Less than two weeks into the new year and 2013 is already looking like the year of Beyoncé. Pepsi’s $50 million woman covers the February 2013 issue of GQ, hitting newsstands January 22. As the magazine’s Sexiest Woman of the 21st Century, the R&B diva flaunts her famous curves for photographer Terry Richardson in the Super Bowl-themed photo shoot.

She invites GQ inside her archive room in her Manhattan office, where she stores thousands of hours of personal footage and every interview she’s ever done (If you want to interview her, you must agree to appear in the archive).

In the issue, she talks about her highly-anticipated new album (collaborators include Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, Timbaland, and The-Dream), performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, and her dominance over pop culture.

Even Solange weighs in on her big sis, recalling her discipline as a child and how she protected her.

“I can’t tell you how many times in junior high school, how many boys and girls can say Beyoncé came and threatened to put some hands on them if they bothered me,” says Solange.

Check out highlights from the issue below.

On reaching her goals: “I worked so hard during my childhood to meet this goal: By the time I was 30 years old, I could do what I want. I’ve reached that. I feel very fortunate to be in that position. But I’ve sacrificed a lot of things, and I’ve worked harder than probably anyone I know, at least in the music industry. So I just have to remind myself that I deserve it.”

On the Super Bowl: “One of the reasons I connect to the Super Bowl is that I approach my shows like an athlete. 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.”

On her collaborators on the new album: “I’ve been working with Pharrell and Timbaland and Justin Timberlake and Dream. 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.”

On the album’s influences: “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.”

On her dominance: “I now know that, yes, I am powerful. I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand.”