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Madonna aún Pelea

And in this corner, Madonna: 49, married lady, mother of three and still fierce in some glorified undies.

Y en esta esquina: Madonna. 49 años, casada, madre de tres niños y aún feroz en ropa interior.

With an album dropping in late April and a documentary about Malawi, I Am Because We Are, due to be released this year, the not-so-material-anymore girl sat down with Interview magazine's Ingrid Sischy for the editor's final issue to talk Africa, albums and freedom. Read on for excerpts!

A punto de salir su nuevo álbum, la chica ya no tan material se sienta con Ingrid Sischy en su último número como editora para el magazine Interview.

On working with Justin Timberlake:
"I really enjoy writing with Justin... 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. That was the only way, because you know, writing together with somebody is very intimate... that was fun, because he's open and he's got talent. He's a songwriter. 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. He's as interested in the rhythm of the words as the meaning of the words."

"Me encanta escribir con Justin, nos psicoanalizábamos antes de escribir. Nos sentábamos y hablábamos de situaciones, problemas, las relaciones con la gente, y era la única manera, ya sabes que escribir con alguien es algo muy íntimo, y era divertido. Es muy abierto y tiene talento, no he trabajado con muchos letristas con los que tenga conexión inmediata, le interesa tanto el ritmo de las palabras como su significado".

On adopting her son David:
"He wouldn't have lived if I hadn't taken him. It's not even a possibility."

"Mi hijo David no hubiera vivido si no le hubiera adoptado, no es ni una posibilidad".

On gaining perspective:
"We live very comfortable lives, and unfortunately, we have to have our noses rubbed in other people's pain and suffering to realize how much we have and how much we have to be grateful for."

"Vivimos muy agusto, y tenemos que meternos en el dolor y el sufrimiento de otras personas para ver lo que tenemos y lo mucho que tenemos que agradecer".

On bringing daughter Lourdes with her to Malawi:
"She spent several weeks working in the orphanages, particularly one with newborn children, and most of them were HIV-positive. She so came into her own and was so responsible and stayed for eight hours every day and worked tirelessly. I thought, Why am I babying her so much? She's capable of so much more. We don't let kids do anything. We think, Oh, they're kids — they can't take care of other kids; they can't do this; they can't do that. And after you go to Africa, you drop all that silliness."

"Mi hija Lourdes pasó semanas trabajando en los orfanatos, en concreto en uno con muchos recién nacidos seropositivos. Trabajaba con mucha responsabilidad, por sí misma, incansable, ví que es capaz de muchas cosas. A veces no dejamos a los niños hacer nada, pensando que son sólo eso: niños, pero después de que vas a África se te quita toda esa tontería".

On freedom:
"Freedom is a funny word because when we think we're free, we're not really. I think freedom is quite illusory... When I stop thinking about myself all the time and put other people before me on a regular basis, that's real freedom. When I can love unconditionally... then that's real freedom. So it's something to strive for, but I'm not free."

"Libertad es una palabra divertida porque cuando pensamos que somos libres no lo somos. Creo que es una ilusión, auténtica libertad es cuando dejo de pensar en mí y antepongo otras personas a mí misma, cuando puedo amar sin condiciones... eso es la auténtica libertad. Es algo por lo que hay que esforzarse, pero yo no soy libre".

Madonna Talks Collaborating with Justin Timberlake, Kanye West

Madonna has revealed that she and Justin Timberlake got close while while working on tracks for her April 29 due album, "Hard Candy." 

"We had psychoanalytic sessions whenever we wrote songs," Madonna told Interview magazine's April issue. "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. That was the only way, because… writing together with somebody is very intimate. So we had to find a place to start talking about something we cared about." 

"Me encanta escribir con Justin, nos psicoanalizábamos antes de escribir. Nos sentábamos y hablábamos de situaciones, problemas, las relaciones con la gente, y era la única manera, ya sabes que escribir con alguien es algo muy íntimo, y era divertido. Es muy abierto y tiene talento" 

"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 continued. "He’s as interested in the rhythm of words as the meaning of words." 

"No he trabajado con muchos letristas con los que tenga conexión inmediata, le interesa tanto el ritmo de las palabras como su significado".

Timberlake and super producer Timbaland are both featured on "Four Minutes," the first single from Madonna’s new album. 

She told Interview, the song is a wake up call. 

"It’s kind of a funny paradox," she said. "It’s like we’re saying, ‘We’re running out of time. People, wake up.' But if we are going to save the world, can we please have a good time while we’re doing it.'" 

