Artist: Beyonce

The Queen Bee is back, back again. Stephen Unwin goes to New York to meet Beyoncé and her alter-ego Sasha Fierce... Kicking back in jeans and lumberjack shirt in a suite at hip New York hotel, Thompson Lower East Side, Beyoncé looks more like someone’s best mate than the international megastar of music and movies that she really is. Maybe that’s because we’re speaking to Beyoncé today and not Sasha. Confused? Don’t worry, all will soon become clear…!

It’s a strange album title, I Am... Sasha Fierce. You’d better explain that one!
Sasha is my alter-ego and it’s two different albums. Completely different. I have such a broad fan-base, from kids to adults and their parent’s parents. And I didn’t want to put myself in a box and say ‘OK, I’m an R&B singer,’ or ‘OK, I’m a pop singer’, I just wanted to do whatever. Plus, I think that most performers have two personalities: who I really am and who I am when I’m onstage. So basically, I put the aggressive, hip hop, R&B, sexy, fun, young stuff on one record, and the more mature, sensitive, emotional, vulnerable stuff on the other.

We’re assuming you’re being Sasha in the video for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) because it’s quite rude...
It is! And that’s part of my personality when I’m on stage. That’s the part of the character I create: overly confident, aggressive, sexual. With the two-disc set, I wanted it to feel like, ‘OK, now I feel like chilling and listening to something that has a little more depth and makes me feel more connected to my emotions’ and ‘Now, I want to go out and get ready and feel extra strong and sassy and confident.’

Sasha sounds very much like your sister Solange, personality-wise.
She’s crazy! (laughs) She’s more Sasha than Sasha. My sister amazes me. I had no idea she had this writing ability. She’s trouble! She is very creative and very talented and very funny, and I admire her in a lot of ways. But she certainly used to rule the house. Whenever I meet two sisters, the older sister has a very similar personality and the younger sister is like Solange. She’s very quick and smart and doesn’t take anything too seriously. I wish I was like her in a lot of ways.

You’re very private about your relationship with Jay-Z, aren’t you?
I think there’s more to life than sharing it with everyone in the world. I was always private; at school if I dated somebody, I didn’t go around telling everybody. I was kind of like, if I’m your friend then you should know; if not then no.

And you’ve got a new film about Etta James in the pipeline. You are certainly bucking the trend of pop stars being terrible actors, what with Dreamgirls and all...
I can’t tell you if I’m good, that’s everybody’s opinion. I think it’s unfair to say that though because I think some are very good: I think Barbara Streisand was great, I think Diana Ross was great, Cher was excellent. It’s unfair to say that, because it kind of puts this whole stereotype on singers that want to act and doesn’t give them a fair chance.

You look really slim to us, but you’re famous for booty. Men like a bit of meat on the bones, don’t they?
I think skinny looks great too, but I don’t think that having a little meat on you looks bad. If that’s how you are, you should accept it, I think it’s beautiful.

The single If I Were A Boy is released on 10 November, followed by I Am... Sasha Fierce is out now. Check MySpace.com/beyonce

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