Beyonce and her rock hard body cover the February issue of GQ. The photo spread is football-themed, coinciding with her upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance.

In the feature, the Bootylicious Bey talks about being the quarterback of the Beyonce business. It’s not just about her music, but her brand as a style icon, an inspiration to all strong women the world over.

Turns out, she relates to athletes in how she plans for and approaches her concerts and her stage. You know, when and where she becomes Sasha Fierce.

“One of the reasons I connect to the Super Bowl is that I approach my shows like an athlete,” she said . “You know how they sit down and watch whoever they’re going to play and study themselves? That’s how I treat this. I watch my performances, and I wish I could just enjoy them, but I see the light that was late. I see, ‘Oh God, that hair did not work.’ Or ‘I should never do that again.’ I try to perfect myself. I want to grow, and I’m always eager for new information.”

Bey clearly loves being an entertainer and a performer, saying that before she welcomed daughter Blue Ivy a year ago, her job was priority numero uno.

“I love my job, but it’s more than that: I need it,” she declared. “Because before I gave birth, it was the only time in my life, all throughout my life, that I was lost.” She likens being onstage to “a blackout. When I’m onstage, I don’t know what the crap happens. I am gone.”

She also shared some secrets to the follow up to ’4,’ one of the most anticipated albums of the year.

Here’s what she learned.

She’s working with some big names: “I’ve been working with Pharrell and Timbaland and Justin Timberlake and Dream,” Bey revealed. “We all started in the ’90s, when R&B was the most important genre, and we all kind of want that back: the feeling that music gave us.” Perhaps this “get ready” stuff from Timberlake involves this project? It’s no coincidence that JT released the video the same day this quote dropped. We’re onto something.

On the writing process: “I used to start with lyrics and then I’d find tracks—often it was something I had in my head, and it just so happened to go with the melody,” she said. “Now I write with other writers. It starts with the title or the concept of what I’m trying to say, and then I’ll go into the booth and sing my idea. Then we work together to layer on.”

How it’s shaping up sonically: “Mostly R&B. I always have my Prince and rock/soul influences. There’s a bit of D’Angelo, some ’60s doo-wop. And Aretha and Diana Ross.”

In her one sorta uppity statement, Bey confirmed her goddess status. Literally. “I now know that, yes, I am powerful,” she declared. “I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand.”

Bey’s omnipotent. All hail to the queen.

Next: LOL at These Beyonce GIFs!

Watch the Beyonce ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ Video