"I'm inspired to get a second chance with this kind of love"

PARIS.- After a decade without releasing albums, Jennifer Lopez She returns with 'This Is Me… Now', a sequel to the almost eponymous album she composed 20 years ago, when she fell in love with the love of her life, actor Ben Affleck. Having a “second chance” with that love inspired him to return to the studio, he says in an interview with EFE.

“20 years ago, around the time I fell for the love of my life and we broke up, I wrote the album 'This Is Me…Then,'” explains the superstar from The Bronx (New York) of Puerto Rican descent.

“But after 20 years we met again, and I was very inspired to write again about the experience of having a second chance with this kind of love,” says the singer, jealous of keeping their relationship private, but she does not hide that history with her current husband is a powerful force in her music.

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'This Is Me… Now' (in Spanish, 'This Is Me… Now'), which opens tomorrow Friday, is a film written by the singer himself, with cameos from Affleck, Sofia Vergara, Post Malone and Trevor Noah, among others, Lopez to date. He describes it as his “very personal project”.

He admits that the album is “a great love story”, with songs like 'Dear Ben pt.II' or 'Greatest Love Story Never Told'. But it is much more than that.

The idea of ”This is me… now” is accepting yourself, accepting who you are now. Sometimes we look back and say 'we could have done it better, we could have done it better'. But you probably did the best you could with what you knew at the time,” he reflects.

“This is who I am,” the 54-year-old translator continues, adding, “I've picked up some scars along the way, and there are incredible things about me, but I love this person. I accept who I am. This is who I am.” “I showed a part of myself that I had never shown before.”

With single 'Can't Get Enough' as its cover letter, the album is an opportunity for the superstar to tell his story in his own words, without the filter of tabloids and paparazzi, even as he came forward. The music is not composed with the intention of making big revelations.

“My intention was to share what I've learned — he details — and share a story that I think is worthwhile, has something to say, and hopefully will entertain people, inspire people, and comfort them.”

This process of making his fans complicit in the sweet moment he is going through personally is part of his “responsibilities as an artist”. “I shared a part of my soul with the intention of letting people know about the different kinds of growth needed to understand love, and I showed a part of myself that I hadn't shown before,” she says.

And, after two months in the studio, when he finished the music, he felt there was more to say. “It's a beautiful expression of the idea that true love exists and that 'forever' is real. It's portrayed on the album, but there's another part of the story to tell about the path to get there,” he recalled.

This is how the idea of releasing 'This Is Me… Now – A Love Story' directed by Dave Meyers on Amazon Prime was born. It is an extended album that includes the cinematography portion of Lopez's career.

Although it is not an autobiographical film, the singer defines the production as very “meta” with autobiographical aspects and inspiration. “It's a hopeless love story, which I love,” he admits.

Placing so many things that personally encompass her in the 'This is Me… Now' universe – music, cinema, love, her growth trajectory – was an enriching process she had never attempted before. But, he admits with a laugh, it sapped all his energy.

“It was really hard … but it was worth every minute,” he says.

Although he can't make any announcements right now, he says he's eager to tour again.

“I miss the fans. “I love people, so I'm excited to get back out there and jump, dance, sing, cry, scream and laugh with them,” she promises.