Paris.- After a decade without releasing albums, Jennifer Lopez returns with “This is Me… Now”, a sequel to the almost self-titled album that she composed 20 years ago when she fell in love with the one who was with then she the love of her life, the actor Ben Affleck. The “second chance” with this love, she says in an interview with EFE, inspired her to return to the studio.
“I wrote the album 'This Is Me…Then' at a time, 20 years ago, when I was falling in love with the love of my life at the time and we ended up breaking up,” explains the superstar from the Bronx (New York). of Rican descent.
“But 20 years later we met again and I felt very inspired to go back and write again about the experience of a second chance with that kind of love,” says the singer, jealous of keeping her relationship private, without this However, hiding her history with her current husband is a strong force in her music.
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To “This is Me… Now” (in Spanish “This is me… now”), which premieres tomorrow, Friday, together with a film written by the singer herself and in which the singer herself Featuring guest appearances from Affleck herself, Sofía Vergara, Post Malone and Trevor Noah among others, Lopez describes it as her “most personal project to date.”
The album is “a great love story,” he admits, with songs like “Dear Ben pt.II” and “Greatest Love Story Never Told.” But it is also much more than that.
“The idea of 'This is Me…Now' is about accepting yourself, accepting who you are now. “Sometimes we look back and say, ‘I could have done that better, I could have done that better.’ But in that moment, maybe you did the best you could with what you knew,” he reflects.
“This is me,” the 54-year-old interpreter continues, “I have acquired some scars along the way, there are also incredible things about me, but I love this person.” I accept who I am. This is who I am now.” “I've shown a part of me that I've never shown before.”
With the single “Can't Get Enough” as its cover letter, the album is also an opportunity for this superstar to tell his story in his own way, without the filter of the tabloids and the paparazzi, although he did come forward when composing it not about big revelations.
“My intention was to share what I learned,” he explains in detail, “and to tell a story that I think has value, that has something to say and that I hope entertains people, inspires and comforts.”
This process, which makes his fans complicit in the sweet moment that he personally experiences, is part of the “responsibility as an artist”. “I shared and exposed a part of my soul and showed a part of me that I had never shown before, with the intention of introducing people to the different types of growth required to understand love,” he says.
Furthermore, after two months in the studio, when he finished making the music, he felt there was still a lot to tell. “It was a beautiful expression of the idea that true love exists and that 'forever' is real. “That was portrayed in the album, but there was also another part of the story that needed to be told, about how we got there,” he remembers.
This is how the idea came about to make the film “This Is Me… Now – A Love Story” directed by Dave Meyers available on Amazon Prime tomorrow. It is an expansion of the album that adds the cinematic part of López's career.
Although it is not a biographical film, the singer defines the production as very “meta”, with autobiographical aspects and inspirations. “It's the story of a hopeless romantic, which is perfect for me,” she admits.
Integrating so many things that concern her personally into the “This Is Me… Now” universe – music, cinema, love, her journey of development – was a very enriching process that she had never attempted before. But he also admits with a laugh that it took up all his energy.
“It was so hard… but it was worth every minute,” he says.
And while she can't make any announcements at the moment, she's excited to get back on tour.
“I miss the fans. “I like people, so I'm excited to get back out there and jump, dance, sing, cry, scream and laugh with them,” she promises.