Still as pretty as can be…..even better, it’s looking like she’s about to land her first No. 1 on the Billboard charts with her recently released album, “The Light Of The Sun.” Go Jill!

In advance of her upcoming album, “4,” Beyonce has begun gearing up her publicity machine starting with a cover on Billboard magazine.

Beyonce is an amazing human whose success we love to see, ’nuff said, but in many ways she reminds me of a well-regarded CEO of a major corporation. When it comes to running the company and producing, clearly she brings an elite talent to the table that puts others to shame, but still, what the world witnesses is always on message and there is little to nothing left to chance. Beyonce’s themes (and Rihanna’s and Lady Gaga’s) may be more provocative than those of your average corporation because they’re ”artists,” but still there’s a plan in place. In her case, the message is female empowerment and sisters having it all, which hey, you can’t knock that hustle and why would you even want to.

In advance of her “Pink Friday” album release next week, Nicki Minaj lands the cover of Billboard magazine. She’s been interviewed a ton recently so a lot in the article is just not new, but we do get  fresh details on Minaj being kicked out of Lil Wayne’s crew after she dropped out of the second half of his “I Am Music” tour in 2009. She says, ”I started to record by myself and I lost track of what I was doing and who I wanted to be. It wasn’t until I linked back up with Wayne that he gave me this speech. He said, ‘What happened? You were hot,’ and it just hurt me so much. I wanted to prove to him that I was still hot. It hurt my ego so bad that I went back with a vengeance.” Another image from the article and a Billboard video interview on the next page, in which she talks about early morning being her most productive time.

Rihanna lands the cover of Billboard magazine and chats inside about her shift from hard-edged, tough girl looks to softer, more feminine fashion, and says,  ”Trends are boring. It’s boring to see everyone doing the same thing.”Via Fashioncopious and Rihannadaily.