Beyonce recorded 80 songs for surprise album

Beyonce recorded around 80 songs for her surprise new album before whittling the final track list down to just 14.

The pop superstar stunned fans when she unveiled a self-titled record earlier this month (13Dec13), with no prior marketing, publicity, or even a single preceding the release.

In a new YouTube.com video titled Part 3 Run 'N Gun, Beyonce reveals she hit the studio a year ago, before heading out on her Mrs. Carter world tour in April (13), and recorded a huge amount of tracks before choosing the final 14.

She explains, "When I started picking the songs that I gravitated towards, because I recorded about 80 songs, it was the songs that were more effortless to me that stuck around."

Among the tracks, which all feature music videos, is a song titled Drunk in Love, which she recorded with her husband Jay Z, and the singer admits she enjoyed working with the rapper again, adding, "Jay went in and he started flowing out his verse. We just kinda had a party. It wasn't about any ego, we weren't trying to make a hit record. We were just having fun, and I think you can hear that in the record."