# Jenny From the Block: Parody or Sincere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090 "2003-01-16T23:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/21 "2003-01-17T17:04:46Z")
Don’t be confused by the Rocks that I got It’s Jenny from the Jenny from the block Its Ironic that I’m on a yacht But I say I know where I came from ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/22 "2003-01-17T18:31:52Z")
What puzzles me most about this song is… The French love it. I was in Brittany for a week for business and that horrible, horrible song was on every radio station 10 times a day. I guess it’s a Jerry Lewis thing. (J. Lew?) ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/23 "2003-01-17T21:07:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*I don’t know if it’s sincere or not. Either way, what baffles me is why she’d need or want to claim that she’s still just a street kid from the Bronx. > > … > > After all that, why the need to proclaim that she hasn’t changed a bit? Never mind for a moment that it isn’t true- why the need to pretend at all? > > I’m from a blue collar neighborhood in New York, too. But you know what, when an Italian kid from Astoria grows up to be a lawyer or doctor, I don’t expect (or even WANT) him to proclaim, “Forget my advanced degrees- I’m still just a Guido from the old neighborhood!” > > What’s wrong with moving up in the world and being proud of THAT? Why the need to pretend you haven’t changed? \*\* Because it’s not the doctors and lawyers buying her album. It’s the street kids from The Bronx and the kids in the suburbs that want to be from The Bronx that buy the album. Once Lopez loses her “connection” she isn’t selling albums. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/24 "2003-01-18T03:23:52Z")
Didn’t the people in her old neighborhood say she acts like she’s better than them whenever she’s there, anyways? ---
**Author:** ![BonoVox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@BonoVox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BonoVox)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/25 "2003-01-18T11:21:56Z")
Its a great booty dance song, though. Except for the Boniqua that makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![ravage2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ravage2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ravage2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/26 "2003-01-18T11:58:59Z")
From [this article](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101021230-401946,00.html) in Time magazine: > [@](#): > > **Of course, there has always been p.r. value in celebrities’ pretending to be jus’ folks; that’s why every time J. Lo has another hit movie or picks up a zillion-carat engagement ring, she releases a single that reminds us that she’s still “real,” that she’s just "Jenny from the block."** ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/27 "2003-01-18T12:19:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Didn’t the people in her old neighborhood say she acts like she’s better than them whenever she’s there, anyways? \*\* Yes, but apparently she acted like that when she was growing up there too, and was incredibly ambitious and determined to get the hell out of the Bronx. So, in a way, she really hasn’t changed. And thank you, **gonzoron** , for the “J.Lew” image. I already have a hard time watching her with a straight face, and you’ve just made it nigh impossible. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/28 "2003-01-18T12:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BonoVox \* > \*\*Its a great booty dance song, though. Except for the Boniqua that makes no sense. \*\* She’s saying _boricua_, Puertorrican. _Borikén_ or _Borinquen_ was the arawak (Taíno) word for Puerto Rico. Those that come from the island, Puertorricans, are also called _boricuas, borincanos/anas, or borinqueños/ñas_. Basically saying she doesn’t forget her origins. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/29 "2003-01-18T14:56:22Z")
I’ve read that alot of the people in the Bronx hate her now. She only goes up there for a photo op and doesn’t even mix with the masses. Alot of her once fans are also pissed for her making clothes that they can’t afford but are allegedly intended for them. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090/30 "2003-01-19T06:19:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > **I’ve read that alot of the people in the Bronx hate her now. She only goes up there for a photo op and doesn’t even mix with the masses.** Yeah, and that video was shot in Los Angeles… Da Bronx, yo!!! 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-from-the-block-parody-or-sincere/149090.md?page=1)