“Every person here is creative in their own right and there’s no limit to your creativity. When you work at different labels and management and production companies, and come to a place like this you’re struck by how creative the environment is. That really, really set it apart.

“The first time I met Beyonce I was interning, working for her musical director. I was picking up lunch, and when I was introduced to her, I wasn’t expecting her to be as chill as she was. She was a really kind spirit.

“When you work in this industry, you don’t want to come in and be that giddy, so you’re trying to compensate for it, not be too excited, but in that moment she was really sweet, very relatable. There’s no gimmick; you see the talent. It just springs from her.

“She’s the same Beyonce with her audience as she is with her family. She makes it clear that there’s a difference between business and personal, and she keeps those two things sacred. That’s what makes her audience latch on to her—they see the talent, and that’s all they see.”

Photograph by Ricardo Nelson