Same Girl (Jennifer Lopez song)

Lopez tweeted a picture of herself on March 21, 2013 in the recording studio with her long-time collaborator Cory Rooney and American singer Chris Brown.[1] Lopez captioned the picture with the hashtag "#SAMEGIRL", leading some to believe that it was either a song title or the name of Lopez's upcoming eighth studio album.[2] Several days later, Brown described their collaborations as being "fun stuff" and "party music".[3] In April, Lopez commented that she and Brown were "in the studio, writing songs and just getting that whole 'Jenny from the Block' flavor back".[4] She also revealed that they "worked on a bunch of ideas" and that they had discussed the possibility of recording a duet for Brown's upcoming sixth studio album, X (2014).[4] In September 2013, Brown revealed the titles of two songs that he had written for Lopez: "Emotions" and "Same Girl".[5]

On January 13, 2014, during her appearance on The Tonight Show, Lopez shared a 45-second preview of "Same Girl" and its music video.[6] Two days later, Lopez revealed that the snippet was "just something [she] was doing for the fans" and that the song was not the first single from her upcoming album,[7] despite some speculation and media reporting that it would be.[8] "Same Girl" is the second promotional single from A.K.A., after Lopez released the DJ Mustard-produced song "Girls" on January 22 2014.[9] Like its successor, "Girls" was remixed to feature a rapper for its inclusion on the album; the album version of "Girls" features rapper Tyga.[10]

"Same Girl" was written by Lopez and Brown in collaboration with the song's producers Antwan "Amadeus" Thompson, Charles "Chizzy" Stephens and Ryan "Ryghtous" Tedder.[11] It is a R&B song,[12] with "J. Lo"'s self-assured vocal performance, triumphant brass, vocal samples and trap-tinged hi-hat rolls.[13] The song runs for a duration of three minutes and thirty seconds (3:30).[14]

Lopez's vocals were recorded by Michael Glines and Patrick Doyle at Pink's Palace in Hidden Hills, California, with further recorded by Trevor Muzzy at Los Angeles' Conway Recording Studios and Cynthia Daniels at Monk Music Hamptons, New York. Max Unruh recorded French Montana's vicaks ub Atlanta, Georgia at Doppler Studios. He appears courtesy of Bad Boy. Long time Lopez collaborator, Cory Rooney was responsible for overall production while audio mixing was carried out by Jaycen Joshua's The Penna Project at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California with assistance from Ryan Kaul.[10]

According to Lopez, the song is about "getting back to your roots and remembering where you're from",[7] returning to the themes of 2002 hit "Jenny from the Block".[13] "Cause I'm on the same grind, no I never changed, I'm loving everyday, I know that I'm the same Jenny from around the way now," Lopez sings.[15] In 2022, an orchestral version of the song titled "Same Girl" (Halftime Remix) was released in promotion of her Netflix's documentary Jennifer Lopez: Halftime which documents Lopez's preparations for her performance at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show (2020) and the film Hustlers (2019).

The music video for "Same Girl" was shot guerrilla style in the Castle Hill neighborhood of The Bronx, Lopez's hometown, during the weekend of December 28, 2013.[17] It was directed by Steve Gomillion and Dennis Leupold, who have worked previously with Lopez on a variety of projects.[18] The music video was described by Jocelyn Vena of MTV News as a "love letter" to the singer's hometown. The clip features Lopez taking on the subway, singing on a rooftop, a brothel, a strip club, a dance club and a market. Walking throughout her neighborhood while greeting locals, taking pictures with fans and dancing.[19] In the video, it's about the fact that the Bronx is a diverse neighborhood with beautiful people at heart and that it doesn't matter who you are. The South Bronx is special. And those who live there are also special people. Among them are most often dancers, gangsters, sex workers, lgbtq people, but also people who own small grocery businesses or others.

The video ends with a note from Lopez that reads: "Thank you Andrew Freedman House, Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and to all my people in the Bronx... You're forever in my heart."[20]

On the music video, Lopez said: "This was probably the craziest thing I've done in my career of music and movies. I like just being able to do things spontaneously, and not have everything so planned out."[21] Recalling her decision to travel back to the Bronx and ride the subway for the music video, Lopez stated during an interview with Jay Leno: "Life can be so complicated and complex for everybody and for me as well and I just felt like, I just wanna get back on the train [...] It really just reminded me of all those amazing memories of riding on that train back and forth to Manhattan and back to the Bronx."[22]

Digital promotional single

1. "Same Girl" - 3:30

Album track download/stream

1. "Same Girl" (featuring French Montana) - 4:06

Halftime Remix

1. "Same Girl" (featuring French Montana; Halftime Remix) – 4:20

Adapted from album booklet.[10]