"Dance Again" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her first greatest hits album, "Dance Again... the Hits" (2012). It features guest vocals from American rapper Pitbull. The song was written by Enrique Iglesias, Bilal "The Chef" Hajji, AJ Junior, Pitbull and RedOne, who also produced the song. At the time of the song's production, Lopez was unsure whether or not the song would be the lead single from a greatest hits album, or a new studio album.
"Dance Again", an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, features Lopez singing about wanting to dance and love, and it contains several sexual innuendos. Lopez credits the song as her anthem and metaphor, which stood for her surviving a rough divorce. It marks the third collaboration between Lopez and Pitbull following "Fresh Out the Oven" (2009) and the 2011 single "On the Floor". Following its release, "Dance Again" went number one in Greece, South Korea, the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and the Billboard Global Dance Tracks chart. Elsewhere, the song reached the top ten in sixteen countries. Critics noted similarities between "Dance Again" and the duo's previous collaboration "On the Floor" but critiqued the former for its lack of originality.
An accompanying music video was directed by long-time collaborator Paul Hunter and choreographed by Frank Gatson, Jr. The video premiered during an episode of "American Idol" on April 5, 2012, where Lopez was a judge. Her boyfriend of that time Casper Smart appears in the video. Though the clip was welcomed with positive reviews, several critics noted that the video's content wasn't suitable for a premiere on the family-friendly "American Idol", with some even criticizing Lopez for debuting the video on the television show. On July 31, 2012, the music video received an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Choreography.
Background.
After experiencing a decrease in her commercial success with her fifth and sixth studio albums, "Como Ama una Mujer" and "Brave" (both 2007) and the single "Louboutins" (2009), Lopez left Epic Records in February 2010, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release her seventh studio album, "Love?", under a new label. Her departure from the label temporarily halted production on the album, however upon signing a new contract with Island Records, recording resumed on the album. "On the Floor", her first single with the label, was released in February 2011. The song topped the charts across the globe, becoming one of the most successful singles of the year. Following the release of "On the Floor", "Love?" produced two moderately successful singles: "I'm Into You" and "Papi", both of which topped the US "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Songs chart. "Love?" itself was a moderate commercial success and was viewed as a humble comeback from Lopez, as many had considered her recording career over.
It was announced in November that Lopez was working on new material for her first greatest hits album. The following month, Lopez revealed that she had been playing some of her new music for L.A. Reid, who signed her to Island Records and left the label to become the CEO and chairman of Epic Records. This led further speculation that Lopez had moved back to Epic Records, which was first reported in July. The reports were later confirmed untrue; Lopez was back with Epic Records as she had owed the label one final album to end her contract, despite previously announcing that she had fulfilled her contract with them.
Writing and production.
"Dance Again" was written by RedOne, Enrique Iglesias, Bilal "The Chef", AJ Junior and Pitbull. After hearing a demo version of the track, she begged Iglesias to let her record the song, telling him that it was "her song". Lopez, who was going through a divorce with Marc Anthony and the "breakup of a family", felt as if the song had come to her at the "perfect moment". According to Lopez, the period was devastating because family is very important to her. Lopez revealed: "I had to turn that into something better"; she thought: "I don't want to just survive it, I want to come out better than that." Lopez didn't want to be "the woman who stayed in bed for months". "I knew I had to get through it. I'd dance every day, I'd work out, I'd say a little prayer and I still wouldn't feel any better. Then I'd go to bed and get up the next day and do it all again. It was a process, and it very gradually got a little easier ... I had to do it for my kids. I had to get through it for them." She re-wrote parts of the verses to better relate to her experiences. The song "helped lift her out of the darkness" and gave her hope again. Looking back on the song in December 2012, Lopez stated that: "'Dance Again' became my anthem ... an expression of what I needed to do at that time in my life and for what I was taking on with [my career]. It was a beautiful metaphor that became my reality."
Lopez's vocals for "Dance Again" were arranged by RedOne and produced by Kuk Harrell. They were recorded at Pinky's Palace. Pitbull's vocals were recorded by Al Burna at Al Burna Studios, Miami, Florida. Chris "Tek" O'Ryan and Trevor Muzzy handled audio engineering of the song, with assistance from Anthony Falcone and Peter Mack. O'Ryan and Trevor Muzzy were in charge of vocal editing. All instruments in the song were played and programmed by RedOne, who also produced the song. The song was later mixed by Trevor Muzzy. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lopez revealed that she loved being able to collaborate with RedOne and Pitbull again. She stated: "We had a great chemistry the last time, and it was like 'We're going to have to do something again.' And this was the perfect song. I love the message of the song. That when something bad happens, your life is not over. You have to get up. You're gonna live. You're gonna to be okay. You're gonna dance again."
Release and artwork.
