Irresistible musical hooks keep J. Lo relevant

LOPEZ. Diverse multimedia endeavors.

JENNIFER Lopez has never been about powerful singing—but, the ineluctable hooks and hum-worthy melodies she delivers in her dance-floor sizzlers are more than enough to keep her red-hot relevant on the music scene—as “Dance Again,” her first greatest-hits package, demonstrates.

Yes, J. Lo is 43—but, who cares? Certainly not People magazine and its readers, who declared her the world’s Most Beautiful last year, besting Zac Efron, Emma Stone and other gorgeous twentysomething comers. Without skipping a beat, she makes sure that collaborator Pitbull mentions the coveted “title” in her new collection’s chart-topping carrier single, “Dance Again.”

“Going In” (with Flo Rida), the album’s other brand-new song, is also featured in the soundtrack of “Step Up Revolution.”

The new tunes’ heady electropop and Eurodance swagger helps delineate the evolution of Lopez’s music—from the sultry sophistication of 1999’s “If You Had My Love” and 2001’s “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” to the incessant hip-hop patter of last year’s “On The Floor” (with Pitbull), the release of which smartly coincided with the beginning of the singer-dancer’s two-season stint on “American Idol”—which successfully revived her career!

Mixed bag

A mixed bag of groove-heavy dance treats, the album also includes Lopez’s collaborations with Lil Wayne (“I’m Into You”), Styles P. and Jadakiss (“Jenny From The Block”), Fabolous (“Get Right”), Ja Rule (“I’m Real”), and Fat Joe and Big Pun (the irresistible “Feelin’ So Good”).

You’ll also enjoy the sexy “All I Have” (with LL Cool J), 1999’s “Let’s Get Loud,” and “Que Hiciste” (from “Como Ama Una Mujer,” her first full-length Spanish-language album) in the compilation’s deluxe edition.

J. Lo was wise enough not to overstay her welcome on “AI.” Thereafter, she wisely took on diverse multimedia endeavors that have kept her in the spotlight: She teamed up with Cameron Diaz in the hit rom-com, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” and lent her voice to “Ice Age: Continental Drift’s” sabre-toothed tigress, Shira.

To make sure she continues to make similarly big waves on the small screen, Lopez headlines Simon Fuller’s hit talent tilt, “¡Q’Viva!: The Chosen,” which premieres on Star World on Aug. 22. It follows J. Lo, her ex-husband, Marc Anthony, and director-choreographer Jamie King as they travel across 21 countries in South America to recruit dancers, singers, acrobats and musicians for their upcoming “greatest Latin show ever” in Las Vegas. —The woman sure knows how to make hay while the sun shines!