Como Ama una Mujer (English: How a Woman Loves) is the fifth studio album and first Spanish album by American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. It was released on March 23, 2007, by Epic Records. After including some Spanish songs on her first two albums, Lopez initially became interested in recording a full-length studio album in 2004 when she recorded a song with her then-husband Marc Anthony for his ninth studio album. After releasing her fourth studio album, Rebirth (2005), Lopez started working heavily on the album with Anthony, Estéfano and Julio Reyes Copello in a period of two and a half years. Composed entirely of ballads (and the exception of a few other genres), Como Ama una Mujer talks about love and heartbreak, being organic in its instrumentation and introspective in its lyrics.
The album was given a mixed reception from music critics, with many praising her vocals for being more improved than her previous records, but thought the album was too serious and questioned a lack of highlights within the album. Commercially, the album debuted inside the top ten of the US Billboard 200 and marked the highest first-week sales for an artist's debut Spanish album. Elsewhere, it topped the Switzerland charts and became a top-ten album in eight other countries.
Two singles were released from the album: "Qué Hiciste" and "Me Haces Falta". The first was released on January 26, 2007, and became a success in many countries, reaching number-one in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and on the US Hot Latin Songs, and a top-ten hit elsewhere, while the second single was released on March 23, 2007, but was a commercial disappointment. Lopez promoted the album with a co-headlining tour with Anthony in 2007.
Background and development
Prior to breaking out into the music scene in May 1999 with her single "If You Had My Love", Lopez always pictured her music career to be in Spanish. Her first demo tape was called "Vivir Sin Ti" ("To Live Without You"), however former Sony Music president Tommy Mottola persuaded Lopez to do her first album in English. According to Lopez: "My life took a different turn, which was great for me. But my heart was always kind of on the Spanish side." Later, throughout her career as a singer, she included two tracks in Spanish on her debut album, On the 6 (1999), with one being the single "No Me Ames" and five on her sophomore studio album, J.Lo (2001).
Plans for Lopez to release a full-length Spanish-language album materialized in 2004, when Lopez's then-husband Marc Anthony was finishing up production of his ninth studio album Amar Sin Mentiras (2004) with Estéfano and Julio Reyes Copello. Lopez went into the recording studio with them to record a song entitled "Escapémonos", as a duet with Anthony. She enjoyed working on the song so much that she decided to record a full-length Spanish album; something she had wanted to do for years. In the same year, she recorded a Spanish version of the song "Sway", called "Quién Será", for her film Shall We Dance? (2004), but the English version recorded by Pussycat Dolls was used instead. Before recording began for her first Spanish album, Lopez recorded and released her fourth English studio album Rebirth (2005).
In early 2006 it was announced that Lopez would release her first Spanish album and her fifth studio album Como Ama una Mujer later that year and that she worked mostly with Colombian record producer Estéfano, Reyes and Anthony. Amidst the recording process, she was also shooting a film with Anthony, El Cantante (2007) and providing vocals for its soundtrack entirely done by Anthony, as well as recording a more "urban-leaning" full-English album. According to Estéfano, Como Ama una Mujer was going to "prove critics wrong" from its "big songs that require a voice"; referring to the critics about Lopez having a "limited" vocal tone. After working on the album, Lopez said that she matured as singer, stating: "I've matured as a singer. Marc gave me confidence in the studio as well. When someone believes in you so much, you don't want to let them down. And it's also the material. I think this material lent itself to my voice. And it actually made me approach my new English album in a different way. I have a different standard now".
Composition and themes
Como Ama una Mujer is mostly composed by songs written by Estéfano, Julio Reyes Copello and Marc Anthony. Despite the fact that she speaks Spanish, Lopez didn't write any song on the album. However, she wanted to make sure she was expressing everything accurately. She said: "You have to have a total command of the language, so I couldn’t write it all myself, you know what I mean?. I had to really depend on people to express what I was feeling." Lopez also emphasized that she really expressed to the writers the kind of album she wanted to make and the things that were important for her. She explained: "I would say, 'This songs needs to be about a person, and when he's leaving,' and they would turn around and write in Spanish." She also declared that, emotionally speaking, the album was closer to who she was than any album she had ever done.
