Music icon Jennifer Lopez has announced the release date of her ninth studio album This Is Me…Now. The album, which is a sequel to her 2002 album This Is Me…Then, will be released on 16 February 2024. Like the predecessor, the upcoming album also has a song apparently dedicated to Lopez’s husband, actor Ben Affleck.
Lopez made the date announcement on social media on 27 November. The album will be released through Nuyorican/BMG.
The 54-year-old singer and actress, one of the world’s richest celebrities by net worth, will be releasing the album’s first single, “Can’t Get Enough,” on 10 January 2024. The song will be Lopez’s first release under her recording and publishing partnership with BMG.
More about This Is Me…Now
Album has a Ben Affleck connection
This Is Me…Now is one of the most highly anticipated albums of next year especially because of its predecessor’s connection to Ben Affleck. The 2002 album was dedicated to Affleck, with whom Lopez was in a relationship at the time.
Though they parted ways some time later, they rekindled their romance in 2021 and got married the following year.
The album’s track list, which was announced in November 2022, features songs such as “Dear Ben Pt. II.” Reports suggest that the title of the song drops the hint that it is a sequel to the earlier album’s hit song “Dear Ben.”
First full album since in 10 years
The buzz around the upcoming Jennifer Lopez album is also high since it is her first full-length solo release in almost a decade.
She released her eight studio album, A.K.A., in 2014. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and featured three Billboard Hot 100 singles: “Booty,” “First Love” and “I Luh Ya Papi.” Lopez’s 2002 album, All I Have, was the fourth and to date the last by the artist to top Billboard 200.
The album is written and executive produced by Lopez and Rogét Chayed, along with Angel Lopez, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, HitBoy, Tay Keith and INK among others.
Companion short film written by Ben Affleck
The album will have a short film of the same name, directed by Dave Meyers. Ben Affleck, who earned critical praise earlier this year for Air, is credited as a writer on the film.
A press release about the film described it as “a narrative driven, intimate, reflective, sexy, funny, fantastical and highly entertaining musical and visual reimagining of her publicly scrutinized love life.”
Lopez shared a trailer for the musical film on social media, featuring her in scenarios such as throwing love letters into a fire and dancing in a wedding dress.
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The film’s trailer opens with a snippet of a letter written by Affleck. “Life’s tough but you’re sweet,” the Oscar winner wrote in a note dated 24 December 2002, and signed with a simple “B.”
“When I was a little girl… when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always, ‘in love,” the singer says in the trailer.
The film will premiere on the day of the release of the album. Amazon Prime Video will stream the film globally in more than 240 countries and territories.
(Hero and Featured images: jlo/@JLo/Twitter)
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Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
