'Off to work i go! #whatitfeelslikeforagirl #livingforlove'
'Wash all over me................. #rebelheart'
Yesterday two full tracks purporting to be Erotica outtakes were posted on Soundcloud:
'You Are the One' exemplifies the club-pop approach of her early-’90s recordings, with a bubblegum vocal part over a organ-driven Shep Pettibone house beat and a post-acid-house bass line.
'Shame' is a relatively serious song with a self-empowerment hook seemingly intended to repeat the success of 'Express Yourself' from her previous album, and would have fit in with Erotica‘s political streak. It may have had a better chance of making the album if it had been kicked up a few BPM.
Madonna’s people have done a fairly good job of keeping the Rain tapes off the Internet so far—but this apparent leak of two complete tracks suggests that the rest of it may make it online before too long.
From Entertainment Weekly
Back in September 2013, Madonna launched her Art For Freedom platform for all of us to share our own definition of Freedom but also to encourage creative expression that brings awareness to human rights violations. With thousands of submissions, (including photos, videos, music and poetry) the project has grown into a strong online community fighting for the universal right to be free.
Since the initiative is a cause close to Madonna's heart, we would like for you to wish her a Happy Birthday by adding your stone to the Freedom building! To do so, just visit www.artforfreedom.com before August 15 at 11am EST and submit a picture that illustrates your own vision of what our world should be all about if we all had the same rights and freedom to be who we are. The picture can be a portrait, a landscape, a selfie, or whatever you think it should be. Make sure to include a description and feel free to add your Birthday message for Madonna as part of it.
On August 16th, we invite you to post your submitted picture to your favorite social network(s), using the #MadonnaDay and #ArtForFreedom hashtags for your friends, fellow Madonna fans, our girl herself and the whole world to see! Some of Madonna's favorite pics will be highlighted on artforfreedom.com and/or be mailed branded goodies
Happiness, love, joy, peace, etc,.. Let's make your picture something that will bring a smile to Madonna's face and make her feel we are all one on her special day!
From Madonna.com
The LCGC has worked with Madonna before, last time performing Like A Prayer at Live 8.
'London Community Gospel Choir make my new music sound triller! #livingforlove'
'It was a sunny day in the studio. #livingforlove #lovesgonnaliftmeup'
Madge sang new vocals for 'La Isla Bonita,' changing the lyrics to, 'Last night I dreamt of Major Lazer' (which is one of Diplo's side projects). Diplo showed off the recording on an episode of the British series 'Superstar DJs,' which premieres tomorrow on UK television Channel 4.
When he plays the track for host Annie Mac, she understandably loses it. Apparently being a 'slave driver' while working on her new album is the best way to win her respect.
Diplo isn't the only one manning the boards on Madge's latest. She also hit the studio with Avicii back in March, which means her brand of dance-pop might be taking an EDM turn on her upcoming record.
From Billboard.com
The singer was fined after leaving her chauffeur driven car on double yellow lines when she stepped into the restaurant to eat.
Joining the likes of A-listers such as the Beckhams, Lindsay Lohan, Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne, Madonna wore her hair up and a pair of dark shades to Chiltern.
When she finally left, she was probably not too pleased to find a ticket left on her windscreen by a traffic warden.
It’s not the first time that Madonna has found herself in trouble when it comes to parking in the capital.
The 'Like a Virgin' star has reportedly previously racked up a fine of £2,500 while asking her driver to wait for her on a yellow line while she attended a London gym.
From www.standard.co.uk
'What are you looking at! #unapologeticbitch'
Madonna, lola and rocco are coming to london! pic.twitter.com/YblATySVcW
— |ℳ| ℳDNA ℳANIACS |ℳ| (@MDNAManiacs) July 18, 2014The woman who has always been above social media has been having a torrid affair with it of late. 2014 shall forever be known by this fan as the year the Material Girl embraced Instagram and treated us to everything from gratuitous boob selfies to her homage to hairy underarms. And I’ve loved it. Through her iPhone Madonna let us behind the platinum curtain - even inside her very posh Upper East Side Manhattan master bathroom to witness everything form her post work-out beads of sweat to her son David Banda on guitar.
Yet of most fascination has been the cheeky way she has beckoned us inside the recording studio. The Queen of Pop has been teasing the world with progress of her as-yet-untitled (unless it’s called Unapologetic Bitch – and Lord don’t I hope so!) 13th studio album.
The list of potential collaborators is so far impressive: Sky Ferreira/Haim producer Ariel Rechtshaid, Wrecking Ball co-writer MoZella, MIA collaborator Diplo, DJ/producer Avicii, former Lady Gaga collaborator Martin Kierszenbaum, pop singer Natalia Kills, US hit-maker Toby Gad.
The imagery teased out recently is also exciting: Homage to Betty Page, mysterious veils and religious imagery? Check. But there’s also some cause for concern. Why? Because Madonna seems so close to getting it right. And we all know what happens when Madonna gets it slightly wrong. Two words: Hard Candy.
Some might argue her last studio album MDNA was a disappointment. I actually loved many moments on the album but there was a sense, right before the album dropped, that something was out of alignment.
It’s hard to pinpoint what was missing. The world was hungry for Madonna’s ‘A’ game. The reality is, we got glimpses of it. William Orbit suggested in retrospect that M was pulled in too many directions to really focus on making the record the brilliant return to form that songs like Gang Bang and Addicted promised it could be.
She had a clothing line, a world tour, a film and a perfume to promote. Music - the source of all her power - had been relegated to a mere portion of her time, a part-time job and unfortunately something had to give.
I assume it was the laser focus on the dance floor that lost out in the end, and the project suffered.
Thankfully the accompanying tour did not. We witnessed Madonna in her full prime, mercilessly slaying audiences with her bold confidence and celebrating dance at the centre of her circus. Yet when the confetti cleared there was the sense that the Madonna train had passed through town without a trace. The era, like Hard Candy, didn’t seem to permeate the zeitgeist the way Confessions on a Dancefloor had a few years before.
To read the rest of the article visit: http://attitude.co.uk
“@Lorena_MDNA: @montepittman what do you think of Madonna's upcoming album?” What I heard was awesome!
— Monte Pittman (@montepittman) July 15, 2014No, it wasn’t a newly discovered arm muscle from dancing 15 hours a day, the latest piece of Dior couture or a precious toddler orphan from Malawi.
It was her 26-year-old boy toy, Timor Steffens.
The 55-year-old pop star has been reportedly romancing the youthful Dutch choreographer - who has worked with everyone from Beyoncé to Michael Jackson - since New Year’s Eve, when the pair met at designer Valentino’s Swiss château.
The revelation of this May-December relationship was about as shocking as Thursday coming after Wednesday.
Since her 2008 split from her fair-haired English director hubby, Guy Ritchie, her Madgesty has enjoyed the carnal company of swarthy, pillow-lipped young bucks with freakishly sculpted abs who could have been plucked from the same aesthetic conveyor belt.
First, there were reports she hooked up with A-Rod, who was a full-grown man of 32 - but still a good 17 years younger than Madonna. But in 2009 she really went for it: heavenly Brazilian model Jesus Luz was a babe of 22 when the then-51-year-old snared him. Then there was French dancer Brahim Zaibat, who was born in 1988, the year 'Like a Prayer' hit No. 1. At the tender age of 25, he was replaced by Steffens.
God bless the ol’ gal - a lady’s gotta eat. Why shouldn’t she have the freshest ingredients?
After all, Leonardo DiCaprio and newly engaged Adam Levine regularly go to the Victoria’s Secret dealership and pick out the latest model - then follow that up with the next limited-edition version.
Before getting engaged to London barrister Amal Alamuddin, George Clooney practically made a cottage industry out of turning statuesque cocktail waitresses, C-list actresses and pro wrestlers into Cinderellas for a couple years before moving on.
Those horndogs end up praised as desirable bachelors, while the Material Girl gets snarky comments - and not just from men.
Sharon Osbourne called Madonna a 'wet nurse' and said she was past her 'sell-by date' while discussing the singer’s dalliance with Steffens on 'The Talk.' And the comments section of any online story about Madonna’s dating life is like a middle-school slam book.
Maybe that’s not just because of her cougar status, but because she’s the only female celeb right now sowing her oats. The otherwise unconventional Lady Gaga is in a serious relationship. Katy Perry is a serial monogamist who sticks to guys who are her equals, career and fame-wise. And with Taylor Swift, it always seems like the tragic elements outweigh the fun.
Madonna, like proto-cougar Cher before her, is all about fun.
And she’s stood up for herself, explaining, 'I didn’t, like, write down on a piece of paper, ‘I’m going to have a relationship with a younger man.’ That’s just what happened. . . I just met someone that I cared for, and this happened to be his age.'
Why should she have to cruise ourtime.com for old farts?
So go on Madge, (and Cher), keep chasing the young blood. Maybe someday, you’ll be seen as a woman instead of a desperate cougar.
