Jennifer Lopez has announced that she is releasing a new “musical experience” in 2023, dubbed This is Me… Now. It will be her first full-length album in eight years.
Lopez lifted her social media blackout for the occasion, breaking the news on Instagram. The announcement was made with a video that shows a fresh-faced Lopez from 20 years ago morphing into her present-day self. “This is me then. This is me now,” she says directly into the camera.
She also released a list of the 13 tracks that will be featured in the new work, which includes songs called Dear Ben Pt II, Not. Going. Anywhere, Broken Like Me and Greatest Love Story Never Told.
An official release says that “this album is a philosophy, a reflection, a zeitgeist moment. It’s about hope, faith and true love never dying.”
It will chronicle her emotional, spiritual and psychological journey over the past two decades, and promises to be emotionally raw and honest. She will write and sing all the songs.
In addition, these autobiographical stories, which touch on Lopez’s difficult childhood and unsuccessful relationships, will lead to “other very personal projects” that are due to be be released next year.
Lopez’s last album, AKA, came out in 2014, although she has released singles in the interim and created the successful Marry Me film soundtrack this year. She has sold more than 80 million records with 15 billion streams worldwide over the course of her career.
Racecard
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
