nah nah this ain't happening nah this ain't real this is giving me strong AI Vibes right now bro oh that's funny whoa what's up big bro what's up my man it's great to see you man no it's been too long how you been I've been good well see me not not technically but I can't but I'm glad that it's like this though man I'm glad that I'm glad we still we still walk the line together you know what I mean yeah man it's the
future we gotta push it we gotta push it by the way by the way yeah you're a part of you're part of a documentary I'm filming you too buddy what's going on documentary hey where are you right now man what can you tell me I mean I'm gonna lead in with some open questions let me see what I can show you let's see if I can just you know into a rehearsal in Portugal Oh my days I'm not building up building a city bro that is literally a city
yeah we're still building it can you can you can you see this the scale of it yeah I I mean I can because there's someone standing in front of it so I'm getting a pretty rudimentary scale of how big that is exactly that is incredible bro I got a I got a big ass sorry armor Oh my days dude when you're standing on set like that and I know you've achieved a huge amount and will continue to do so right God willing but when you stand on
the ground in Portugal and you see something of that scale on that level that came from an idea or a vision does it does it how does it affect you how does it make you feel oh I mean it's I mean it's it's so many feelings I can't really pinpoint it and uh and I'm glad I can't you know it's it's I never get used to it um It's gotta it's got to stay exciting um I get nervous before every performance you know always
and uh but that's what keeps me uh that's what keeps me going that's what keeps it exciting and that's what uh it's just I can't I can't explain it I don't know I don't know what the feeling is at the same time you must you must be really excited to be able to get out on on tour again in Europe bring this show to other continents and because this is a place where you know the audience is there to hear your songs we all love
what you've created in and so this is your church man yeah yeah it is I mean I haven't been to Europe I mean I haven't toured Europe since uh Starboy the Starboy tour because UK actually you came to you came to primavera with me right I did yeah yeah yeah and then we and we did the UK run yeah we did the UK yeah so that was that was before that was right before Kiss Land and that's when I promised you that you'd get my first uh
my first video interview there it is it's really you pulled that pulled that card on me yo but still check it out two things come out of that number one able is a man of his wood don't get it twisted if the guy makes a commitment to you on a personal level he is a real human being with real integrity and I've always respected that and number two I absolutely pulled that card on you bro I'm loyal to a fault
my conversation bro if there's only one one it's that one no we gotta do we gotta do it again I mean since we've done it it's so much as so much time has gone by so much so much has changed so much has happened so much has changed is this the amuse boost is this the chef's dish before the on before the before the first course is that what this is are you saying this interview right now yeah yeah yeah it is you know what I'm gonna
I'm gonna promise you I'm gonna promise you we'll do it again right now you got my word I love you let's talk about popular bro this song is um is such a jam it's it and that is the right term for it bro uh you and Madonna and cardi coming through what a beautiful combination of talent um so just let's just get into the chemistry of it I mean you know people don't just get Madonna on songs people
do not just get Playboy cardion songs at all so I mean this is a high base if yourself huh no I'm proud of it I'm definitely proud of it um me and cardi had this I mean we we've been I mean we've jammed out before um and uh I've actually worked we've had different a different version of this song uh prior so I I've had these vocals for a while and I've kind of just kind of you know worked around it um and then kind of kept it in the tuck
but now it felt like it uh it was it was it was time it was time and it felt it felt right um cohesive with the with this album that I'm working on right now and uh so I've been producing this song for a while and then you know uh Madonna Madge I mean she's uh thing is I've always wanted to work with her I've always I've always wanted to like write and produce um uh a Madonna oh well right and co-write
and co-produce with her of course because she's such a Visionary and she's she has such a singular vision and uh I just want to come into her world you know and and uh and create um create a classic Madonna album that was always my dream so this you know this can be the hopefully this is the appetizer for that yeah um how how important or how conscious was it for you for this collaboration with Madonna to happen on a song like
popular on a soundtrack like the Idol with the subject with the subject matter that pertains to to the pop star life I mean very important I mean she's the ultimate cosine um for for this uh for this song for this album and for this for this TV show um and you'll hear more of her in in the show as well too um she's a big part she's a big part I mean her she is the ultimate ultimate pop star um the Queen the soundtrack bro you said
it's finished it's all done it's all wrapped up you're happy with it yeah it's on pre-order pre-orders out this weekend um really excited about it uh I got to I got to you know and it's such a it's such a labor of love and such a collaborative project um I worked on it with Sam Levinson and Mike Dean uh two incredibly talented uh Geniuses um and it was it was it was really exciting to you know to collaborate with
them and because usually it's with all my albums it's not it's not too collaborative I'm kind of as kind of my own world but for the idol um and seeing how and you know knowing and I've known Sam for a while uh I just know how involved he is with the music of euphoria um how musical he is and and how how important the music is for for his art and seeing him work in the studio and um creating with me and Mike was you know it was
I wish we I mean I wish we filmed it it was you got three Maniacs in the studio just yes psychos yeah absolute psychos um you know the show I mean goes without saying you know anybody who's following the narrative and the Arc of the show right now um before it's premiered this coming weekend um you know knows it's the most talked about show of the year um you know if you're HBO and you're following the succession final with the
