Mike Tyson Explains His Inclusion On Madonna X Chance The Rapper Track 'Iconic'

by HHL Editors

Madonna’s upcoming album Rebel Heart has a Hip Hop flavor, with guests like Nas, Nicki Minaj and Chance The Rapper. Her Chance The Rapper cut will be called 'Iconic,' and it also features Madonna's fellow late-20th century icon Iron Mike Tyson.

According to Tyson, he was as surprised as we were by his inclusion on the song.

"Madonna calls you and tells you to come somewhere, you go," Tyson told Rolling Stone. "I didn't know what the hell I was going there for. I'm just there having a good time and hanging out with Madonna. She has her producer there and I go into the studio and I didn't know if she wanted me to talk or rap. I just go in there and start talking. I'm talking about my life and things that I have endured. I'm saying some really crazy stuff. It was really intense."
The former heavyweight champ went on to say he was channeling a pretty controversial historical figure when he ad-libbed his part of the track.

When I did it, I think about being some guy like [Benito] Mussolini and they're really arrogant, but you try to come from a positive perspective and be uplifting. You watch Mussolini on television — even though we don't understand what he's saying — he is so mesmerizing. I look at myself in that way. "I know people may say 'this guy's a fascist' and all this stuff, but man, you can take positivity from watching him. No wonder why Hitler was attracted to him. This guy's a hypnotic figure. There's so much pride behind what he's saying. I'm not even Italian and I feel the pride he's projecting. He had that street swag; he was doing this stuff with his hands and moving his head before it was even hip-hop."
We have to give to Tyson; the man is always interesting.