Jennifer Lopez Reveals the True Origin of Nickname J.Lo

Last updated: July 24, 2020 9:29 AM

2 Min Read

Apparently, we have Heavy D to thank for Jennifer Lopez‘s iconic nickname.

Lopez shared the origin of her iconic nickname during an episode of World of Dance.

Jennifer revealed to her fellow judges that rapper Heavy D was the one who gave her the moniker back when she was dating Sean “Diddy” Combs. “J.Lo came from Heavy D,” she admitted.

Jennifer Lopez 2018 Billboard Music Awards - Red Carpet — Jennifer Lopez attends the 2018 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Getty Images)

“The rapper. He would come into the studio when I was making my first album, and he would always call me Jenny Lo. 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.” She added, “So I was like, ‘I’m going to name the album J.Lo.'”

Jennifer’s second album titled J.Lo was released in 2001. At the time, the Hustlers star had a different explanation for the nickname.

Discussing the name with the Chicago Tribune she said, “It’s something my music fans named me. I’d go to MTV or wherever and there would be kids carrying signs that said J.Lo. It’s kind of like street terminology, and it kind of caught on.”

Jennifer Lopez CFDA Fashion Awards - Arrivals — Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez attend the CFDA Fashion Awards at the Brooklyn Museum of Art on June 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Jennifer found herself with another nickname when she and now-fiancé Alex Rodriguez began dating in 2017. Fans quickly dubbed the power couple “J-Rod.”

“I mean it’s fine, I don’t know,” she told Entertainment Tonight of the nickname. “We kind of thought that might happen because people who knew us were already doing it.”