Lopez Experiences Her Personal 'Rebirth'

Since releasing her last album of new material in 2002, Jennifer Lopez has been through one of the most scrutinized breakups and one of the most yakked-about marriages in recent showbiz history.

In case you've spent the past three years holed up in a monastery, the former was with a fellow actor, Ben Affleck, and the latter to a fellow singer, Marc Anthony.

As she prepares to unveil a new CD, Rebirth, on Tuesday, Lopez is loath to discuss either relationship.

"I was more open in the past, but I've learned a few lessons," says the star, 35, whose off-screen drama with Affleck so consumed gossip columnists that they fused the couple into one person: Bennifer.

"Marcifer" doesn't have quite the same ring, but Lopez isn't taking any chances. She hasn't even publicly announced her marriage to Anthony, though she did perform with him this month at the Grammy Awards and doesn't object when a reporter refers to Anthony as her husband.

"I've always said that I wanted to remain the person that my parents raised and not to become this weird, reclusive type," Lopez says. "But it's a different game now. I've had to set some boundaries because of the way that the media has changed in the past few years. You have to protect yourself. That's why I'd rather talk about myself in terms of what I do as an artist."

That, of course, can mean making movies, dancing or designing clothes. But at the moment, Lopez is most keen to discuss Rebirth, which features a guest appearance by her spouse. Anthony also contributed to Lopez's first album, 1999's On the 6, as did her longtime creative partner and co-executive producer on Rebirth, pop-soul savant Cory Rooney.

"A lot of people who worked on the first album worked on this one, so it did feel like a new beginning," Lopez says, explaining the title.

Ever the multitasker, she also is working on a Spanish-language CD she hopes to release this year. Anthony will be more involved in that project, co-producing with Latin tunesmith Estefano.

"It's going to be almost all ballads, really beautiful," Lopez says. "I'm not fluent in Spanish, so I'll throw out a few words to tell them that this is what I want to say. It's interesting working like that with two men, because sometimes they'll come back to me with something, and I'll be like, 'No, a woman would say it like this.' "

Not that Lopez is dismissing her husband's romantic intuition or that of his collaborator: "When they write, it's like poetry."