Nothing can stop Madonna. In the same year that she was inducted to the Hall of Fame, she topped the Billboard charts with Hard Candy, her seventh number one. Only Barbra Streisand has more. In the same year, her single, "4 Minutes" with Justin Timberlake, gave Madonna her 37th top 10 hit, the most of any modern artist. JT helped Madonna break the tie she previously had with Elvis Presley for the most top 10 hits. Internationally,Hard Candy debuted at number one in 27 countries. We were lucky enough to speak to Madonna back in February, before Hard Candy became yet another critical and commercial hit for the Queen of pop and she gave us some insight into a few songs on the album, how she writes, and even looked back to one of her biggest hits.

Madonna on how she feels about being inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame :

The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, when I first heard about it, I felt ambivalent. What is that where they put musical dinosaurs? You know what I mean? I did not really know what to think of it. But then lots of people explained to me that it is an acknowledgement of singers and song writers who have made a contribution in the world of music for 25 years, so eventually I came around to the idea that it was flattering. It was Justin who offered and kind of surprised me and said that when we were shooting the video, he wanted to be the one to induct me. So I said, 'Okay.'

On whether "Spanish Lesson" will become a favorite with the Spanish speaking community:

I hope so! That song came from also an idea of Pharell. He said that there is this new beat that everyone is dancing to in Baltimore. It is called the B-more beat and everybody is doing this crazy dance called the percolator. He got all those clips from YouTube and he played them for me. We kept on listening to the beat over and over again, so we started coming up with our own idea. I said, "Okay, it is a little bit strange to me but I will try it." But Pharrell was so like the teacher instructing me about something that I decided to turn the song into a lesson. So I asked him if he speaks any languages and he said that he spoke a little Spanish. I said, "I speak a little Spanish." Basically, all the Spanish I know is in that song.

Madonna on how "She's Not Me" came about:

The same as how all the other songs came about. Everything that I wrote with either Justin or Pharrell was always us, sitting around playing with ideas, concepts and phrases. And particularly the song "She's Not Me". That particular phrase, "She is not me, she does not have my name,' came from Pharrell. I actually thought that I could have written, but I wrote the rest of the song after that. So a lot of times, one person would have introduced a concept or a title and the other person would fill in the blanks and vice versa. So we decided to write the ultimate jilted-lover song.

On how she usually writes:

That is how I usually write. I collaborate with people in lots of different ways. I can either come with an entire idea with all the lyrics written, or often times I hear music and just 8 bars of music inspire a lyric. Like when I heard the music for "Miles Away", I immediately started singing and the words came, and I don't know where they came from. But I do not really question the creative process. It just happens the way it happens.

On turning 50 and the sense of urgency in her lyrics:

I do not think that my age has anything to do with my sense of urgency. I think that the state of the world has to do with my sense of urgency. I think I have had this sense of urgency for quite a while. I just think that I have not voiced it in my music. So I do not really think that one has to do with the other. But you are right to pick up on that. So I do feel like we are living on borrowed time. I think most people are coming to that understanding and it is impossible for that not to be reflected in pop culture.

Madonna on the challenge of expressing herself in her lyrics without giving away too much privacy:

I don't think it is hard. I think that most people, whether they write fiction, non-fiction, pop-songs, screenplays or whatever, even if they are writing about somebody else completely, there is always going to be an element of that person in that story. Most of the things I have done end up being somewhat autobiographical, a tiny bit autobiographical or completely autobiographical. It is very hard for me to discern that when I'm writing. But I think that there is a clever way to tell a story and put your heart into it and your experiences without being obvious about the specifics.

On why she went for the sound of Justin Timberlake and Pharrell:

Because I love their music, and when I like something I go after it. That is it. Not too intellectual.

I was just thinking of what I wanted to do next, and I had made a dance record which was mostly house music, my last album, and I was sitting around talking to Stuart Price one day and he was like, 'What do you want to do next?' And I was like, 'I don't know.' I said I wanted to make dance music like always, but he said, 'What kind of music do you like right now?' I said that the only records I love are Justin's and Timbaland's, so he said, 'Why don't you work with them?' So I did.

On making hits in her 20s:

I am still trying to make those hits. But everybody wants to make music that people want to listen to, that people want to hear on the radio or play on the radio. I never, ever made a record, where I did not care whether people heard it or not. I think that as I have evolved as a human being, my music has reflected that. I probably wrote about simple, straightforward 'let's just have a good time' songs when I first started out. Then as I evolved and changed as a human being, my music has been a reflection of that. That does not mean that I cannot get up and write a song about getting up and dancing and feeling good. I think that my songs have more a sense of irony in them or contradiction in them than what they used to be. I'd like to think that they are more complex, so I just think that my music is a reflection of how I have changed and grown and my experience of the world and other human beings.

Madonna Talks "Hard Candy" Page 2