Jennifer Lopez Refused to Alter Debut Single Despite Whitney Houston Similarity Warning

More than two decades after its release, Jennifer Lopez’s debut album On the 6 still holds a footnote in pop history. In a recent appearance on Track Star, Lopez revealed that one of its singles, “Feelin’ So Good,” was almost retooled after someone in her camp flagged a resemblance to Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay,” which had arrived just a few months earlier in 1999.

“Funny thing: I had written a song called ‘Feelin’ So Good’ and they were so similar and they were like, ‘You should change it, Whitney Houston has this other song,’” Lopez said. Her response was simple: “I was like, ‘But I like my song.’” She kept the track, and both songs coexisted in the charts without controversy.

Lopez’s insistence on following her instinct did not diminish her reverence for Houston. “There is no person who is a singer on the face of the earth in the history of the world who doesn’t admire Whitney Houston,” she said, adding that Houston’s tone set her apart. “It was her tone. I think that was the most beautiful thing, ’cos there’s a lot of singers with range.”

While that particular crossroads didn’t derail her, Lopez also acknowledged a more direct formative influence: Janet Jackson. Watching Jackson’s “Pleasure Principle” video, she said, “made me want to become a pop star.” The anecdote underscores a moment when a new artist trusted her own ear over advice—and still saluted the greats.