Beyonce's giving us a refreshing peek into her journey of creating her love-it-or-hate-it album 4. She was ready to get back to the fun of it all. And she shows us what inspired her to do so in tonight's MTV/BET mini-documentary called "Year of 4."

Mama Tina encouraged her to not let life pass her by.  So after being exhausted after the last world tour and constant video and photoshoots and interviews and travel, Bey says she decided to take a year to herself just to do fun things she's always wanted to do.  Like travel and spend time with family and friends.

She spoke on leaving her only manager she's ever had--her father.  And she revealed why saying, "a real change meant separating from him."

She's managing her team of "people" and paid for her own studio time herself instead of going through her label.  So the type of music she released is a result of her being free just to have fun.  There's a clip of her working on the "Girls" choreography with Frank Gatson and the African dancers Tofu Tofu. 

There's also a clip of her doing her album cover photoshoots in her and Jay's penthouse suite in Paris.  And we get an inside peek into how she tapped her hubby Jay, her cousin Angie, and her close friends to help her choose the 10-12 songs for the album. 

Check out the full video below in case you missed it:

Fab.