Beyoncè Named Artist of The Decade

The UK Guardian newspaper has stepped out on a massive limb. They've named Mrs Beyoncè Carter the artist of the decade! That, obviously will make the stans happy, others (especially Brooke Hogan), not so much.

Realizing some, like Brooke, will question its decision, the newspaper explains.

"The 28-year-old singer has made the decade's best single, delivered the greatest live show on earth, sung for President Obama and emerged as our last true star," it says. "Why Beyoncé? Why this stunning 28-year-old singer/performer/actress/businesswoman from Texas now married to one of the decade's other biggest stars, and worth something like $87m a year to boot, and not, well, take your pick...? Because she made not one but two of the decade's greatest singles, with Crazy in Love and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), not to mention her hits with Destiny's Child; and this was the decade when singles – particularly R&B singles – regained their status as pop's favorite medium. (But her three solo albums? Pretty fabulous, too.)"

The Guardian added: "Because she is a brand, but says she isn't, and because in this age of Twitter and the paparazzi, she might be a global phenomenon but in the course of 10 full years Mrs Jay-Z, as she might also be known, has kept her mystery. And because – just possibly – she helped introduce a new word into the Oxford English Dictionary: bootylicious."

After gifting her with that high honor, the newspaper did an interview with her. Well, of course.

Here are some of the good bits.

It's possibly surprising that for someone who comes out of contemporary R&B and hip-hop, your live shows are incredible.
I really believe that when I perform live, I'm the strongest [that I am]. My hand is in everything – from the styling to the designing of the lights to the set list and all the little segues ways. And all of these things take so much time. For the first five or six months of this tour, I'd watch the show back every night, just to tweak and make things a little tighter. I think there's always room for improvement.

You told Forbes magazine: "I've worked too hard and sacrificed too much to do something silly that would mess up the brand I've created all of these years." What have you sacrificed?
I just sacrificed... life. Being able to walk down the street and being able to make mistakes and not have it recorded for ever... being able to have regular relationships and dates... just regular, normal things that people probably don't even think about. Sometimes it's hard. I was in Egypt yesterday and visited the pyramids and it was so spiritual and beautiful. But then I had the news cameras and the paparazzi that follow me and.... it's really odd sometimes. I haven't had longer than a couple of months off ever in my life, since I was 15. So it's those type of things. But I was raised that anything that's worth anything takes a lot of sacrifice. And when anything is too easy for me I get scared.

You've always kept quiet about your relationship with Jay-Z. Does it seem strange to you that other stars will share the details of their private lives with the public?
It doesn't seem strange at all. It actually seems like the natural thing to do because you're being yourself and people ask and people are interested... But I never wanted to be famous for my personal life. I wanted to be famous for my music and my talent, and I always wished I could cut it out when I left the stage. And Jay was private before I met him. It was just who we were. Even before we were celebrities.

It must be quite irritating for you that you're not the most powerful African-American couple in the world any more…
That is hilarious. Absolutely not! Thank God for that couple.

Just to return to the Forbes quote: what is the Beyoncé brand?
I don't really like to call myself a brand and I don't like to think of myself as a brand. I'm a singer, a songwriter, a musician and a performer. And an actress, and all the other things that I do. When you add it all together, some might call it a brand but that's not my focus. My focus is my art and that's what I love to do. I have to be really passionate in order to do something. I've turned down many things that I just didn't believe in.

So what happens next? Is your diary already filled for the next decade?
I usually know what I'm going to do within a year. I have the next year planned out. But for the first time ever, after a couple of dates in February and a couple of award shows, I promised myself that that it's time to smell the roses. I'm going to take – hopefully – a couple of months off. I'm not going to plan anything. I'll perhaps take some art classes, I'll visit some museums and I'll check out some shows on Broadway. I'd like to travel somewhere – maybe back to Egypt – without anyone, without any security, and focus on things I've always wanted to do myself.

And starting a dynasty?
I don't know. I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I still have time for myself. I've worked so hard and I need to relax and make sure I'm ready for that and I don't think I am. But knowing I have time off... I don't even know how to feel about that. I'm so excited.

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