The Weeknd taps Playboi Carti and “ultimate pop star” Madonna for “Popular,” the second single off “The Idol Vol. 1″ soundtrack. The glittery, upbeat song follows the previously released “Double Fantasy,” featuring Future, and comes ahead of the soundtrack slated for a June 30 debut.
“I’m proud of it. I’m definitely proud of it,” said Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye, during his appearance on Zane Lowe’s New Music Daily for Apple Music 1. “Me and Carti had this… 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.”
Calling Madonna “the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show,” Tesfaye said audiences could expect to “hear more of her in the show as well… She is the ultimate pop star.”
The singer, who plays a scheming Svengali named Tedros in the upcoming Sam Levinson-directed HBO series, said he’s always had dreams of writing and co-producing a Madonna album: “So this can be… Hopefully, this is the appetizer for that,” he said.
The collaboration was teased at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where the show premiered the first two of its five episodes and was met with polarizing takes about the on-screen nudity, bodily fluids and Hollywood-inspired sleaze.
“We’re just excited for people to finally watch it and come up with their own opinion,” Tesfaye told Lowe. “Which I think is important, because there’s a lot of talking and no one has seen the show. And for the people that have seen it, I mean, that experience is… Talk about nerves. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous since the first time I ever performed at the Mod Club. And again, I mean, cinema is in my blood. If you know me, you know how important it is to me. But the reality is, I’m a guest. I’m a guest in this world. I’ve got to take my shoes off and respect the space.”
According to Tesfaye, the soundtrack will include music recorded by some of the cast including Suzanna Son, Moses Sumney, Mike Dean, Ramsey, Jennie Kim and Lily Rose-Depp, who fills the role of pop phenom Jocelyn.
“The Idol” premieres on HBO on June 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be available to stream on Max.
