Madonna is one of the most important figures in pop music history, while The Weeknd is one of the biggest modern pop stars. Now, the pair and Playboi Carti have teamed up on “Popular,” a new single from the soundtrack of The Idol. If The Weeknd has his way, this will be the first of many collaborations between the two.
In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, The Weeknd spoke about how he’d like to make a full album with Madonna, saying:
“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, and 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.”
He also said of “Popular,” “I’m proud of it. I’m definitely proud of it. Me and Carti had this… I mean, we’ve jammed out before. 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 kind of kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time. It was time. And it felt right and it felt cohesive with this album that I’m working on right now. Or that I just actually finished. The Idol soundtrack, yeah. And so 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.”
Madonna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.