American Life - Development

Development

"Basically, we had recorded the whole song and we had this instrumental thing at the end and Mirwais was like, "You know what, you have to go and do a rap." And I was like, "Get out of here, I don't rap." And he was like, "Yeah you do. Just go in there, just do it." He totally encouraged me. I had nothing planned, nothing written, and he just told me to do stream-of-consciousness, whatever I was thinking. Because I was always drinking soy lattes in the studio, and I drive my Mini Cooper to the studio, I was just like, "OK, let me just talk about the things that I like." So I went and it was just total improv and obviously it was sloppy at first, but I got out all my thoughts and then I wrote everything down that I said and then I perfected the timing of it. So it was totally spontaneous."

The album was mostly composed and entirely produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï. Both had previously collaborated on Madonna's studio album Music, Madonna discussed Ahmadzaï's influence and production style saying "Mirwais is a very unique individual. His influence on me obviously was very big, he's a great musician and great guitar player. He can also program syntheshizers and create the most amazing futuristic sounds on the computer. He's a sort of genius, experimenting and I'm lucky to be there." Madonna started recording the album in late 2001, after filming the movie Swept Away. The album was written and recorded over one and a half years, becoming her longest production on a studio album. Recording of the album was finished in London and Los Angeles in early 2003. Madonna discussed the recording of the title track stating that the producer Mirwais had encouraged her to rap spontaneously and that the rap sequence featured in the title track was composed using the materialistic objects that she herself had been using. Rooksby author of the Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna stated that a recurring theme of the record production was the dry and blunt lyrics, in an interview with Q Madonna said, "I've had twenty years of fame and fortune, and I feel that I have the right to an opinion on what is said, and what isn't".

During the time of the production Madonna learned to play the guitar and she stated, "Now that I've learned to play the guitar I don't always depend on the help of other people." In an interview with Q Magazine Madonna discussed the relationship she developed during the production of the album with executive producer Ahmadzaï discussing intimidation being a possible factor due to her "iconic" status, she stated "I don’t say to anyone, Are you intimidated by me? Obviously, if you feel comfortable with me I can feel it. We can have a chat and a laugh, but I’ve never sat down with someone I wanted to work with and not got along with them. William Orbit was very nervous when I met him, dropping things all over the place, but I found that really endearing. I don’t dwell on it."