Beyonce

What do you do when you’ve sold over 75 million records, won 16 Grammy Awards and sold out shows around the globe? If your name is Beyonce, you allow those accolades to inflate your ego to the utmost extreme. The best thing since sliced bread and toothpaste sat down with GQ magazine to boast about her success in a way that would make even Kanye West feel uncomfortable.

With her own personal cameras keeping track of GQ journalists like the Great Eye of Sauron at the Black Gates of Mordor, the all-powerful Beyonce talked about the extent of her influence on lesser souls. In fact, she claims that she has more sway over the world that even her own mind can understand. Yet, somehow she hasn’t quite figured out how to type 140 characters on Twitter or caption her pictures on Instagram.

In the midst of her ego masturbation, Beyonce shared information regarding the direction of her new album. The record, which will be released as early as April, features collaborations with Timbaland, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake, and is heavily inspired – there goes that word again – by Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Prince.

Naturally, Beyonce happily talked about her songwriting process, which has evolved from her composing such lyrical classics as “Bootylicious” by herself to working with a team. Random and completely unrelated question: how much do publishing rights cost these days?

Read excerpts from Beyonce’s GQ magazine interview and see more images from the photoshoot below:

On her collaborators

“I’ve been working with Pharrell and Timbaland and Justin Timberlake and Dream. We all started in the ’90s, when R&B was the most important genre, and we all kind of want that back: the feeling that music gave us.”

On songwriting

“I used to start with lyrics and then I’d find tracks—often it was something I had in my head, and it just so happened to go with the melody. Now I write with other writers. It starts with the title or the concept of what I’m trying to say, and then I’ll go into the booth and sing my idea. Then we work together to layer on.”

On the album’s influences

“Mostly R&B. I always have my Prince and rock/soul influences. There’s a bit of D’Angelo, some ’60s doo-wop. And Aretha and Diana Ross.”

On her power

“I now know that, yes, I am powerful. I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand.”

Info via GQ!

Thoughts?