From NY Post / Kirsten Fleming
She had gotten excused from a jury service date in May. This time, she was finished within two hours and wasn't questioned for any case, spending the wait in a clerk's office instead of in the sprawling juror waiting room.
State court system spokesman David Bookstaver said officials cut Madonna loose because there were plenty of prospective jurors for the summer day's needs, and they didn't want her presence to create a distraction in the jury selection process.
'The greater good here is that her appearance really goes to show that everyone gets called,' Bookstaver said. 'The intent here was not to create a distraction to other jurors or the business of the court.'
Having the Material Girl hang out in the waiting room would likely have meant stationing extra court officers there, he noted.
Madonna's spokeswoman said only that the singer did her service. She's now excused from Manhattan state court jury duty for six years.
Manhattan has a star-studded jury pool by nature, and some notables do end up weighing cases. Former 'Who's The Boss?' star Tony Danza was on a jury in a drug sale case last winter, political scion and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy served as a juror in a drug-dealing case last year, and Rudy Giuliani - while mayor - was the foreman on a personal injury civil jury in 1999.
Many other luminaries have showed up at Manhattan courthouses but not been picked, except to set celebrity examples of civic responsibility at 'Juror Appreciation Day' ceremonies over the years. Comedian Jon Stewart, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, news anchor Tom Brokaw, New York Mets player David Wright and newswoman Barbara Walters have been among the guest stars at the appreciation fests over the years.
From AP Via Yahoo! News
'Serving my country! Reporting to jury selection! #itshotinhere'
The Material Girl hitmaker has pledged to fund three organisations in the bankrupt city and one of the projects is to renovate the Downtown Youth Boxing Gym, where free after-school ring lessons and educational mentoring programmes for kids will be held.
Hearns is convinced Madonna's generosity will have a big impact on young boxers and he has applauded the singer for giving back to the community.
He tells Tmz.com, 'I think it's awesome for her to help, being as big as she is....The people who get the help she provides will probably shed tears.'
And the Boxing Hall of Fame icon, who grew up in Detroit, hopes Madonna's charitable pledge will inspire other natives to follow suit.
He adds, 'They should do as much as they can. It's where they came from, and it's not a great situation right now.'
Detroit city officials declared bankruptcy in July, 2013 with debts of at least $18 billion, making it the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
From contactmusic.com
The Queen of Pop has been busy for a number of months working on new material as she follows up her 2012 album 'MDNA'.
One of her collaborators was revealed to be DJ and producer Diplo, who has now told Heloisa Tolipan that their sessions were extremely fruitful.
He said: 'I met Madonna because of her kids and then she invited me to a party. We ended up writing seven songs together. I do not usually feel pressured to write hits, but when it's an artist of this calibre, it's obvious that I want to push the boundaries a little bit further and surpass myself. One of the songs we wrote is very cool and is called 'Bitch, I'm Madonna'.'
Other artists Madonna has worked with on her new album sessions include Avicii and Natalia Kills.
The Queen of Pop hung out the Brits earlier this month in the US, updating her Instagram with images of the hitmakers.
This led some eager minds into speculating that they were working with Madonna on her upcoming album.
However, Disclosure told Billboard that talk of them producing her record is wide of the mark. Howard Lawrence said:
'She came to our gig at Governors Ball and within a few hours, there were articles being written about how we were producing her album - and we had met her that day. How could we even have done that?'
Guy Lawrence meanwhile said that Madonna was 'really cool' and 'very chill'.
Madonna has been working on new material this year with a number of collaborators, such as Avicii and Diplo.
From www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/Disclosure
The statement said Madonna's donations to three Detroit organizations represent 'the first phase of a long-term commitment to' the city.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will provide funding for a new facility for the Downtown Youth Boxing Gym, which provides free after-school boxing and educational mentoring to dozens of children; buy new equipment, art and music supplies for the Detroit Achievement Academy; and help out The Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit that employs homeless women who sew garments that are distributed to the homeless.
'I was deeply inspired by the efforts of so many people who I met who have dedicated themselves to helping the kids and adults in Detroit elevate themselves from the cycle of poverty. ... It was obvious to me that I had to get involved and be part of the solution to help Detroit recover,' Madonna said in the written statement, referencing the city's efforts to emerge from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
'A piece of my heart will always be in Detroit, and I'm humbled to be able to give back to my community,' she said.
The statement does not say how much Madonna is contributing. A message seeking comment was left Monday with the singer's publicist, Liz Rosenberg.
In early June, Madonna posted photos of her visit to Detroit on Instagram. One of them shows her posing with some of the women who work at The Empowerment Plan.
From Associated Press Via Yahoo! News