"La canción es como una paradoja cómica, es como si dijéramos 'se nos está acabando el tiempo, asi que gente: despertaos'. Pero si vamos a salvar el mundo, ¿podemos pasarlo bien mientras lo hacemos?".

Madonna also spoke about working with Kanye West, who is featured on a cut titled, "Beat Goes On." 

"There was a big sense of urgency [with that song]," she said. "Kanye only had four hours. I had to finish it before he had to catch an airplane. But you know what? Right now, I’m operating in the mode of ‘live every day like it’s your last day.’ So there’s a sense of urgency in everything I do."

Madonna also spoke with Interview about David, the son she adopted from Malawi.

"I promise you, he wouldn’t have lived if I hadn’t taken him," she told the magazine. "It’s not even a possibility."

Como ha Cambiado mi Vida a Medida que se Aproxima mi 50º Cumpleaños

SHE was a teenage tearaway who ran away from home to become a pop star and shocked the world with her saucy stage antics and controversial book, Sex. But now Madonna is nearing 50, she reckons she is more likely to be described as a disciplinarian parent than a rebel. As she prepares to launch her eagerly-awaited new album Hard Candy, the Queen of Pop reveals she's a strict mum who limits the amount of TV her kids watch and is adamant they do their homework. She also forces them to tidy their own bedrooms to prepare them for when they flee the nest. This domesticated routine is the norm for the singer when she is at home with husband Guy Ritchie and raising daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, 11, son Rocco John Ritchie, seven, and adopted son David Banda Mwale.

"I'd fall into the category of disciplinarian," Madonna said. "I make my kids pick up the clothes in their bedrooms. I don't like them to watch too much television. I make sure they do their homework."

"Caería en la categoría de disciplinada, hago recoger la ropa de sus habitaciones a mis hijos, no me gusta que vean mucha televisión, me aseguro de que hacen sus tareas"

Lourdes, fathered by fitness trainer Carlos Leon, is already showing a flair for fashion just like her mother and is set on becoming an actress. Madonna said: "My daughter has a very strong opinion on clothes and fashion and she's got incredible taste actually.

"Mi hija tiene una opinión muy fuerte sobre la ropa y la moda y la verdad es que tiene muy buen gusto".

"She's very self-possessed. She has a strong personality so that will be a challenge for me, but it will also serve her well when she grows older. She says she wants to be an actress, which I don't mind."

"Es muy autoposesiva, tiene una personalidad muy fuerte y eso será un desafío para mí, pero eso también me servirá cuando se haga mayor, dice que quiere ser actriz, y no me importa".

Hard Candy, Madonna's 11th album, is released next month. It completes her contract with Warner Brothers, the label that signed her to its subsidiary, Sire, in 1982. For the latest batch of songs, she has teamed up with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams, who was the most impressed with Madonna's incredible work-rate.

"That work ethic still exists," she said. "I don't think it was a surprise to Justin and Timbaland but Pharrell just kept referring to me as a work horse. He complained a little bit about my relentless inability to sit still for very long, but he got over it eventually."

"Aún existe la ética en el trabajo, no creo que les sorprendiera a Justin y Timbaland pero Pharrell siempre me estaba llamando 'adicta al trabajo'. Se quejaba de mi incapacidad para sentarme y estarme quieta un rato largo, pero al final se acostumbró".

Among the tracks fans will hear on this next outing is She's Not Me, which Madonna describes as "the ultimate jilted lover song" and Spanish Lessons, which was inspired by the Latino dance craze, The Percolator.

Entre los temas que los fans encontrarán en "Hard Candy" está "She's Not Me", que Madonna describe como "la canción definitiva de que te dén calabazas", y "Spanish Lessons", inspirada en la moda del baile latino the percolator (consistente en bailar y moverse mientras el trasero se acerca cada vez más al suelo).

Of the song Incredible, she said: "That's not about my career, that's about a relationship. It's not even necessarily about me, but it's the idea that often at times we take people for granted and we lose our sense of appreciation for them.

Sobre la canción "Incredible", afirma: "No es sobre mi carrera, sino sobre una relación, ni siquiera tiene por qué ser sobre mí, es sobre la idea de que a veces damos a las personas por hecho y perdemos el sentido del aprecio que les tenemos. 

"Then something goes wrong and all you can think about it is how you want to get it back to the way it was, because it was incredible.

"Entonces algo va mal y todo lo que piensas es en lo mucho que te gustaría volver a cómo estaba todo antes, porque era increíble".

"So sometimes you almost have to lose something before you can appreciate it."

"Asi que a veces casi tienes que perder algo antes de poder apreciarlo".

