By now, if you’ve been anywhere near the internet, surely you’ve seen the February GQ magazine cover featuring Beyonce that has men drooling and women picking up the phone to renew their gym memberships. The men’s mag Beyonce feature couldn’t have come at a better time: on the cusp of what seems like a major comeback (new album, Superbowl halftime show, HBO documentary) for the singer after taking a break as motherhood called.
Yes, Beyonce is stunning, but her image on the GQ cover warrants more than just a gander at pretty pictures in a mag that traditionally features a successful man in a suit on the front page. After all, she, in her own right, is a successful businesswoman who recently signed a lucrative Pepsi endorsement deal, among other things. In the feature, she talks about the work ethic it took for her to get to this level of success, and the importance of women being financially independent.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot of things, and I’ve worked harder than probably anyone I know, at least in the music industry. So I just have to remind myself that I deserve it,” she relays in the article about all she’s acquired. And in the tradition of anyone who’s achieved greatness on any level, Bey approaches her craft in all seriousness, with an athlete’s mentality. “You know how they sit down and watch whoever they’re going to play and study themselves? That’s how I treat this,” she reveals. “I watch my performances, and I wish I could just enjoy them, but I see the light that was late. I see, ‘Oh God, that hair did not work.’ Or ‘I should never do that again.’ I try to perfect myself. I want to grow, and I’m always eager for new information,” she said regarding her drive.
When she wrote 2001’s “Independent Women,” she meant that thang; she’s a prime example. “Everyone accepts the fact that women don’t make as much money as men do. I don’t understand that. Why do we have to take a backseat?” she says in her upcoming HBO documentary film in regards to her decision to separate herself from her father, Mathew Knowles’, management. “And let’s face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what’s sexy. And men define what’s feminine. It’s ridiculous,” she says in the film. She tells GQ her ability to take control came early on in her career with Destiny’s Child, since the label gave them control. “I got used to it,” Bey says. “It is my goal in life to be that example. And I think it will, hopefully, trickle down, and more artists will see that. Because it only makes sense. It’s only fair.”
Pick up your copy of the February GQ issue when it hits newsstands on January 15. Check out the photos below courtesy of GQ:
