Jean Baptiste Kouame Joining William Orbit to Produce Upcoming Madonna Album

Not even a month ago, news broke that William Orbit, the producer of Ray of Light, would be working with Madonna again on her upcoming album. Just yesterday, Madonnarama revealed that Orbit is being joined by Jean Baptiste Kouame, a songwriter behind the Black Eyed Peas (“Boom Boom Pow”), Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Kelis, and Kid Cudi and producer of WØ tracks.

Madonnarama also revealed that, to speed up recording time, Orbit is taking a different approach to putting tracks together. In the past, such as when he worked with the singer on Ray of Light, Madonna recorded all demos, which were then reworked by producers. For this untitled album, Orbit is using Charlene Ava as a vocalist for the demos, which will then be sent to Madonna. From there, the singer will go through them and select which ones she wants to record.

Ava, a demo and sessions vocalist who is known for extremely accurate mimicry of other artists’ voices, may appear do backup vocals on the album. Previously, she has worked with other Madonna producers Phil Galdston and Tony Shimkin. In addition to Ava, Nicki Richards, Donna DeLory, and Orbit may also contribute backing vocals.

The Material Girl is planning to do a tour for her album in 2012, and in the present, she’s searching for a new backup dancer. The singer, in a partnership with Smirnoff and YouTube, announced a competition for her new backup dancer earlier this month and requests that contestants post a 60-second video of themselves on YouTube. Smirnoff will be inviting contestants to one of 50 parties across the world on November 12. About the competition and partnership, she said: “What attracted me to the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is the combination of participating in the celebration of nightlife around the world and the opportunity to discover the world's best unknown dancers. The best dancers are always in the clubs looking for the most original experience, just like Smirnoff is doing.”