Lopez announced on March 2, 2012, that she would release a new single by the end of the month. On March 15 it was revealed during an episode of "American Idol" that the song would be released on March 30. On March 26, a snippet of the song was made available online by WHYI-FM. Two days later, a one-minute snippet of the song appeared online. "Dance Again" made its world premiere on March 30, 2012, during Ryan Seacrest's radio show "On-Air with Ryan Seacrest". A lyric video was released on YouTube the same day and the song was officially sent to mainstream radio in the United States on April 3, 2012.
On March 27, Lopez posted a quarter of the single's official artwork through a puzzle piece; if 15,500 people shared the post on Facebook, a new piece of the puzzle (artwork) would be unlocked. The three puzzle pieces were revealed, and Lopez posted the entire artwork on her website on March 29.
It featured her entangled with a group of half-naked men, wearing black masks on their eyes, and Lopez wearing a black top with a necklace and stockings. Lopez has stated that she doesn't know if "Dance Again" would be the lead single from a greatest hits album or her eighth studio album. It was later decided to make it the lead single from her greatest hits album, "Dance Again... the Hits".
Composition.
"Dance Again" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, with a length of three minutes and fifty-seven seconds (3:57). It was written by Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, The Chef, Enrique Iglesias, Achraff Janussi and Armando "Pitbull" Perez, who is also featured on the song. During an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lopez stated that the song was nearly complete when she heard it and that she only changed minor details, but kept the message of the song the same. The electro beat begins, and the song kicks off with Pitbull's brief rap introduction. The beat of the song shifts from upbeat pings and claps to a bass backdrop as Lopez takes over the vocals.
The first verse begins with Lopez singing, "Nobody knows what I'm feeling inside. I find it so stupid so why should I hide that I love to make love to you baby." The quick pace electro beat returns, revving up energy before Lopez goes into the chorus, "I wanna dance and love and dance again." Pitbull sings the lyrics "Dance, yes, love, next", and even occupied a rap verse for the song. Sara Gates of "The Huffington Post" said that the chorus line "will surely get stuck in your head." It has been suggested that the chorus was "cheesy" and weak, and ends up being trumped by the pre-chorus, verses, overall production and fist-pumping beat. The song contains sexual innuendos, and Lopez sings the bridge with heartbreaking emotion. The song has been compared to Lopez's song "Waiting For Tonight". Kyle Anderson from "Entertainment Weekly" noted that Pitbull's lyrics "Can't even show love 'cause they'll sue ya" was a reference to Lindsay Lohan suing him for using a reference to her without her consent in his song "Give Me Everything" (2011).
Critical response.
Music critics have been divided on "Dance Again". Kate Callahan from MTV.com pointed out the similarities between "Dance Again" and "On the Floor"—"The song is a fun dance pop track with a great beat, very much along the lines of their 2011 collaborative effort 'On The Floor'." Callahan said that the formats of the two songs were very alike, but also added that as the title implies, the song is danceable, despite not being her most original song. Katherine St Asaph of Popdust gave the song a mixed review, stating "[without sampling a song] means "Dance Again" doesn't have any of that swoon or allure, let alone one unifying riff, and it means that right before every verse-to-prechorus or prechorus-to-verse transition, you're imagining the "la-lalalala..." chorus that doesn't break out. What breaks out instead is the stately dance-pop that makes up the rest of "On the Floor," more polite than pressing even when it's even clearer that the metaphor here is dancing-as-sex." Robbie Daw of the website Idolator gave the song a positive review, writing that it was far more superior and much more euphoric dance-pop offering than "On the Floor". Daw added that "the "American Idol" judge goes for more of a cheery, almost Kylie Minogue-esque dance-pop vibe with "Dance Again". If we were gamblers, we'd put our money on this becoming another huge hit for J.Lo &amp; Co."
Glen Gamboa of "Newsday" gave the song a negative review, commenting that "She holds back for much of the song, with its airy chorus and moments where it seems ready to launch into a much broader anthem, but instead stays on a sleek, unpredictable line. Would it be better if it blossomed into "Waiting for Tonight" like it wants to? Maybe." Kyle Anderson from "Entertainment Weekly" gave the song a positive review, writing "Lopez once again sings over a buttery disco groove with an assist from Miami's favorite bilingual MC." Anderson noted that the chorus of the song is "as pure a piece of effervescent pop as Lopez has ever been a part of, and while it probably isn't the sort of thing meant to be listened to on headphones in a cubicle, it should play pretty well in places where grinding is encouraged (like clubs in Ibiza, and middle school dances)."
Melinda Newman of Hitfix was positive in her review, saying that the song "It lives up to its title: You'll want to put on your dancing shoes and dance again. The song isn't as interesting musically as the pair's previous hit collaboration, "On the Floor" but it is more consistent in its commitment to being a full-on dance twirler ... It's totally charming, especially the "woo..ooh" background singing." Newman compared the chorus of the song to Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)" (2010). Gina Serpe of E! News said "don't think for a minute that the meaning behind the song was lost on Lopez, who's been through some personal travails of her own this past year," and briefly commented that the song was "Likely already destined to hit the top