Curvier and sexier: Meet the new Beyonce

The singer has opened up about her pregnancy, the pressure to lose weight, and learning to appreciate her natural body.  

Vogue's latest cover celebrates American singer-songwriter Beyonce's life, body and heritage, in her own words. 

In a self-authored essay with the mag, Queen B has opened up like never before.

'After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look,' she wrote in the personal essay, revealing that she put pressure on herself to lose all the baby weight in three months by scheduled a small tour.

'Looking back, that was crazy,' she adds. 'I was still breastfeeding when I performed the Revel shows in Atlantic City in 2012.'

'I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month.

'My health and my babies' health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section,' she explained.

'After the C-section, my core felt different. It had been major surgery. 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,' Beyonce added. 

'To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I'm in no rush to get rid of it. I think it's real.'  

Beyonce, who is the first African-American to feature on a Vogue cover, had full control over the cover including the pics, captions and also the text for her essay. 

The cover has been shot by 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell, who is the first African-American photographer to shoot a Vogue cover. He is also the youngest photographer to do so.

Talking about choosing to work with Tyler, Beyonce wrote in the mag: 'It's important to me that I help open doors for younger artists.

'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.'

'This is as much about forming firsts as it is about leaving legacies. Here's @beyonce by me for the September 2018 issue of American Vogue. Honored to have worked with such an icon,' added Tyler on his Instagram page.