Beyoncé has revealed that her next album will be called '4'.
Talking to Billboard, she said that the digit had personal significance for her. "We all have special numbers in our lives," she said, "and 4 is that for me. It's the day I was born. My mother's birthday, and a lot of my friends' birthdays, are on the fourth; April 4 is my wedding date."
She also claimed that the title is a tribute to her fans, who had been referring to the untitled album as '4' online. "Everywhere I look, I see them calling it '4'. I had a whole other name and concept, but I keep seeing that the fans love the name '4'," she said "And I think it would be a really nice thing to let them name the record."
The album, which some super-fans have already heard at a listening party at Sony's offices in New York, reportedly includes a lot of different influences. "I found a lot of inspiration in '90s R&B, Earth, Wind & Fire, DeBarge, Lionel Richie, Teena Marie…" Beyoncé told Billboard.
"I listened to a lot of Jackson 5 and New Edition, but also Adele, Florence + the Machine, and Prince. Add in my hip-hop influences, and you can hear how broad it is."
Beyonc´ also explained that she's currently managing herself — previously, her dad, Matthew Knowles, was her manager. "It's not that anything bad happened between us," she said. "My family has my support always, and they support me, but when you've been working with the same people for 15 years, it's natural to eventually have your own ideas."