"Hypnotico is a song recorded by Jennifer Lopez for her seventh studio album Love?
The song was originally written by RedOne, Lady Gaga, Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Claude Kelly and Tami Chynn for her second studio album "Prima Donna" in 2007.
RedOne and Akon flew Gaga and Kelly to Los Angeles to write songs for Tami with "Hypnotico" becoming the first song of several songs they had written together.
The release of "Prima Donna" was cancelled and "Hypnotico" was thought to be a "lost cause" by its writers until 2011 when Jennifer became interested in recording the song while working with RedOne following her move to Island Records.
Jimmy Joker provided production for Jennifer's version of "Hypnotico" while her vocals were produced by Kuk Harrell.
"Hypnotico" is an up-tempo dance song that contains a "chunky beat" and retro-80s synths with an "old-school feel." It received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who cited the song to single-worthy.
Some critics noticed similarities between "Hypnotico" and other Lady Gaga songs, such as "Poker Face."
Songwriting & Recording
"Hypnotico" was written by RedOne, Lady Gaga, Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Claude Kelly and Tami Chynn.
In 2007, Lady Gaga and Kelly were working with RedOne in a small recording studio in Queens, New York.
Lady Gaga was writing "what would later become" her debut studio album "The Fame" and Claude was writing songs with RedOne to pitch to other artists.
Claude recalled the events by saying:
"We were all friends and often rode the train together to get to the studio."
RedOne began working with Akon, who had signed Chynn to his record label. Akon and RedOne flew Lady Gaga and Claude to Los Angeles to write songs for Tami Chynn's second studio album "Prima Donna."
"Hypnotico" became the first of several songs they had written together.
From that trip, according to Kelly, "Akon met, signed and helped launch Lady Gaga's career."
Claude credits the trip as also helping to launch his own songwriting career. He states that he and Akon became good friends and writing partners.
Akon gave him a CD of working tracks as a basis for composition. From that CD of tracks, he wrote songs for Leona Lewis ("Forgive Me"), Whitney Houston ("Like I Never Left" and "I Got You") and Michael Jackson ("Holy My Hand").
According to Claude:
"Hypnotico" is a "symbol of how dreams come true if you work hard, and a constant reminder of how far I've come. I'm still extremely grateful for all that I've achieved."
Tami recorded "Hypnotico" in early 2008 at a studio in Atlanta, Georgia with Akon and RedOne producing as part of her 13-track "Prima Donna" project initially intended for release in August of 2008.
"Hypnotico" was considered as a possible single release for Tami's "Prima Donna" project (the second single after "Frozen"), but after the album was cancelled, Claude thought the song to be a "lost cause."
The song remained unused by any artist until 2011 when Jennifer became interested in recording it while working with RedOne.
Jennifer's version of the song was produced by Jimmy Joker. Her vocals were arranged by RedOne, produced by Kuk Harrell and recorded by Harrell and Josh Gudwin at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
Her vocals were then edited by Harrell and Chris "Tek" O'Ryan. RedOne provided instruments for the song. The song was later mixed by Trevor Muzzy.
While working with RedOne, Jennifer insists that he brought the best out of her, crediting this to his Moroccan, Swedish and American heritage.
She stated:
"He's awesome. He's one of the nicest people and has a beautiful spirit. He can create something the whole world will love and that is probably to do with his international background. Some people can do dance, others can do urban or pop, but Nadir does it all and understand what makes a hit on every level."
Jennifer and Lady Gaga did not work on the song together in person. According to her, RedOne brought Lady Gaga into the process because they have worked together a lot in the past.
She cited the process as being "kind of cool" and that Lady Gaga is a "great songwriter: I don't just love her lyrics, but also her melodies."