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M.I.A. Confirms She’s Working With Madonna and Nicki Minaj

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In 2011, this is how news about big-name collaborations spreads: “summond to NYC by bitchesses > MADONNA and @NICKIMINAJ > cofffffiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee it iz a good day to get me tho trustttt bitches,” M.I.A. tweeted over the weekend, seemingly confirming rumors that she and Minaj will appear on Madonna’s in-the-works 12th studio album.

According to reports that have yet to be acknowledged by the three artists’ reps, M.I.A. and Minaj will join “Give Me All Your Love,” a bouncy William Orbit production with a “Beautiful Stranger” vibe that arrived online prematurely earlier in November. Madonna responded to the leak, said to be a demo version of the track, with disappointment via her manager Guy Oseary, who tweeted, “Madonna told me this morning ‘my true fans wouldn’t do this.’ Whoever is responsible for this leak, we ask that you please stop!”

The as-yet-untitled Madonna album is the pop superstar’s first since 2008’s Hard Candy, where she teamed with the Neptunes, Timbaland, and Justin Timberlake. Orbit and dance producer Martin Solveig are contributing to her latest effort, which will get a boost from a (still unconfirmed) appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show in February and a large-scale international tour.

Minaj and M.I.A. have actually worked together before — the Young Money MC made a cameo on a remix of “Teqkilla” in June 2010 and shouted out the Sri Lankan artist on three separate tracks. “I love M.I.A.,” Minaj has told me. “She’s not doing stuff for the mainstream applause, and I applaud her for that. She’s a creative being and you’re either gonna love it or hate it but you have to respect it. And I love her. When she hit me to do a record with her, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.” Minaj also recalled the first time she heard “Paper Planes,” when she thought, ” ‘Who is this bitch!?’ I thought those were like the sickest lyrics. And then when I’d watch her videos, she doesn’t give a fuck. That’s what we want more of, we want people who don’t give a fuck.”

Minaj also praised Madonna when we spoke for an Out cover story. “I’m like, attracted to women who put all else aside and just go after the goal,” she said. “If you are a woman doing that in singing or acting or rapping or even as a writer, I just like bossy women. When you have your own shit and you’re doing your own thing, when you’re on your own tour. ‘Material Girl’? God. ‘Material Girl,’ ‘Like a Prayer,’ freaking all. Madonna is still so relevant.”