There are only two types of music fans in the world – ones who know they are J.Lo apologisers and ones who are only just waking to realise that they are.
I think there should be a research team out there studying Jennifer Lopez‘s recent singles approval ratings before and after the music video is launched because I swear I felt the tide turn a little with ‘Goin’ In’.
After letting out a torrential amount of piss on her last effort ‘Dance Again’ (featuring the omnipresent Pitbull), I really had no excuses left to make for my favourite Latin pop diva.
By the time ‘Goin’ In’ surfaced on the interwebs, I was already packing my suitcase with thoughts of leaving the blogosphere and, in a more literal sense, the country. I was not going to be available in anyway to defend her crass and disposable new track.
Director Ace Norton (who served us the spectacular Scissor Sisters clip ‘Any Which Way’) rams a visually bonkers collision of high energy dance, colour and action onto your screen. So captivating it is, that you’re not even sure how you’ve just sat through one of the most irritating J.Lo singles to date without blinking and then rousing to find a discreet discharge of glitter in your panties.
The majority of the action shots like slow motion of paint clashing mid-air, people smashing through glass and shit exploding were already piloted on the aforementioned Scissor Sisters clip.
However, this being the single to usher in the Step Up Revolution movie, there was an abundance of choreography and laser lights present, coupled with street elements like brightly coloured fire hydrants shooting out paint.
I mean, look at the above. Is this real life? We are not worthy.
I’m glad the video wasn’t a mindless surrender to the movie’s themes. J.Lo still appropriately commands the clip with her own moments in that reinvention of Little Red Riding Hood with diamond-encrusted lips, and that devastating strut she did in front of the wind machine, which mind you is precisely how I look on the treadmill at Fitness First every other morning – so gag, bitches!
‘Goin’ In’ – produced by GoonRock, the man who had a hand in co-writing and co-producing several of LMFAO‘s Sorry For Party Rocking jams – is a damaging blend of present day crunk and Europop synths.
The presence of rapper Flo Rida and an uncredited Lil Jon adds some street heat to ‘Goin’ In’, and this point I’m prepared to concede that their contribution is rather necessary to the overall experience of the track – which is not something I would say for every J.Lo single that has featured a rent-a-rapper.
Look, put it this way. If this is a signifier of the kind of hectic uptempo to come on some future J.Lo album that she may or may not be working towards, then it’s not a completely bad thing. I think we gotta acknowledge that Mami Lopez has always had her feet firmly in both urban and dance sides of the pop arena and the time has never been better to combine the two.
Watch the eye-popping video for ‘Goin’ In’:
Footnotes:
Jennifer Lopez‘s ‘Goin’ In’ has to date climbed up to #3 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. I would highly recommend the aggressive Jacob Plant dub step remix and mildly tribal Gustavo Scorpio remix.
Do you think she will extend her Dance Again world tour down to Australia in the new year? I am desperate for this to happen.
