Beyonce Knowles has been a very busy bee.
She's currently on the first leg of her world tour, which kicks off on the heels of the re-release of her "B'Day" album in a deluxe format. The reissue features the addition of some new songs, including some Spanish versions.
On top of that, she put together a companion DVD called "B'Day Anthology Video Album," and she filmed eight music videos to go along with it in just two weeks.
Now she tells Access how she was able to accomplish such a feat.
"It was difficult, but it was a lot of determination. Not only from myself, but my whole team."
She explains that it all came down to being prepared. Everything from choreography, to fittings, to hair and makeup design were done ahead of time.
"I basically shot the videos with my personal videographer, and sent it to the director so they knew exactly the shots we wanted. It was just a lot of preparation, so by the time we started to film the videos," she says with a snap of her fingers, "we did it."
As for the reason behind the Spanish recordings, Beyonce says that after performing in Spanish at the Latin Grammy awards with Destiny's Child five years ago, they got a lot of positive feedback from their Latin fans. That positive reaction, coupled with her love for the culture, eventually led to recording the new tracks.
The funny thing is, Beyonce doesn't speak Spanish. "It's been a challenge," she says of getting the language right. "I had to learn everything phonetically. It was a little frustrating because I'm used to getting my vocals done really, really fast. But we did it, and it's been an incredible response."
Perhaps the greatest response is over the song "Irreplaceable," which has not only proven to be a mega-hit for Beyonce, it's also become an empowering anthem, of sorts, for women.
"It's amazing," she remarks. "I know sometimes we need to hear songs like 'Irreplaceable' so we can remind ourselves that we're strong and worth being treated the way we deserve to be treated. I didn't write the record, but I instantly knew it was a hit. I'm so happy it's kinda become this anthem."
Another noteworthy item is the impression Beyonce does of her boyfriend, Jay-Z, in the "Upgrade U" video. "He couldn't keep a straight face," she laughingly reveals. "He was laughing so hard at me. Actually, he was there when I tried to do it the first time, but I couldn't do it with him in the room. I had to make sure that he left, because I was way too embarrassed. But I studied and I got it down."
So what's next for Beyonce?
"I plan to do another film next year," she says. "I am going to be on tour until September, and with the new release of this album, my year has already been so busy. The movie and shooting all the videos — it's just been non-stop, but next year I will be back in my actor's gear, learning more about acting."