"No Me Ames" (English:"Don't Love Me")[2] is a Latin pop duet recorded by American singers Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony for Lopez's debut studio album,On the 6 (1999). It is a Spanishcover version of the Italian song "Non amarmi",written by Giancarlo Bigazzi,Marco Falagiani and Aleandro Baldi and recorded by Baldi and Francesca Alotta for Baldi's album Il Sole (1993). The song was translated into Spanish by Ignacio Ballesteros at Anthony's request. Two versions of the song were produced for On the 6;one as a ballad and the other as a salsa. The ballad version was produced by Dan Shea,while the salsa version was arranged and produced by Juan Vicente Zambrano. The music video was directed by Kevin Bray and received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Short Form Music Video. It served as the encore during the couple's co-headlining tour in 2007.
"No Me Ames" is a cover of the chart-topping Italian song "Non amarmi",originally recorded by Aleandro Baldi and Francesca Alotta for Baldi's album Il Sole (1993). "Non amarmi" was issued as a single in 1992.[3] The song speaks of a complicated relationship between two lovers.[4] It was written by Giancarlo Bigazzi,Marco Falagiani and Baldi,and was later adapted into Spanish by Ignacio Ballesteros.[5] The song peaked number 71 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles on the week ending April 4,1992.[6] It also won the "Newcomers" section of the 1992 Sanremo Music Festival.[7] The first Spanish version of the song was released by Mexican singer Yuri and her husband Rodrigo Espinoza with different lyrics titled "Hoy Que Estamos Juntos" ("Now That We're Together") on her album Huellas (1997).[8][9]
One day,whilst working on On the 6,Jennifer Lopez "happened to be" recording at the same recording studio where American recording artist Marc Anthony was recording. Anthony,who had become intrigued by Lopez after seeing her in Selena (1997),came into her studio and asked her to appear in the music video for his song "No Me Conoces".[10] She agreed,but only if he recorded a song with her,to which he in turn agreed. Lopez recalled the events on her Feelin' So Good video album by stating:"So at that time I called Tommy [Mottola] and I'm like 'Look,so Marc Anthony said he would do a song and I really don't want to do a duet with just anybody,I want to do a duet with him. So can you force him to sign something,so he has to do a record with me? If I do this video!'". The two first shot the video and then began working on the song.[11]
According to Lopez,Anthony had the idea to translate "Non amarmi",an "old Italian song",into Spanish.[11] Two versions of the songs were produced for On the 6,a ballad and a salsa production.[12] The ballad was produced by Dan Shea,while the other was produced by Juan Vicente Zambrano.[13][14] Lopez stated:"I don't want to be straight Latin! I want it to be more like,y'know,dance-y music-y".[15]
Chart performance
The song was released on May 11,1999,as a B-side to "If You Had My Love".[16] The song was promoted by Sony Discos,who released both versions of the song in their respective radio formats.[17] "No Me Ames" debuted in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart at number 23 in the week of May 15,1999,climbing to the top ten three weeks later.[18][19] The song peaked atop the chart for the week of June 26,1999,[20] replacing "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin and was succeeded by "Bailamos",by Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias,two weeks later.[21] The song returned to number one on the week of July 3,1999,lasting five weeks until it was displaced by Alejandro Fernández's "Loco".[22] "No Me Ames" ended 1999 as the third best performing Latin track of the year in the United States.[23]
On the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart,the song debuted at number seven for the week of June 5,1999.[24] The song peaked at number two four weeks later for the week of June 26,1999,where it remained for seven weeks.[25] On the year-end charts,the song was the eighth best-performing Latin pop track of the year.[23] On the Billboard Tropical Songs,"No Me Ames" entered the top ten on the week of May 29,1999.[26] The song peaked at the top of the chart,replacing "Pintame" by Elvis Crespo for the week of July 3,1999,and remained atop the chart for five weeks until it was succeeded by Gilberto Santa Rosa's "Dejate Querer" for the week of August 14,1999.[27][28] On the year-end charts,"No Me Ames" was the second best-performing Tropical Song of 1999 after "El Niágara en Bicicleta",by Juan Luis Guerra.[23]
In her review of On the 6,Heather Phares of Allmusic commented that the tropical version of "No Me Ames" was one of the two songs that "emphasize Lopez's distinctive heritage".[32] In his review of Desde un Principio:From the Beginning,Jose Promis also from Allmusic praised the song as "surpisingly good".[29] Mario Tarradell of the Dallas Morning News remarked "No Me Ames" as an "island flavored" song.[12] Lauri Mascia of the Sun-Sentinel expressed disappointment over the song and felt that the tropical version did not fit the album.[33]NME listed the ballad version as one of the "potentially offensive slushy ballads" on the album.[34] Baldi cited Lopez and Anthony's cover as one of the two that encouraged him to come out of retirement to record another album.[35]
Lopez and Anthony performing "No Me Ames" at Madison Square Garden. This was Lopez's first live performance of the song.
While Lopez and Anthony were recording the song,Lopez came up with the video concept. Lopez recalled the events by stating:"And I asked him [Anthony] if he liked it. And I actually explained it to Tommy and him at the same time another day in the studio after the song was recorded and they both loved it."[11] The music video for "No Me Ames" was directed by Kevin Bray in Los Angeles,California,the day after she shot the music video for "If You Had My Love".[11][41] The video features Lopez and Anthony as two lovers. Anthony dies of an unnamed illness. His spirit watches over a grieving Lopez. Of the video,Lopez stated that it is "like a foreign movie,like 'Life Is Beautiful'".[42] The music video received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Short Form Music Video.[38] The music video was included on the DVD set for Lopez's compilation album,The Reel Me (2003).[43]
The song was scheduled to be performed at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards,but Anthony was unable to attend due to complications with his wife's pregnancy.[44] As part of their 2007 co-headlining concert tour,the song was performed as an encore along with "Por Arriesgarnos" after each show.[45] Lopez and Anthony performed the song at the final show of Lopez's Dance Again World Tour.[citation needed]
1 2 On the 6 (Album liner notes). Jennifer Lopez. New York, NY: Work Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 1999.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Anchea, Maximo (April 27, 2000). "El 5 de mayo entregan Premio Lo Nuestro a Musica Latina en Miami". El Nuevo Hudson (in Spanish). Advance Publications.
↑ The Reel Me (Booklet). Jennifer Lopez. New York City, NY: Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 2003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ If You Had My Love (CD single liner notes). Jennifer Lopez. New York, NY: Work Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 1999. 32K 79163.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ No Me Ames (CD single liner notes). Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. New York, NY: Work Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 1999. OSK 40552.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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