• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · News

Beyoncé Knowles Uncut

In these bonus excerpts from the August issue of ESSENCE, Kierna Mayo talks with Beyonce about her mother, church and other subjects you'll only find on Essence.com
By · Updated October 29, 2020

Strip away the flawless makeup, belly-baring fashions and superstar image of Beyoncé Knowles, and you’ll find a down-to-earth young woman who just wants the chance to be herself.


ESSENCE: I’ve heard that you and your mom are rather close. Is that true?

Beyonce Knowles: You know what’s so beautiful about our relationship? Some mothers are your friends, some mothers are strictly your mother, some mothers are both. Some mothers know when to draw the line, some mothers know when to tell you when you’re wrong and when you’re right. Some mothers don’t tell you when you’re right. (My mother) knows when to be my friend. And growing up, she knew when to be my mother.

She was strict but still, she explained things and made things make sense to me so I didn’t feel like she was disciplining me or trying to boss me around. I understood why, which made my life a lot easier. Another thing is she tells me the truth. My mom’s never asked me for anything. My mom doesn’t want anything from me but for me to be happy. And for me to succeed and be as good, as strong, as happy as I can be. So, knowing that, I’m just lucky to have that honesty in my life.

I always felt safe and I always felt secure because I knew that it was going to be okay. I knew it was ’cause my mom knew it was. She always let me know that regardless of this group, regardless of me singing, regardless of the movies, whatever, she loved me. And I’m young and I’m smart and everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I made it happen. So it goes beyond that, like I still have somewhere to go. I still have something else to do, this isn’t the end of the world. And I think … just knowing that, like right now if I never sell another record, it puts a whole ‘nother perspective on this.

Do you think as Black women, we are expected to be superwomen? Even in relationships we are expected to hold it together.

Yeah. Guys are babies sometimes. Like they need you and it’s like, I need you and you are just supposed to drop it. I mean it’s very beautiful when you all are just doing the same thing for each other. But I know you just expect the woman to drop everything and fix it. A woman doesn’t even ask for it because they’re supposed to be strong enough to take care of it.


What is church for you, in the real way?

I completely believe that you don’t have to go to church at all if you are disciplined enough to sit down and dedicate time to pray and get to know God and read the Bible. But me, it’s better for me to go to church because it’s hard to, for real, sit down by myself for that long, as long as I would be just totally committing myself in my house with the TV on and the distractions. It’s way harder to do that than to go to church with a bunch of people who believe in God, where you can just feel it so much more.


Will history still remember you as having the soul of the artist? As opposed to just a girl who sold a lot of records.

I don’t want to be remembered as a member of this huge group that, you know, did whatever. I want to be acknowledged as a woman in a very talented group with great harmonies and great songs that made history and changed the culture of women, not only in America but all over the world. (A woman) who could sing a cappella and write her own songs and produce her own songs.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now