Never let it be said that singer/actress Beyoncé, supposedly 27, needs help with her self esteem. (Her sister Solange also has a high sense of self worth, but at least Beyonce seems to have earned hers.)

Marie Claire has excerpts from Beyonce’s interview in their upcoming issue and she’s pretty straightforward about how she’s reached her level of success. She’s hard-working and she thinks she’s earned it, damnit.

She’s been quoted in the past as saying there’s a time limit on being a pop star. ‘Being a pop star, yes,’ she responds. ‘Being a legend, an icon, absolutely not. And, at this point, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m over being a pop star. I don’t wanna be a hot girl. I wanna be iconic. And I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. I feel like I’m highly respected, which is more important than any award or any amount of records. And I feel like there comes a point when being a pop star is not enough.’

By her own admission, Beyoncé is very ‘reserved’ off-stage. ‘I’ve created an alter ego [she refers to her on-stage persona as ‘Sasha’]: things I do when performing I would never do normally. I reveal things about myself that I wouldn’t do in an interview. I have out-of-body experiences [on stage]. If I cut my leg, if I fall, I don’t even feel it. I’m so fearless, I’m not aware of my face or my body.’ So, when she sang, “I can have another you in a minute. Matter fact, he’ll be here in a minute”, in hit song Irreplaceable, was she referring to Jay-Z? ‘I’m sure people think I wrote it about [Jay-Z] or something, but… the obvious person is not the person at all.’

‘B’, as she’s called at home, will also admit to being a workaholic. There’s an as-yet untitled new album due out in November; then there’s her movie career, in particular Cadillac Records, co-starring Adrien Brody, which tells the story of Chicago label Chess Records. Her character, the Grammy-winning blues legend Etta James, battled a decade-long heroin addiction. ‘I’ve been saying for a long time that I wanted to do something dark. People are going to be very shocked. It’s the complete opposite of me. It was very emotionally draining. I was exhausted.

[From Marie Claire via WeSmirch]

Beyonce does talk the talk when it comes to acknowledging her success, saying she proud of her opportunities and saying she thinks of herself as a trailblazer:

Does she feel she’s paved the way for more African-American women to achieve huge success? ‘I am really proud that I am one of the artists that has the opportunity to be on magazine covers and to be in the movies. And I do think that I’m opening doors for more black women, just like Halle [Berry] and Diana Ross opened doors for me.’

[From Marie Claire]

You see, newbies like Rihanna cannot touch Beyonce because she’s more than they’ll ever be. She’s supernatural, she’s iconic, she’s not even Beyonce. She’s like this whole other person that changes based on her mood. Beyonce claims not to feel it or care when she has a mishap on stage, but she did tell concert-goers last year not to post footage of her falling down a flight of stairs during a performance. Maybe Beyonce doesn’t know Sasha that well and she’s really just a brave performer who has hangups and gets embarrassed like a normal performer is prone to do. She shouldn’t be so detached from her other personalities.

Beyonce is shown on 2/10/08 at the Grammy Awards. Credit: PRPhotos