Beyonce has unveiled the album art for her much anticipated new album, 4. She also released the visual accompaniment to the much maligned “Run the World (Girls).” The video is set somewhere in Africa and features a throng of sexy ladies. Bey’s new album was recorded over the course of a year between 2009 and 2010. She worked with Egypt 80, the band that backed Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti. “I also found a lot of inspiration in ’90s R&B; Earth, Wind & Fire; DeBarge; Lionel Richie; Teena Marie,” Bey said in a Billboard interview. “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. I also gave myself more freedom to really belt out some songs, and bring soul singing back.”
