The Weeknd recruits Madonna and Playboi Carti for The Idol track 'Popular'

The Weeknd has teamed up with Madonna and Playboi Carti for the latest track from his HBO show, The Idol. Following his collaboration with Future on the lead song 'Double Fantasy', 'Popular' will be released as part of the soundtrack album, The Idol, Vol. 1, upon the show’s release in June.

In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, The Weeknd revealed that the song originated as a collaboration with Playboi Carti.

"We’ve had a different version of this song prior. 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." He said that Madonna is "the ultimate co-sign for this song."

 

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"I've always wanted to work with her,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to write and produce a Madonna album…well, co-produce with her, of course. She’s a visionary and she has such a singular vision, and I just want to come into her world and create a classic Madonna album. That was always my dream. Hopefully this is the appetiser for that."

The Idol experienced a rocky start when a Rolling Stone US exposé publicised allegations that the show’s creators, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Euphoria writer Sam Levinson, and Reza Fahim, had mishandled the production, leading to delays and what some staff framed as a departure from the initial script’s "feminist lens'". One crew member said it amounted to, "sexual torture porn."

The allegations were dismissed by the show's stars and creators at Cannes, even as early reviews repeated the same misgivings expressed in the Rolling Stone report.

Playboi Carti was arrested earlier this year for allegedly assaulting and choking his pregnant girlfriend. His lawyer said he was falsely accused.