This latest issue of Billboard magazine has Lopez and Maluma as the cover as they are heating up Hollywood and opening doors for Latin artists. They spill on their new movie, ‘Marry me,’ new music and more issues revolving around Latinos.
On the representation of Latino in filming Jennifer said, “It’s not common. I’ve been doing movies for 25 years now, and I’ve done 40-something movies. There have been three to four movies in my entire career where I’ve had Latino co-stars. So with my production company, one of the things we wanted to do with this film was have an international star who could be right there with me to make an album that was bilingual. That was a big deal for us. That has always been the goal of my career, to show diversity in the different characters that I can play.”
Her view on the movie being a rom-com is, “Eh, eh, eh! First of all, romantic comedies are not light movies. They’re necessary, beautiful movies, and I don’t know why people feel like they have to put them down when everybody enjoys them so much. It’s like “chick flicks.” I don’t know guys who don’t love to go to the movie and watch a rom-com. It’s a very sweet movie, but it’s still a movie about life.”
Maluma agreed with the fact that music really helped break that barrier, saying, “We’re doing great music right now. But we need that artist who can take salsa there. There isn’t a new salsa kid right now that you say, “This kid can make it.” I don’t think they think they’re cool. We need that merengue, That salsa-someone who can take those genres to another level. Everybody wants to sing reggaeton, and I really feel we’re missing out. It’s a new mindset. These new generations think differently. They think I’m Hispanic, so I’m cool.”
Speaking on how important her Super Bowl performance meant to her Lopez said, “It was monumental for me. It was about [putting on] the best, most exciting show that I could, but there were a lot of messages in there – for women, for little girl, for Latinos here in the United States and everything we’ve been going through [politically.] We have to stand up for ourselves. That’s why I said, ‘Let me hear you, women! Let me hear you, Latinos! It’s time to get loud!’ Our vote matters. We matter.”
On important it is for you to represent your Latin identity in your work, they both said,
Lopez, “Everybody knows that I’m a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx. It’s not something I ever tried to hide – or ever thought I should hide – so I can get ahead. I always felt that individually is what made me different from every other actress that was out there when I first started. I feel it’s the secret to my success.”
She went on to say, “I love singing in Spanish. Honestly, I think I sing better in Spanish than I even do in English. That’s a big part of who I am. I’m always working on a Spanish album. I never finish it. But you don’t want to put anything out until you feel that it’s the right thing at the right time. I’ve been working on some songs on the album or three years, [and these two new ones], we did them and we put them right out.”
Maluma, “I have a tattoo that says “Medellin.” I just want to be known around the world as Colombian. Everybody is always saying, ‘When are you going to start singing in English?’ Why am I going to do it if I’m doing concerts in Romania, Israel, Morocco, the States, and they’re singing in Spanish? I want to bring my essence around the world. And my essence is singing in Spanish.”
These two are truly Latin Power Players.
