Entertainment

You Got This J. Lo Lyric Totally Wrong

by Kaitlin Reilly

I don't know about you, but whenever Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule's 2001 jam "I'm Real" comes on the radio, I'm hit with all sorts of nostalgic feels. The song is the perfect throwback tune, and it's one that should bring you back to easy, breezy, stoop-sitting summer vibes. Alas, amidst these good vibes is controversy — specifically a controversy over the real lyrics of J. Lo and Ja Rule's nostalgia-inducing single. Lopez's line at the beginning of "I'm Real" has many fans of the tune asking this very important question: is Lopez saying "are you Ellie" at the beginning of "I'm Real," or are we totally nuts?

If you did hear "Are you Ellie," don't worry, you don't need to get your hearing checked out. Jezebel analyzed this misheard lyric, and concluded that J. Lo wasn't singing about some woman named Ellie — she was actually just spelling out "Rule" — as in, R-U-L-E. I can forgive Ja Rule for having a name that, spelled out, sounds virtually identical to the phrase "Are you Ellie" — especially considering some of the other lyrical goldmines that appear in this song. Now that we have the "Are you Ellie" debate cleared up, here are just a few lyrics that also speak to me:

"My appetite for lovin'/Is now my hunger pain"

For the next time your roommate asks you how that date went down.

"There's only room for two, I've been makin' less room for you"

The perfect response for when you're ex sends you a late-night text.

"My only problem is their insecurity"

Exactly. Buh-bye now.

"It was our time/Even if it was part-time"

A shout-out to all of the dudes that were never quite your boyfriend.

"My life, I live it to the limit and I love it"

Before there was YOLO, there was this.

"Now people lovin' me, hatin' me, treatin' me ungratefully/But not knowin' that they ain't makin' or breakin' me"

Translation? You do you, girl.

J. Lo may have left me confused about "Ellie" for 15 years, but this song remains one of my ultimate favorite jams.

Images: JenniferLopezVevo/YouTube (6)