January 30, 2015 News, Video

Madonna on Nicki Minaj, Stromae, the album and her next tour!

Like previously reported by Madonnarama, Madonna gave plenty of interviews to the media for the promotion of her upcoming album “Rebel Heart” and they’re slowly starting to emerge.

French radio station NRJ had the exclusive in France and kicked off the “Rebel Heart” promotion earlier today.

Here is a transcript by Madonnarama…

Can you tell us more about “Living for Love”? You’ve worked with a French team who collaborated with Christine and the Queens.
Yeah, she’s great. I love her music.
It’s a song about having your heart broken, but it’s about saying “You know what… my life goes on, I will carry on. I won’t stop believing in love. I’ll pick up my crown and put it back on my head and I will walk through live proudly believing that true love does exist.”

How was the collaboration with Nicki Minaj this time?
When we work together, she always comes in and we sit down. She listens to the song and she says “Tell me what it is you’re trying to say with this song.”
We just talk, we share ideas about what the song is about.
She hears it a lot, she goes home and thinks about it.
I know she can relate to being a strong woman who has to fight for what she does, for what she believes in.
She too is often provocative.
To be a successful female rapper, the rap world is male dominated, so I respect her.
I think that we have a synergy when we work together.

Was it your idea to collaborate with Avicii?
It was my manager’s idea to work with his team. I was a big fan of a few of his songs that were on the radio. So I wanted to work with the team of people that he has, the team of writers that he works with. I did and it turned out really good.

What about Stromae?
I actually met him about four years ago and we talked about working together.
He came to my house a couple of months ago, before Christmas.
We’ve talked about working together.
Maybe one day… I like him.

Is the new album autobiographical?
It’s hard to qualify or quantify how much is autobiographical and how much is fiction, because when I write I’m coming from sometimes a very personal place, sometimes it’s partly made up and partly my own experience. Then things get all mixed up into one big pot and then I don’t know the difference or the line between art and life or fiction and non-fiction.
I’m just channeling this information.
It’s my personal experiences, it’s other people’s personal experiences and I just putting it all together to tell a story.

Your new album is called “Rebel Heart.” Is it important for you to be rebellious?
We live in a time when artists aren’t encouraged to be rebellious.
We don’t encourage the artist of today to speak their mind, to express their opinions, to think outside the box, to take risks.
I think it’s important to call attention to the idea that being rebellious is part of art and an important part of it.
I don’t know… I just want to underline it.
It’s also important to add the word “heart,” because it’s not just being rebellious for the sake of being rebellious. I think it’s also important to let people know that love… I do a lot of my rebellion.

You’re very provocative. Is that also being rebellious?
Not necessarily. It doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing.
You could be rebelling against something, some kind of oppression or discrimination or prejudice, but you wouldn’t necessarily be provocative.
You can also be provocative without being rebellious.
They can cross of course and be the same, but they’re not necessarily the same.

Do you already think of the next tour?
I have some ideas, but I’ve been very focused on finishing my record, doing the first video, preparing for the Grammys. Only in the back of my mind is what I’m gonna do on my tour… not yet.