For some superstar singers, it's hard to stay relevant as new generations of musical sensations emerge. Given how young female pop-divas are getting younger by the year, some once-on-top-of-the-world musical superstars just can't keep up, even at the tender ages of 25 or 30. Although the winds of generational change have blown through Madonna's musical window more than once, the 49 year old pop diva has always found a way to adapt to remain on top of the charts. Along the way, she's also directly and indirectly found a way to teach new emerging artists a thing or two about how to be star. For Madonna, it's always been about leading by example. In 2008, she teamed up with Justin Timberlake for the hit single "4 Minutes" and we're sure a new, even younger generation of music fans have been introduced to the legendary pop queen.

Since her self-titled debut album back in 1983, the longest gap between studio album releases was a four year stretch between "Bedtime Stories" in 1994 and "Ray of Light" in 1998. From 1983 to 2008, with her most recent release, "Hard Candy", Madonna has put out a new album every two or three years. And that does include her film career, which she's taken to new heights as a producer on the documentary I Am Because We Are, about the plight of the poverty stricken Malwaian people. After premiering at Tribeca back in April, with a recent screening at Cannes, I Am Because We Are has been well received by both critics and fans.

Although Madonna has proven and reinvented herself time again in the music world, her passionate search for fresh ideas took on new meaning when she started work on I Am Because We Are. After adopting young David Banda from Malawi in 2006, Madonna, much like high profile goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie, has helped to shine a global light on important social issues through her actions and her own celebrity. If Madonna hadn't garnered so many headlines a couple of years ago during her controversial adoption, it's almost a certainty that most of the entertainment world and its far reaching fan base would never have heard about Malawi. After all of the media attention, we'd like to believe that most people would at least now be able to locate the impoverished country on a map. For some, thanks to Madonna, even ballparking Malawi on a map would be huge progress. If you still don't know, click here.

While recently out and about promoting I Am Because We Are, the Queen of Pop took time out to chat with the press about her latest musical endeavors, including her collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, and Timbaland, how she's able to stay current in a rapidly changing music industry, how the new documentary came to fruition, and what Malawi means to her now two years after the adoption of her son David.

Madonna on whether she had to give up control to work with Justin Timberlake:

"I wouldn’t say I had to give up control, because even when I worked in the studio with Stuart [Price] or any of the other producers that I’ve been collaborating with over the years, it is a collaboration and I like to work with people who have strong opinions. But with Justin, and Pharrell, and Timbaland, they are all pretty much superstars in their own right and have a very strong sense of what they like and what they want, and so do I. So it was like many forces meeting all together in a room and it was good. There was a lot of chemistry."

On how she chooses people to collaborate with and what's next for her:

"I don’t know. It just comes to me. It’s not something I over think."

Madonna on whether she's always had a strong business sense:

"I guess so. I mean, people say that about me but I don’t really think of myself as a businesswoman. I don’t know. I mean, yeah. I guess. I don’t know. Maybe I just have good intuition. Yeah!"

On how she's able to stay current and contemporary:

"I think it’s because I’m curious. I pay attention to what’s going on around me. I’m always looking for new energy, new talent, new voices, and because of that I think it’s easier to come up with fresher ideas."

Madonna on her documentary I Am Because We Are and what Malawi means to her:

"Well, the whole reason that I made the documentary was simply because I was approached by a woman who lived there and said look; 'You have children, you’re a mother, you write children’s books, you donate the money from the children’s books to children’s charities so we know you care about children. There’s a state of emergency going on here. There’s over a million children orphaned by AIDS. And people pay attention to what you do and what you say, so could you please help us out?' And I couldn’t say no. So I went there and I experienced what was going on first hand and I just got sucked into the whole thing. Thank God I did. I met some amazing people there and hopefully I’ve changed the lives of a lot of children there and I think it’s been an incredible growing and learning experience for me. I think the film is really important because it’s not really just about Malawi, it’s really about the importance of how connected we all are, and how responsible we are for one and other."

On the fact that she has a deep connection to Malawi:

"Well yeah, that’s how I met my son David. And if I could, I would have adopted ten more children - There are just so many that need parents and not one’s more beautiful and lovely than the next."