Beyonce
I AM... SASHA FIERCE

"When I started the record," says Beyoncé about her new double album I
AM… SASHA FIERCE, "I knew that, artistically, I have to grow. Even
though I've been very successful and very fortunate, I want to still be
challenged and still be nervous and still be anxious about all the
things that make my career exciting."

One of 2008's most hotly anticipated new album releases, I AM… SASHA
FIERCE is Beyoncé's first new studio collection since her
Grammy-winning multi-platinum-selling B'Day debuted at 1 on charts
around the world shortly after its international release on September
4, 2006 (in celebration of Beyoncé's 25th birthday).

Each of the discs on Beyoncé's new double album reveals a distinctly
different side of her personality, character and sensibility, a forum
for the yin-and-yang of her developing artistry.

One of the discs, titled I AM…, provides Beyoncé with a musical
showcase for a group of intimate heartfelt ballads while the SASHA
FIERCE disc gives voice to Beyoncé's up-tempo dance-oriented other side.

"SASHA FIERCE is my alter ego," says Beyoncé, "and now she has a last
name. I have someone else that takes over when it's time for me to work
and when I'm on stage, this alter ego that I've created that kind of
protects me and who I really am. That's why half the record, I AM…, is
about who I am underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights, and
underneath all the exciting star drama. And SASHA FIERCE is the fun,
more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken side and more glamorous
side that comes out when I'm working and when I'm on the stage. The
double album allows me to take more risks and really step out of
myself, or shall I say, step more into myself, and reveal a side of me
that people only know me see."

With I AM…, Beyoncé reveals a variety of musical aspects and interests
that may take her fans by surprise. Citing a range of influences
including "folk songs and alternative songs and acoustic guitar…stuff
that's different from what I sing," Beyoncé has produced, written,
recorded and performed a finely crafted selection of contemporary
ballads that combine the best elements of pop and soul music while
expanding the possibilities of both genres.

"You can hear with 'If I Were A Boy,' (one of the album's first
singles), it's not a traditional R&B song," she offers. "It's
difficult to grow and to break out and do new things because people
have strong expectations. I feel like at this point, I wanted people to
hear songs with stronger lyrics and songs that made you feel. I love
singing ballads because I feel like the music and the emotion in the
story is told so much better. It's a better connection because you can
hear it and it's not all these other distractions. I really wanted
people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say."

For her I AM… collection, Beyoncé collaborated with some "writers and
producers that I normally hadn't worked with" including producer Toby
Gad on "If I Were A Boy" and UK songwriter Amanda Ghost on "Disappear,"
which reminds Beyoncé "of the Beatles a tad bit," "Satellites" and "Ave
Maria," in which Beyoncé re-imagines a classic aria in a new and
original musical setting. "When I knew that certain things I wanted to
say, I couldn't say myself, I invited other writers to come in," she
says. "Lyrically, it's the best album I've ever had. If a song didn't
say anything or mean anything to me, I didn't put it on the record.

According to Beyoncé, "SASHA FIERCE is kind of the opposite, she's more
the other side because sometimes you don't want to think, sometimes you
just want to feel good. She's the party girl, she's Bootylicious. She
is but I'm not. She's my alter ego. I'm finally revealing who I am."

The lead-in track on the SASHA FIERCE disc is "Single Ladies (Put A
Ring On It)," Beyoncé's scorching anthem of personal empowerment. "That
song is all about: 'I've been with you all this time, you're taking too
long and now I'm looking hot and you see it and you gotta suffer
because you shoulda put a ring on it,'" Beyoncé explains. "In my life,
when I put on the stilettos, it's all about being confident, sometimes
overly confident, and hearing all the things that women need to hear to
boost themselves and go out and to move on."

"SASHA FIERCE is fun. There's an up-tempo song called 'Radio' that
talks about basically my childhood. It just seems like a feel-good
record but when you really listen to the lyrics, it's about me growing
up. In my household, I didn't go all of the parties and I didn't do all
the things that a lot of the other teenage girls did because I was so
in love with my radio and my music. I was so in love with this radio
and my parents were happy that I was into something positive. I try to
make up-tempo records that feel good but underneath they're still
saying something. SASHA FIERCE is a collection of the kinds of songs
that I'm usually known for and I love just as much as the more intimate
side of me."

Songs on Beyoncé's I AM… include "If I Were A Boy," "Halo,"
"Disappear," "Broken Hearted Girl," "Ave Maria," and "Satellites."
Beyoncé's SASHA FIERCE performances include "Single Ladies (Put A Ring
On It)," "Radio," "Diva," "Sweet Dreams," and "Video Phone."

Producers and writers collaborating with Beyoncé on I AM… SASHA FIERCE
include Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Stargate, C. "Tricky" Stewart &
Terius "The Dream" Nash, Rodney "DarkChild" Jerkins, Sean "The Pen"
Garrett, Solange, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love and Ryan Tedder.

I AM… SASHA FIERCE is Executive Produced by Beyoncé Knowles and Mathew Knowles for Music World Productions, Inc.

In addition to the multiple artistic achievements on I AM… SASHA
FIERCE, Beyoncé has recently completed work on a pair of high profile
movie projects including her role as R&B legend Etta James in
Darnell James' "Cadillac Records."

According to Beyoncé, becoming Etta James on-screen, "was a challenge
for me emotionally because Etta had a lot of challenges in her life,
things that I've never experienced. I had to really dig deep so that I
could have the right performance and represent her well. One thing she
taught me is her fearlessness, she was Etta all the time. She was bold
and she did not try to change who she was for anyone. She was one of
the queens. If it wasn't for her crossing over, she was the first
African-American woman to cross over on the radio, I wouldn't have the
opportunities that I have. It was the best performance I think I've
done on screen. It gave me the strength and the confidence to step out
of my comfort zone even more."