Jennifer Lopez Details How Ben Affleck Inspired Her Return to Music (Exclusive)

Jennifer Lopez is tapping into her own love story for her latest album and the unique musical cinematic experience, This Is Me... Now: A Love Story.

The celebrated songstress recently sat down with ET's Denny Directo, and got candid about being more "vulnerable" and open than ever with her new music.

"Half the time, I was thinking, like, 'This is amazing! I am so excited that I'm doing this!' And then half time time I was like, 'Why are you doing this? You are so crazy," Lopez shares. "But I think that's what being an artist is about, you know, you have to. That's the difference between being an artist and not being an artist, how vulnerable you can get." 

For Lopez, finding love once again with husband Ben Affleck was one major source of inspiration for this romantic new album, and drove her to want to capture this moment in time through music.

"When Ben and I got back together, it was just like, 'I want to make music again, I want to get back in the studio,'" she says. "I was very, very inspired."

Lopez and Affleck first dated in 2002, and got engaged shortly after. That same year, Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me... Then. In hindsight, Lopez realized that the project "captured that moment in time with me realizing it."

Their romance took the world by storm, but after constant media scrutiny, the pair called off their engagement and split up in January 2004.

Nearly two decades later, the couple reconnected and sparked their love once again. They made it to the altar, tying the knot in 2022. Now, Lopez says, "I wanted to capture this moment in time" through music.

"Once the music was done, it felt so special to me," she adds. "It felt like something very different than I had ever done, even though I've written about love my whole career." 

The end result, Lopez describes as "a little bit more evolved and healed" -- and most importantly, "kind of magical." 

Lopez' new album, This Is Me... Now drops Feb. 16, while the accompanying cinematic experience, This Is Me... Now: A Love Story, premieres the same day exclusively on Prime Video.

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