NRJ: Can you talk about your new hit Living For Love? By the way, for the video you worked with a French team who collaborated with Christine and The Queens.
Madonna: Yeah yeah, she’s great, I love her music. It’s a song having your heart broken but it’s about saying you know what I’m going to my life goes on, I will carry on, I won’t stop believing in love, I’ll pick up my crown, put it back on my head and I will walk through life proudly believing that love, true love does exist. (probably the video was directed by the French duo J.A.C.K. from Paris. They directed the video Saint Claude for Christine and The Queens)
NRJ: For this new album you worked together again with Nicki Minaj. How was collaborating with her?
M: When we work together she always comes and we sit down and she listens to the song and she says ‘Ok, tell me what is you trying to say with this song’ and you know, we just talk, we share ideas about what the song’s about and then she goes home, she thinks about it, and I know she can relay to being a strong woman who has to fight for what she does, for what she believes in, and she’s too often provocative and you know to be a successful female rapper, the rap world is really male dominated, so I respect her I think that we have a synergy when we work together.
NRJ: You worked with Avicii as well… Was it your idea to work with?
M: It was my manager’s idea that I should work with his team. I was a big fan of a few of his songs that were on the radio and I wanted to work with the team of people that he has, the team of writers that he works with, so I mean I did and it turned out really good.
NRJ: What about a collaboration with Stromae that you met few months ago?
M: I actually met him about 4 years ago and we talked about working together and then we saw each other, he came to my house a couple of months ago before Christmas and we talked about working together, so maybe one day, I like him.
NRJ: Is “Rebel Heart” an autobiographical album?
Madonna: It’s hard to qualify or quantify how much autobiographical and how is fiction because for me when I write I’m coming from sometimes a very personal place, sometimes it’s partly made up and partly my own experience but then things get all mixed into one big part and I don’t know the difference between art and life or fiction and non fiction but it’s all coming from… I’m just channeling the information so it’s my personal experience, other people personal experiences and I just put it all together to tell a story.
NRJ: Your new album is called “Rebel Heart”. Is it important for you to be rebellious?
M: We live in a time when artists aren’t encouraged to be rebellious, we don’t live, we don’t encourage the artists of today to speak their mind, to express their opinions, to think outside the box, to take risks, so I think it’s important to call attention to the idea that being rebellious is part of art, an important part of it, and… I don’t know I just wanted to underline it. But it is 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.
NRJ: You are an expert of provocating. Is it also part of being rebellious?
M: Not necessarily, it does necessarily mean the same thing, you could be rebellious against something, some kind of oppression, or discrimination, or prejudices, but you wouldn’t necessarily being provocative, you know, you could also be provocative without being rebellious. So, they can cross of course and being the same but their not necessarily the same.
NRJ: Have you already thought about the next tour?
M: I have some ideas, yes, but I’ve been very focused on finishing my record, doing the first video, preparing for the Grammys and I only in the back of my mind is what I’m gonna do on my tour, not yet.