Meanwhile, Madonna will be inducted by Justin Timberlake into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame on Monday, but she will not be performing at the event. She said: "At first when I heard about the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, I felt ambivalent. Is that where they put musical dinosaurs?. "After people explained that it's an acknowledgement of singers and songwriters who've made a contribution in the world of music for 25 years, I came around to the idea that it was flattering." THE award recognises a career that began with debut album Madonna in 1983. It delivered hits such as Holiday and Lucky Star before Like AVirgin turned her into a superstar the following year.

She said:"Now when I hear Like A Virgin it's like a statement about the sounds everybody was making in music of the early Eighties.

"Cuando escucho "Like A Virgin" ahora es como una afirmación del estilo musical que se hacía en los 80"

"There's a simplicity about it. There's innocence about it. And when I look at the video I also see a girl who's innocent, wide-eyed and really excited about life and the beginning of a career."

"Tiene algo de simplicidad, algo de inocencia, y veo el vídeo y veo a una chica inocente, con los ojos abiertos y emocionada por la vida y por el principio de su carrera".

Known for startling changes of direction in both her sense of style and her musical direction, she admits she is still determined to enjoy hits and surprise her fans.

"I'm still trying to make those hits I was making in my 20s," she said. "Everybody wants to make music that people want to listen to, that people want to hear on the radio.

"Aún intento hacer esos hits que hacía a mis veintitantos, todos queremos hacer música que la gente quiera escuchar, que la gente quiera oír en las radios". 

"I never ever made a record where I didn't care if people heard it or not. As I have evolved as a human being, my music has reflected that.

"Nunca haría un disco donde no me importara que la gente lo escuchara o no, a medida que he evolucionado como ser humano mi música ha reflejado eso".

"I wrote about simple, straightforward, good time songs when I first started out and then as I grew as a person my music has been a reflection of that.

"Escribía sobre canciones simples, directas y para pasar buenos ratos, y como he crecido como persona mi música ha sido un reflejo de eso".

"But that doesn't mean I can just write a song about getting up and dancing and feeling good, but my songs now have a sense of irony or contradiction in them. I like to think they are more complex.

"Pero eso no quiere decir que ya no escriba temas sobre pasárselo bien y bailar, aunque ahora mis canciones tienen un punto de ironía o de contradicción, me gusta pensar que son más complejas".

"My music is a reflection of how I've changed and experienced the world and other people." Madonna, who will turn 50 in August, admits there is a sense of urgency in her music now but insists she isn't worried about facing yet another milestone. In fact, she's already planning a huge bash to celebrate hitting the half century. She said: "Everybody else keeps mentioning it but I see it as an excuse to have another birthday party. I don't think my age has anything to do with my sense of urgency. I would say the world has to do with it. 

"I've had this sense of urgency for quite a while. I just haven't voiced it in my music before.

"Últimamente tengo un mayor sentido de la urgencia, solo que no lo había mostrado antes en mi música".

"But you're right to pick up on that. I do feel like we're living on borrowed time and most people are coming to that understanding. It's impossible for that not to be reflected in pop culture."

"Creo que vivimos en un tiempo prestado y la mayoría de la gente lo está entendiendo, es imposible que no se vea reflejado en la cultura pop".

She says there is no secret behind her ability to stay at the top of her game as both a mum and an artist.

Madonna reconoce no tener un secreto para mantenerse en la cima como artista y como madre"

"A big part of it is the recognition that I'm not the owner of my talent, I'm just the manager of it," she said. "And that I know I have been blessed with many gifts.

"Gran parte de eso es reconocer que yo no soy la propietaria de mi talento, sólo soy quien lo gestiona, y que he sido bendecida con muchos regalos".

"As soon as you think you own what you have, it will go away.

"Tan pronto como pienses que lo que tienes te pertenece, se esfumará".

"I also have a great sense of curiosity about the world and I'm always trying to learn new things and put myself in the position where I'm working with people who know more than I do.

"También tengo un gran sentido de la curiosidad por el mundo y siempre estoy intentando aprender cosas nuevas y ponerme en la situación de trabajar con personas que saben más que yo". 

"So if I constantly put myself in the position where I'm learning something, then I have new things to express. I put myself in challenging environments.

"De esa manera luego tengo más cosas que expresar, me pongo a mí misma en ambientes que representan retos".

"I have a great desire to learn and with that comes evolution and discovery.

"Tengo un gran deseo de aprender y con eso vienen la evolución y el descubrimiento". 

"And with discovery comes the desire to express what you have learned."

"Y con el descubrimiento viene el deseo de expresar lo aprendido".

Robby Sparks