Beyonce's Global Domination -- 'Run the World (Girls)' Video

Posted May 18th 2011 9:55PM by Benjy Eisen
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With the end of the world rapidly approaching, at least according to some, Beyonce's 'Run the World (Girls)' comes just in time for the songstress to take charge of a dying planet or, you know, at least save the ever-ailing music industry. All hyperbole and joking aside, "Mrs. Z" premiered her hotly anticipated new track and accompanying video -- which, truth be told, does have apocalyptic imagery -- on 'American Idol' on Wednesday, May 18. Directed by Francis Lawrence ('Water for Elephants'), the cinematic piece features a side of Beyonce we haven't really seen before. Immediately after the televised broadcast, the video premiered online -- check it out below.

"It's definitely riskier than something a bit more...simple," Beyonce told Billboard.com earlier this week. "I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic."

And it is all of those things. But while Beyonce originally claimed that she had invented a new genre of music for her upcoming album, '4,' she has since clarified that the release, including this new single, just represents a departure from the mainstream R&B path she's taken in the past. If 'Run the World (Girls)' is any indication of the rest of the new album, she certainly is headed into the future with a homemade fusion that cuts across R&B, pop, rock and even electronica. Indeed, it's a brave new world for her. And she's ready to run it.

Watch Beyonce's 'Run the World (Girls)' Video

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