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A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Aug 28, 2016 at 5:39pm PDT You’re probably still trying to catch up on everything that went down at last night’s MTV VMAs. Between Rihanna’s and Beyoncé’s epic performances, and Drake’s heart-warming speech while presenting the former with the Vanguard Award, we don’t blame you. While we’ve re-capped […]

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As the Internet, every friend or your internal Queen Bey clock have already alerted you to, Beyoncé released her fifth album exclusively on iTunes just before midnight last night. Quietly, elegantly and with the regal control we’ve come accustomed to with the superstar, she one-upped the leakers by being the first to release the self-titled album to the grovelling masses. “I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I am bored with that,” she says via video press release. “There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”

Beyoncé is 14 tracks, 17 videos and features a never-ending contributor roster ranging from Frank Ocean and Drake to Terry Richardson and Jonas Åkerlund. Blue Ivy’s in there too, as is her pops Jay-Z. According to the press release, Beyoncé has been recording the songs and filming the videos for over a year while on her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour which is a feat cause a) how the eff does one even function on so high a frequency and b) how the eff did not one of the zillion contribs and/or innocent bystanders (like any of these people) say a thing? Likely to be revealed later: Scarlet letter Bs imprinted on the bodies of 100 music moguls.

I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t think Beyoncé is the bees knees. She’s sold countless records, won every award, sung for the President, performed at the Super Bowl, but then again so have many pop artists. They call her the hardest working woman in showbiz, but that’s not the reason they call her Queen Bey either—it’s that aside from supreme octave and hip-thrusting abilities, she’s managed to stay above it all. The importance she’s placed on privacy and keeping it classy that has earned her regal bragging rights. It’s also what has helped her remain relatively unscathed for over 12 years of being in the public eye. To boot, she’s managed to stay married to another of pop’s biggest stars, Jay-Z, sans unseemly consequences.

For the first time in all those years, we’re being let inside the life and mind of Beyoncé with the premiere of her documentary Beyoncé: Life is But a Dream on HBO/HBO Canada. The self-directed stunner bleeds 90-minutes of raw emotion and power through spellbinding all-angle performance footage, self-filmed video diaries, private vacation home videos and more. And while Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland and Solange make their select appearances, it’s all about Bey. It’s like her Tumblr’s come to life and I swear, from personal experience, you won’t be able to keep a dry eye.

Here are some things that had me especially intrigued/verklempt: