The Weeknd Reveals He Wants to Make an Album with Madonna After Dropping New Collab 'Popular'
"I just want to come into her world and create a classic Madonna album," The Weeknd said after releasing their collaboration from HBO's 'The Idol'
Who wants an album from The Weeknd and Madonna?
The pair released their new collaboration, "Popular" with Playboi Carti from HBO's The Idol, on Friday, and The Weeknd spoke to Apple Music's Zane Lowe in a new interview about how he wants to co-produce an album with the "Like a Virgin" superstar.
"I mean, the thing is, I've always wanted to work with her. I've always wanted to write and produce a Madonna album... well, co-produce with her, of course ... because she's a visionary and she has such a singular vision," said the "Blinding Lights" performer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye.
The Weeknd, 33, continued, "I just want to come into her world and create a classic Madonna album. That was always my dream. So this can be... Hopefully this is the appetizer for that."
"Popular" marks the second single from The Idol Vol. 1, the soundtrack to the controversial HBO series co-created by The Weeknd, Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, which premieres June 4.
The new song's lyrics seem to mirror the show's theme of fame and its pitfalls, as The Weeknd sings, "Beggin' on her knees to be popular / That's her dream, to be popular / Kill anyone to be popular / Sell her soul to be popular."
"I'm proud of it. I'm definitely proud of it. Me and Carti had this... I mean, we've jammed out before," he explained to Lowe of the song's creative process. "We've had a different version of this song prior. So I've had these vocals for a while and I've kind of just worked around it, and then kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time."
The Weeknd added, "I've been producing the song for a while. And then Madonna, Madge. She’s the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show. And you'll hear more of her in the show as well too. She is the ultimate pop star."
While this is their first time working together, Madonna previously owned a house that was once The Weeknd's — and she sold it just a year later!
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Prior to "Popular," the first song to drop from the upcoming The Idol soundtrack — which will release in full on June 30 — was "Double Fantasy" by The Weeknd and Future.
Later this week, The Weeknd will embark on the After Hours Til Dawn Global Stadium Tour. Kicking off June 6 in Portugal, the tour will make stops throughout Europe and Latin America before wrapping on Oct. 25 in Mexico.
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