Como Ama una Mujer is a mainstream, traditional Latin pop album, composed mostly of romantic ballads, differing from her previous urban sounds as well as the rhythmic Latin pop vibe heard that year. It is also known for being "organic in its instrumentation and introspective in its lyrics." The first song written for the album was "Por Arriesgarnos" and is a duet with Marc Anthony. Initially, the song wasn't intend to be a duet, with Lopez remarking that "there was a background male voice, and Marc did the backups. I asked to put his voice up, because I think the harmony parts blended so beautifully." Meanwhile, when the album was almost done, the song "Qué Hiciste" was a last minute addition and was born after a dream Anthony had with late singer Rocío Jurado. Lopez explained: "Marc woke up and said, ’I just had the craziest dream.' 'What was the dream?' And he said, 'Rocío Jurado was in this room and she was saying', 'Come here, get in this room right now, listen to this. This song is for Jennifer,' and she was singing a melody.'" Then, since she had not studio equipment nearby to capture the essence of the song, she took her phone, called up their answering machine and told him to sing. Later, she called a Spanish writer she was working with to help her with adapting the lyrics.
Songs The album mainly deals with themes of love and heartache. "¿Qué Hiciste?" ("What Have You Done?") opens the album, and features elements of Ernesto Lecuona's Malagueña. Starting out as a ballad, the album's opening track moves into a Latin rock sound, becoming one of the few uptempo tracks on the record. Lyrically, the song talks about a very intense relationship and how she feels heartbroken with a lover who unraveled her happy home. Lopez remarked that she told Reyes that she wanted a song with a woman saying to her former lover: "What have you done with our relationship? With our life? We had everything and with your own hands, you destroyed our house." "Me Haces Falta" ("I Miss You") talks about missing someone so badly and feeling desperate and it also has rock influences. The title track, the delicate ballad "Como Ama una Mujer" ("How a Woman Loves"), opens with piano and a minor-chord progression that was compared to Randy Newman's "In Germany Before the War" and a melodic chorus which was noted for being similar to Kenny Rogers' "She Believes in Me". The fourth track, "Te Voy a Querer" ("I Will Love You") is a cumbia flavored track.
"¿Por qué te Marchas?" ("Why You Leave?") is a Spanish version of "Can't Believe This Is Me", a "dramatic" ballad from her previous album Rebirth (2005). It features swelling strings in its chorus and it was highlighted for containing strong vocals by Lopez and lyrics about heartbreak. "Por Arriesgarnos" ("By Risking") is a duet with Anthony about love and the risks that two people in love run. "Tú" ("You") is an Italian pop song and it features the London Symphony Orchestra. According to Lopez, "It was an emotion I had about wanting to sing that to a child one day. That's where the song was born from. To sing it to my own child." "Amarte es Todo" ("Loving You Is Everything") and "Apresúrate" ("Hurry Up") are both romantic and passionate ballads about love, while "Sola" ("Alone") talks about recovering from a heartbreak and features traces of ambient electronica. The last track on the album is "Adiós" ("Goodbye"), a ballad about leaving someone behind and it was recorded live in front of an audience that "immediately erupts into a sing-along."
Release and promotion
In January 2007, Billboard reported that the album was going to be released on April 3, 2007, in the United States. However, the album was released a week later. The album's artwork was shot by Tony Duran, who worked with Jennifer in her previous projects. It features Lopez in a serious pose, looking down, with her hair pulled back and her hand around her neck. To promote the album, Lopez traveled back to The Bronx with Marc Athony to meet fans and sign copies of the album in a record shop in her old neighborhood with over 500 people attending it. In an interview, Lopez stated "It touches my heart to be able to bring this album back to my neighborhood, back to my home." Lopez also united with the Univision TV network to produce a five-part miniseries based on a treatment by Lopez, which was based on the content of the album, while also having the album's title. At the end of each episode, Lopez performs the theme song that inspired that episode. Lopez also promoted the album with live performances of the album's lead-single in many places, including the American Idol, while also doing the Walmart Soundcheck, where she performed "Qué Hiciste", "Tú", "Por Arriesgarnos" (with Marc Anthony), "Como Ama Una Mujer", "Porque te Marchas" and "Te voy a Querer". To further promote the album, Lopez embarked on a co-headline tour with Anthony through September and November in 2007.
Singles "Qué Hiciste" was released as the album's lead-single on January 26, 2007. It became a huge success on the charts, reaching number-one in four countries, including Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. Elsewhere, the song managed to reach either the top-ten or the top-twenty. The music video for the song was released on February 5, 2007, on MTV. "Me Haces Falta" was released as the album's second and final single on March 23, 2007. Its music video was released on July 17, 2007, however, the song failed to chart.
Critical reception