Critical Reception
A writer from NME noted that Lopez "really comes into her own" on the "street-smart swingbeat winner" song. Aaron Beierle of DVD Talk praised the track as catchy, writing that it "showcases the singer's style well." Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the song, and pointed out "Considering the dustbins filled with movie stars' vanity discs, why expect this actress' recording debut to be hit-bound? Well, surprise, suprise." Of the song, Johnson wrote "Lopez lays down a silky groove, and the law on this Rodney Jerkins-masterminded, salsa-laced hip-hop. It hardly seems fair that she gets to sizzle on screen and on this slow-funk track." A writer of the Los Angeles Times wasn't as receptive of the song, "non- singer Jennifer Lopez's "If You Had My Love," which sounds like a Brandy Norwood or Monica reject." In 2011, Jocelyn Vena of MTV News noted that the song was the beginning of her singing about love, "Lopez has explored the topic of love since the start of her career, beginning with her first single, "If You Had My Love," a tune that questions the nature of her beau's affections."
Read more about this topic: If You Had My Love
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or reception:
“Post-modernism has cut off the present from all futures. The daily media add to this by cutting off the past. Which means that critical opinion is often orphaned in the present.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)