Prior to the release of "J.Lo", Lopez had joined an elite group of limited actors to crossover successfully into the music industry. Inspired to pursue a music career after playing Selena in a musical biopic about the late singer of the same time, Lopez was signed to The Work Group and released her debut album "On the 6" (1999). Initially, the entertainer planned to release music in Spanish, although Tommy Mottola, the head of Sony Music Entertainment at the time, suggested that she sing in English. Subsequently, Lopez along with Ricky Martin led a large group of Hispanics who had crossed over into mainstream music with English material, including Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony and Christina Aguilera. At the time, this was referred to by the media as a Latin pop crossover "explosion" and "ethnic boom". Musically, "On the 6" explored a Latin soul genre, and featured Lopez singing about love. It produced the number-one hit "If You Had My Love", as well as "Waiting for Tonight", which reached the top ten in the United States, among other singles. The album itself was a success, reaching number eight in the United States and selling eight million copies by 2003.