Jennifer Lopez has revealed the origin of her iconic nicknameJLo, explaining that it was bestowed upon her by another artist.
On Tuesday, the 50-year-old World of Dance judge opened up about the nickname during a commercial break for the show, where she explained: “JLo came from Heavy D.”
“Remember Heavy D? The rapper. He would come into the studio when I was making my first album, and he would always call me Jenny Lo,” Lopez said, according to a clip shared by Access. “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.
“So I was like, I’m going to name the album 'JLo.’”
The singer’s admission that JLo was started by the late rapper and record producer comes after she previously credited fans with giving her the nickname.
In 2001, Lopez told the Chicago Tribune: “It's something my music fans named me. I'd go to MTV or wherever and there would be kids carrying signs that said JLo.
“It's kind of like street terminology, and it kind of caught on,” the Hustlers star added.
In an interview with MTV the same year, Lopez again attributed the nickname to her fans, according to Business Insider, telling the outlet: “It wasn't something that I started, like: ‘Call me J Lo.’ Fans gave me the nickname. It was actually pretty cool.”
At the time, the singer also said nobody in her family except her mother used the moniker.
“My mother is so taken with the whole thing. She's all ‘JLo, JLo,’” she said.
