If you've been following the release of Beyoncé's new album, BEYONCÉ, at all—and obviously you have because even if you've been ignoring the news there's no way you've missed people tweeting "surfboard" at all times of the day for the last five days—you may have come away with the resounding impression that Bey is flawless. Pulling off the release of a major album with 17 accompanying videos without anyone finding out? Setting iTunes sales records? Becoming the first woman to debut at No. 1 with her first five studio albums? Looking like this? She can do no wrong.
Which is true. But that's not exactly the point, as Beyoncé explains in "Imperfections," the second part of a multi-part mini-documentarycalled "Self-Titled" that goes behind the scenes of BEYONCÉ. In the first installment, released the day after her album, she discusses wanting to make a visual album that was an event, lamenting the lack of releases on the scale of, say, Thriller. "I feel like it's something that's lost in pop music," she says. "I wanted people to hear things differently and have a different first impression. Not just listen to a 10-second clip but actually see the whole vision of the album."
In part two, Bey goes into some of the themes she's exploring in the album, particularly on "***Flawless," and it's revelatory. She discusses losing the competition on "Star Search" that's sampled at the beginning of the song and explains how confronting imperfection is a central idea on the album:
She also talks about finding Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech on feminism, which the song samples. "Everything she said is exactly how I feel," she said. She added:
Both parts are great pieces. Check out part one above and part two below. Part three is coming soon.
RELATED: Beyoncé Has Broken The U.S. iTunes Record For Most Albums Sold in a Single Week
RELATED: First Impressions of Beyoncé's New Album
RELATED: We Made GIFs from Beyoncé's 17 New Videos So You Don't Have To
RELATED: Green Label - 5 Must-Watch Music Documentaries
