Madonna: “Kanye West is the black Madonna”
Rebel Heart is released on 10th March
Madonna has drawn comparisons between herself and man-of-the-moment Kanye West, after declaring that the rapper is a new version of her.
The ‘Living For Love’ singer says the two have bonded over the levels of criticism they receive for pushing the boundaries of acceptability in music and culture.
“Kanye is the black Madonna,” she told New York Daily News. “We know and recognise that we have that in common. We’re comrades in the envelope-pushing genre.”
The pair have collaborated on three songs for Madonna’s upcoming album ‘Rebel Heart’, fusing a mixture of pop and hip-hop.
Speaking about the album, Madonna added: “I've been doing what I've been doing for over three decades, so in many ways I feel like a survivor."
"I see that many of my peers, and friends, and people I collaborated with are no longer with us. That gave me pause. I said, 'Wow, I can't believe I made it this far.' That was a catalyst for me."
The 56-year-old also revealed that she has grown to miss the earlier stages of her career, where her music was influenced by a variety of artists from the New York scene.
"There's a looking back here, a missing the beginning of my career when I was surrounded by other artists," she said. "Not musical artists, but artist-artists - like Keith Haring and Basquiat and Warhol.
"It was a time when pop music was more naive and free. I was missing that feeling and that mixture of so many different worlds in New York."
Addressing critics of her age, and those who claim she shouldn’t display her body on stage, she added: "This is what my ass looks like - show me what your ass looks like when you're 56," she said. "I take care of myself. I'm in good shape.
"Who's to say when I can show my ass? It's sexism. It's ageism. And it's a kind of discrimination."
Madonna’s new album ‘Rebel Heart’ will be released tomorrow (10th March 2015).
Credit: Pa Photos