Jennifer Lopez is telling her story on her terms. The 54-year-old performer has announced a release date for her highly anticipated new album, This Is Me… Now, along with its lead single and a companion film that she co-wrote with her husband, Ben Affleck.
Lopez dropped the trailer for her all-encompassing project on Monday. In the brief snippet, the singer is seated in front of a fire while the rain pours outside. She tosses a letter into the fire as she says, “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 handwritten letter is dated Dec. 24, 2002 and appears to be from Affleck in the early days of the couple’s relationship.
“Life’s tough but you’re sweet,” the note reads. “Thanks for the gift. Hope you like the flowers. You told me you could never have enough. I believe you.” It’s signed with a simple “B.”
This Is Me… Now, the album and the film, will be released on Feb. 16, 2024. Lopez has also announced that its lead single, “Can’t Get Enough,” will drop on Jan. 10, 2024 and is available to pre-save now on all major streaming platforms.
According to a press release, This Is Me… Now: The Film offers “the truth” behind the headlines surrounding Lopez’s personal life as told through the star’s personal creative vision. It is directed by Dave Meyers and was co-written by Lopez, Matt Walton, and Affleck, and will stream on Prime Video.
“Unlike anything you’ve ever seen from Jennifer Lopez, This Is Me…Now: The Film is a narrative-driven, intimate, reflective, sexy, funny, fantastical and highly visual musical reimagining of her publicly scrutinized love life,” reads a logline for the film.
Lopez previously teased the upcoming release with a special message for her fans.
“This musical experience is a manifestation, through music, film, reality, of a life’s journey on the search for the truth about love,” she shared on Instagram over the weekend.
This Is Me… Now marks Lopez’s ninth studio album and her first in nearly a decade. It celebrates the anniversary of its 2002 sister album, This Is Me…Then, completing a 20-year journey.
The new 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. In the press release, it is touted as her “most honest and personal” offering to date.
The “I’m Real” singer previously revealed the track list, which includes the song, “Dear Ben Pt. II” — a continuation of “Dear Ben,” a song she dedicated to her then-boyfriend and now-husband, Affleck.
Lopez teased the lyrics to the song in August when she penned message to the love of her life on their 1-year wedding anniversary.
Last year, Lopez spoke with Vogue and share what the upcoming project means to her.
“This album is the most honest thing I have done, a culmination of who I am as a person and an artist,” she said. “People think they know things about what happened to me along the way — but they really have no idea, and a lot of times they get it so wrong. There’s a part of me that was hiding a side of myself from everyone. And I.”