /  I'm Jenny from the Block / We're really not that different."

The song also gets political, as they sing, "They say good fences make good neighbors / Instead of building walls, let's tear them to the ground / Let 'em try to separate us / Together they won't ever take us down."

Lopez also belts out, "Mi casa es tu casa!"

SPIN writer Brennan Carley called "My House" "this year's much tonally more acceptable answer to Braid Paisley and LL Cool J's real, actual 2013 single "Accidental Racist," which many listeners had called "awkward."

Nettles had teased her duet with Lopez in March, posting on Twitter a selfie of the two together and writing, "Thank you sweet mama for a beautiful afternoon! @JLo #staytuned #micasaestucasa."

J.Lo has dabbled in country music before. Earlier this year, at a few of her Las Vegas All I Have residency shows, she performed a cover of Lee Ann Womack's 2000 ballad "I Hope You Dance." 

Lopez and Nettle's new song was posted on NPR's website Thursday, weeks after Beyoncé debuted her new visual album, Lemonade, on HBO. Scores of the R&B and pop star's fans expressed astonishment online over a particular song, "Daddy Lessons," which many said sounded like a country track. Country trio the Dixie Chicks even performed it at a concert in Manchester, England last weekend.

However, CMT.com write Allison Bonaguro does not think "Daddy Lessons" is a country track, saying, "If you ask me, this song is no more country than her 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).'"

Beyoncé has also dabbled in country music before this year. Ne-Yo, who wrote her 2006 hit "Irreplaceable," has said he originally intended for the song to be a country song and had country stars Faith Hill and Shania Twain in mind during the process. Beyoncé performed the song with country duo Sugarland at the 2007 American Music Awards.

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