An historical note: obviously I am aware that from the early days of the old school rap game, gentlemen with names such as Mohandas Dewese would get on the mic under noms-de-guerre such as Kool Moe Dee for instance. It's a clear antecedent, and many of these people are revered pioneers of the form. Yet to the culture at large, on a scale of sheer tabloid notoriety, we have to admit that these guys were basically nonentities.
When Jennifer Lopez came out and did it, steeped as she was in a hip hop / smoothed-out R&B background (with a pop appeal to it), calling herself "J-Lo" must have seemed like a perfectly natural move to her. It was also quite easy for those familiar with the norms and customs of hip hop to contextualize. But to the covey of mass-culture entertainment mavens, here was something new and novel! Hence the splash. Hence the subsequent latching-on and proliferation. And ultimately, perhaps inevitably, we find ourselves mired in this sad overkill type deal.
Just pointing all that out. That smidge of historical context. Lest somebody try to tell me I didn't already know! One thing you can take for granted around here: somebody's always acting smart.
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