Beyonce bared her soul in a new cover story for Vogue‘s September issue. In her own words, the superstar opened up about a range of topics — including finding body acceptance after welcoming twins Rumi and Sir with husband Jay-Z in June 2017.
“After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look,” Beyonce, who is also mom to Blue Ivy, 6, said. “I put pressure on myself to lose all the baby weight in three months, and scheduled a small tour to assure I would do it. Looking back, that was crazy. I was still breastfeeding when I performed the Revel shows in Atlantic City in 2012. After the twins, I approached things very differently.”
The “Formation” singer went on to say that she weighed 218 pounds the day she gave birth to her twins. She was also “swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month” and had to undergo an emergency C-section.
“After the C-section, my core felt different. It had been major surgery. Some of your organs are shifted temporarily, and in rare cases, removed temporarily during delivery. I am not sure everyone understands that. I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be,” she continued. “After six months, I started preparing for Coachella. I became vegan temporarily, gave up coffee, alcohol, and all fruit drinks. But I was patient with myself and enjoyed my fuller curves. My kids and husband did, too.”
Though Beyonce said she “will go into beast zone” when she’s “ready to get a six-pack,” she is currently content with her “mommy pouch.” She added, “Right now, my little FUPA and I feel like we are meant to be.”
Elsewhere, the Destiny’s Child alum shared details about her history-making Coachella 2018 set. Back in April, she became the first woman of color to headline the annual music festival.
“I had a clear vision for Coachella. I was so specific because I’d seen it, I’d heard it, and it was already written inside of me. One day I was randomly singing the black national anthem to Rumi while putting her to sleep. I started humming it to her every day. In the show at the time I was working on a version of the anthem with these dark minor chords and stomps and belts and screams,” she said of her energetic set. “I know that most of the young people on the stage and in the audience did not know the history of the black national anthem before Coachella. But they understood the feeling it gave them.”
Beyonce also talked about wanting to pave the way for other black artists.
“It’s important to me that I help open doors for younger artists,” she said. “There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter.”
Which is why Beyonce specifically asked to work with photographer Tyler Mitchell on her Vogue shoot — the first African-American to photograph a cover for the fashion bible since its inception in 1892.
“Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like. That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell,” she said. “When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell. Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African-American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African-American photographer.”
To read Beyonce’s full Vogue interview, click here.
