Madonna opens up to Interview's Ingrid Sischy about working with Justin Timberlake, her kids and Malawi (where she adopted son David in 2006) for the April issue, Sischy's final issue as editor. The NY Post got a look at the article:
The Material Girl waxes idealistic as she talks about Malawi - admitting that she had to look it up on a map - her documentary, her children and her new album.
Her documentary on Africa starts with a woman calling her up randomly and begging her to help Malawi.
"You say that you felt embarrassed because you didn't know where Malawi was," Sischy says. "And she [the caller] tells you to look it up on a map and hangs up."
"Yeah, and I went there," Madonna jokes.
Discussing how the big M got heavy hitters like Bill Clinton, Bishop Desmond Tutu, economist Jeffrey Sachs and anthropologist and "genius grant" recipient Paul Farmer to appear in her film, Sischy asks if she had to dole out any "benefits."
"No," the singer laughs. "No sexual favors either."
She said going to Africa and seeing harsh poverty has benefited her kids.
"[It's important] my children see and experience that on a regular basis, so that they understand they breathe rarified air, and that it's their job to share what they have with other people," said Madonna.
As did Us:
Madonna grew close to Justin Timberlake as they collaborated on her upcoming album Hard Candy.
"I really enjoy writing with Justin," she says in the new issue of Interview magazine. "We had psychoanalytic sessions whenever we wrote songs first.
"We'd sit down and we'd start talking about situations. And then we'd start talking about issues or problems or relationships with people."
She describes the writing process as "very intimate... because he's open and he's got talent."
Though Madonna has worked with countless songwriters, she found the connection to Timberlake unique.
"I haven't worked with a lot of songwriters where I'm instantly connected and start riffing and playing with the rhythm of the words," she told Interview.
"He's as interested in the rhythm of the words as the meaning of the words," she says of Timberlake, who will induct her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month.