On The 6 - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone gave the album (and Lopez) a positive review, saying "The happy surprise of On the 6 is that she knows what she's doing. Instead of strained vocal pyrotechnics, Lopez sticks to the understated R&B murmur of a round-the-way superstar who doesn't need to belt because she knows you're already paying attention. When she gets the right support from a top-shelf song daddy like Rodney Jerkins, she's all brassy, breathy confidence, evoking her great precursor Ann-Margret's 1964 classic with Al Hirt, Beauty and the Beard. Behold jiggy Jennifer Lopez, song-and-dance woman: She makes a little va-va and a whole lot of voom go a long way."

Heather Phares of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, writing that "On the 6, showcases the actress' sultry, versatile voice in a number of settings." A writer from Newsday said "she's serious about a recording career, despite lukewarm critical reviews for On the 6, which refers to the IRT subway line that took her from the Bronx to Manhattan, reviews that say the slick packaging and production are better than Lopez' personal sound."

David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C rating, writing "As soon as Lopez opens her mouth, though, all this advance work falls by the wayside. On record, the husky-voiced voluptuousness that has become Lopez's trademark in films like Out of Sight simply vanishes. Her voice is higher and thinner than expected — not embarrassing, but sadly ordinary, like a younger, even blander sibling of Estefan." The album was expected to be a "crossover disaster", with Browne saying "In the year 2020, this album will be part of someone's doctoral thesis on the dangers of crossover," yet after On The 6, Lopez successfully converted herself from an actress to a singer within 12 months. Robert Christgau picked the song from the album, "Let's Get Loud", as a "choice cut".