How do you become the defining pop star of the 21st century while giving almost no traditional interviews for a decade? This deep dive traces Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter from performing in her mother’s Houston salon to becoming a cultural auteur who bends the structural rules of the music industry. We start with the crucible of her early Star Search loss and her father’s decision to quit his corporate job to manage the group.

We follow Destiny’s Child, her solo breakout with Dangerously in Love, the Sasha Fierce era, and her firing of her father as manager to become the chief executive of her own enterprise. Then we examine the 2013 surprise self-titled visual album that helped shift the global release day from Tuesday to Friday, the Formation Super Bowl controversy, and her genre-reclaiming Renaissance and Cowboy Carter projects.

• How a childhood Star Search failure triggered her drive for control
• Dropping 17 music videos in total secrecy with no lead single
• Selling Boycott Beyonce merch at her own tour after police union protests
• Acting as a modern griot to reclaim disco, house and country’s Black roots
• The tension between activist archivist and multinational corporate entity