idol it's gangbuster summer I'll tell you that um but I wanted to yeah but I wanted to uh I wanted to ask you how you feeling about it um because obviously you're no stranger to controversy and you've been in you know you do not mind pressing the buttons through your art but you're dealing with with Hollywood and TV and music at the same time so you're doubling down in terms of like the edge and where the edge is and I just wanted
to ask you how you feel about everything right now in the days leading up to it I feel great I feel great I mean I feel great because everyone involved feels great everyone is as happy as excited um you know we're all so proud of what we made it's controversial you know it is and as you know I'm no stranger to it Sam is no stranger to it um HBO is no strange you know they're not strangers I mean it's we're just really
we're just excited for people to finally watch it with their own opinion you know uh which I think is important because there's a lot of talking and uh no one has seen the show and for people that have seen it I mean we I mean um Ken was I mean we got that that experience is I mean talk about nerves I mean I don't think I've ever been that nervous since the first time I ever performed at the mod Club because you're not in control
right let's think about the psychology of that for a second when you're on stage and you're trying to win a crowd over early days you know you can work extra hard in certain areas of the crowd in order to transform the energy in your direction when it's all edited and cut and put in front of people you are literally in a critics only environment yeah and and look and again like I mean I'm I'm uh uh you know Cinemas in my blood
you know I I if you know me you know how important how important it is to me but the reality is I'm a guest you know I'm a guest in this world I got to take my shoes off and you know and and uh respect the space and just you know here's the thing though man I mean you you've you've developed a tough skin throughout your your life in the entertainment business or already you've seen enough we've spoken about that on
and off I don't wanna you know I mean I don't want anything to be easy I don't want anything to come easy it never has a well and and that's what makes me who I am but I'm extremely proud of this this project I'm extremely proud of everyone involved the I mean the cast alone is is they're all so scary talented and they're all on the album as well too they're all musicians um you have Susanna's son who I think is
one of the most talented people I've ever met um I can't wait for the world to hear her voice and and her her songwriting skills uh have Moses Sumney um if nobody knows if if they don't know Moses they'll know after after this show um scary talented you have Ramsay who who's who I was introduced to um who's such a vital vital uh piece to this to this story and to creating the music for for Jocelyn who's Lily's character
um she helped crack the code you know she's a incredible producer incredible songwriter um uh you have Jenny Kim you know who's a good friend of mine who's I mean you don't talk about a superstar and she she understands you know nobody understands it better than than she does the the idol lifestyle and also her sort of appearing in the show it would be one thing for her to understand the vision and want to contribute musically through
the friendship and her and her craft and her talent but she stretched herself onto screen as well and you know so so how was that experience seeing her sort of develop you know move into that new space like yourself move into that new space well I think it's really interesting I think it's it's important um that we got someone like Jenny who understands this world um you know we have I mean a lot of
these a lot of these musicians like myself are non-actors and we all understand the world we all understand these these characters so it's it's uh you know borderline it's just like they're not as it's not really acting you know they're they're they're tap we're all tapping into a place um and and Jenny I think Jenny does it incredibly well on the show I'm really proud of her um so yes but the one I'm the most proud of
is Lily I mean Lily is singing Lily is dancing and she and she worked she's all over this album I mean I can't wait for people to hear her performance yeah it was great because we were I mean we were we were we shot the show a lot of it at my house and we set up a studio in the basement so you know after long shifts after after shooting for hours we'd go to the studio and be inspired and start creating the music I mean it was
it was such a luxury that I feel like a lot of people don't have I mean that's just a creative Wonderland isn't it I mean that's just for you to be able to get on to feed you how to get on screen and then get down into the basement and make music and just literally spend all your time in the creative Universe I mean and you'll hear the album and it's a very cohesive body of work um and we have you know Mike Dean there to
kind of take our ideas and and you know make it sound you know polish it but you know he's I mean he's he his production is is already so interesting so it's I don't know I'm excited and for it to be very experimental but still transcend into Pop I mean it's pop music so it's rare that we get to talk to you I mean it's next to it's abnormal it's positively abnormal look at this let me see if you can see that
he's uh she's being summoned hello this is so nuts I'm kind of speechless when it comes to what I'm looking at right now from a stage but from a stage design point of view you know the whole thing and the way that it's just gonna factor in um is so important to me I mean I spend as much time on the stage as I as I do on the actual set on the music look at that yes beautiful bro I mean it's absolutely beautiful bro how do you even
how do you even prepare to go on that stage like like it's you're never prepared I mean it's like an out it's like an album it's like it's never done until it's it's you know until it's out there and it doesn't belong to me anymore as soon as I get on that stage the show is not mine anymore it's the people's can you let the idol go now once it goes once belongs to everybody else I'm from Sunday at least out here in the United
States on HBO can you let it go and focus only on your shows are you going to be able to make a clean break and focus on the next creative knowing that that season is done oh absolutely you got to keep you got to keep it moving um yeah but you know there's no it's not there's no formula to it it's just can't really explain it you know you just you just you either are inspired to create or you're not I mean just you can't force it