Jennifer Lopez recently dropped an album, with a film and a documentary all collectively titled “This Is Me Now”. The album did horribly debuting at number 38 on the billboard top 200 to low album sales, poor reviews, and a reception so bad it led to the star canceling her tour dates because of low ticket sales.
Jennifer’s last album was titled A.K.A. which was released a decade ago. This album had mixed reviews from critics who applauded the album for its ambition in experimentation of sounds but it still garnered low sales. This made it her lowest charting album as well as her lowest selling album. It's one thing to have an unsuccessful album which is forgivable but waiting a decade to drop another flop had fans dragging her on social media.
The music critics oscillated between good reviews and bad reviews, All Music gave it 3.5/5 while The Guardian gave it 2/5 , making the critique fair. The album sold 14,000 copies which had many fans online laughing at the album. Jennifer Lopez made this attempt even worse by adding a film and a documentary in conjunction with the album.
The theme of the album was that it was the continuation of her top selling album “This is me then” in 2003. That album is now 21 years old and it was during that time she was romantically involved with Ben Afleck. They broke up and both led separate lives but it seems they have reconnected and come back together. Jennifer wanted to make this album about their love, naming it “the greatest love story never told”. This was also the storyline for her film for the album.
“This Is Me Now” finds the songstress 21 years later at 54 years with her best days behind her. Jennifer was denied funding for this project, she even decided to take out 20 million dollars of her own money to fund this project even after being advised not to do it. Her people who voted against the album were proven right judging by how poorly the project performed.
The documentary only further showcased how out of touch she has been with the world and the fans alike. The documentary showed her contacting a-list celebrities to be a part of the film and most of them declined (except Lizzo who swore she would have agreed had she been notified in time). However Jennifer managed to find her cast. Her narcissism was showing in how relatable she tried but failed to be. Jennifer keeps referencing ‘The block’ which refers to her neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York. The scene in the documentary that made fans cringe the most had to be when her hair was messy and she was in the dance studio looking in the mirror saying “This reminds me of back in the days when I was on the block…”
New York social media users mocked her for using her past to be relevant. The fans claim she is not sincere and that she is using New York as an accessory to be more ‘relatable’. Jennifer Lopez has been a millionaire since the 1990’s and New York has changed since then so her referencing has been described as tone deaf. When Jennifer announced her tour dates fans ridiculed her for the ticket prices and said she's not worth watching any more, and people further mocked her by expressing that she thinks she is the “Latin Beyonce”.
Trying to sell nostalgia when nobody misses you is a big task. Jennifer seems to have lost her self awareness at this point. The world has moved on and so many impactful artists have entered the game since the 2000s. Better albums and films have been made for the last 20 years. Her status as a legend will forever be solidified but her relevancy died in the 2000s. The world is not craving Jennifer Lopez and it hasn't been for a long time. Fans are even advising that she becomes a resident performer at a Las Vegas club like may artists who are past their prime
