Adele In No Hurry To Record 21 Follow-Up

Everywhere you went in 2011 it seemed like Adele was there. With such hard-to-escape singles as "Rolling in the Deep,"
 "Someone Like You," "Rumor Has It" and "Set Fire to the Rain," she ruled the charts and radio on her way to landing the year's best-selling album with 21.

If she were taking a page from the Rihanna playbook, that would mean that right about now, the British belter would be hard at work on a follow-up to her smash. But, in keeping with the long, slow burn of "Rolling" and her generally less hectic pace than other modern divas, Adele recently told Billboard magazine that she's taking her time with album #3.

Still unable to speak after recent surgery to remove a benign polyp from her throat, the six-time Grammy nominee emailed the magazine that she's looking forward to some "do nothing" time in the near future.

"I imagine I'll be 25 or 26 by the time my next record comes out, as I haven't even thought about my third record yet," said Adele, who is 23. "I'm just gonna lay some concrete, set up home and just 'be' for a bit. I'll disappear and come back with a record when it's good enough. There will be no new music until it's good enough and until I'm ready."

She's had plenty of time to do the latter, given that she canceled all remaining 2011 dates in October to rest her voice and recover from the surgery. The good news is, the surgery went really well and, while it may take a bit of time to build her chops back up, going forward, it will be much easier to sing than before, she said. "And mentally, I won't be worried about my voice onstage anymore," she said, speculating that by February — the Grammys are February 12 — she'll be ready to sing again.

Explaining that she was inspired by late British siren Amy Winehouse's self-created artistic method, Adele said she sees no upside to having a specific, market-tested plan as an artist. "Who f---ing cares if people don't get it or don't like it? I'd rather trust myself, to like what I've done and stick to my guns than make music I don't like, wear clothes that don't suit me and flutter between genres because I'm scared I won't be relevant if I pass my 'sell by' date," she said. "Amy tattooed that in me! She made music because she was good at it and wanted to. And she was a huge artist who was always a bigger fan. That's why I gravitated towards her and listened when she sang and spoke."

She's also careful about overexposure and not taking every opportunity to hawk 21 just to move a few more units. "If I did everything, my artistry and music would become diluted," she said. "Performances and interviews travel globally and instantly nowadays because of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blogs. I'd be repeating myself and be overexposed if I did every TV and every magazine cover I was given the opportunity to do." Refreshingly, she also admitted that "my career isn't my life," saying she leaves work at the door when she comes home and has stuck with her same group of friends and advisers, from obscurity to worldwide fame.

"Of course I'm bowled over by people's response to 21, and when I meet artists I love, it blows my mind," she said. "But it baffles me as well. I go home and my best friend laughs at me, rather than going to a celebrity-studded party to rub shoulders with people who know me but who I don't know. I'm Z-list when it comes to that sh--."

MTV is also celebrating the Best of 2011, so tune in all next week to see our panel of experts count down the top EDM artist of the year as well as best overall song and artist of 2011. Adele is also in the running for the Best MTV Live Performance of 2011.

Check out the nominees, watch show highlights and vote for the Best MTV Live Performance of 2011. Stay tuned for the results on Monday, December 12, at noon ET!