Double diva

When artists flirt with alter egos, its often a sign that theyre suffering from a pathological case of bad judgment, if not full-blown stupidity. The corpses of "characters" like Chris Gaines (Garth Brookss ill-advised alternative self), Bobby Digital (the more experimental side of Wu-Tang Clan rapper the RZA) and Pip, Clyde, Isabel, Santa and "Tori" (personae created by Tori Amos for her American Doll Posse album) lie riddled with imaginary bullets shot by critics and fans. They offer a reminder of why you shouldnt compromise a successful pop career by reinventing yourself as a fake character.

Beyonc may claim shes laying herself bare on the first disc, but she doesnt reveal any salacious details about what its like to wake up besideJay-Z every morning.

Yet thats precisely what multiple Grammy winner Beyonc Knowles has done with her latest venture, the ambitious double album I Am Sasha Fierce. To be sure, her concept is more of a divided-self kind of thing. The appropriately titled I Am disc is set up as a privileged glimpse inside the mind of the real Beyonc to quote the press release, its meant to reveal who she is "underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights, and underneath all the exciting star drama." Disc two, on the other hand, is the work of Knowless larger-than-life performance persona, bootylicious diva Sasha Fierce. If disc one is full of wine-and-candlelight power balladry, Sasha Fierce is a sweaty night in da club, as evinced by the punchy lead single, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).

Beyonc doesnt need elaborate schemes to get our attention. One of the most marketable acts in contemporary pop music, our girl topped the U.S. charts with her last album, BDay (2006). Irreplaceable, that records hit single, stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 straight weeks. Knowles has scored lucrative commercial deals (shes a face of LOreal cosmetics) and cemented her reputation as a passable actor with her role in the film Dreamgirls (2006). This December, she plays blues legend Etta James in the high-profile film Cadillac Records.

So, why bust out an alter ego? Id argue the move has more to do with the I Am half of the equation than anything involving Sasha Fierce. Both sides, of course, are personae. Beyonc may claim shes laying herself bare on the first disc, but she doesnt reveal any salacious details about what its like to wake up beside her rap-mogul husband, Jay-Z, every morning. (Not even Queen of All Media and sometime mentor Oprah could get Beyonc to dish about her marriage.) Instead, the so-called real Beyonc offers "empowering" lyrics about struggling through heartbreak, delivered with the kind of gummy melodies that are the domain of pallid ber-divas like Barbra and Celine.

Its quite removed from the Beyonc who sampled the Chi-Lites for Crazy in Love (2003), and further still from the Southern soul tradition in which her original group, Destinys Child, was rooted. I Ams lead single, If I Were a Boy, was co-written by Toby Gad, who has penned tunes for Hannah Montana and, um, Milli Vanilli, and is creepily reminiscent of One of Us, Joan Osbornes milquetoast 1995 breakout hit.

I Am is decidedly Wonderbread stuff, and its likely to make it onto the playlists of soccer moms, sad drag queens and seven-year-old moppets alike. For Beyonc, this means major radio play and crossover appeal that extends far beyond her urban-leaning fan base.

Beyoncs neat trick is harnessing the power of autobiography as a ruse. Autobiography has a rarefied aura of truth; it struts around sporting a T-shirt with "IM REAL" silkscreened across the chest. And that perceived "realness," coveted within hip-hop culture, is a way of placating devotees who might feel alienated by Knowless swerve toward flaccid, soul-free pop.

Beyonc is indisputably real in a technical sense. Shes a fundamentally more talented vocalist than the bulk of her peers, too many of whom rely on Auto-Tune to stay in key. (However, it would be foolish to assume, in an era of digital recording, that Beyonc eschews pitch-correction software entirely.)

Whats curious about this double-disc set is that, in many ways, Beyonc sounds more real as Sasha Fierce. But its not just her vocals, which are playful and brazen as they roll through Robyn-esque Euro-synthpop (Radio) and squelchy electro (on the porny Video Phone). While B throws in a few nods to good loving on I Am, the Sasha Fierce cuts at least seem like they could possibly relate to Knowless life the puffed-up cock of the walk celebrated in Ego, for example, bears a certain resemblance to one Jay-Z.

I wonder if separating her "authentic" self from her alter ego was, in part, a sly bait-and-switch move. For a woman who seems so intensely private, flagging Sasha Fierce as fake opens up a space in which Beyonc can comfortably reveal personal details without having listeners assume theyre drawn from real life. Perhaps the real Beyonc revels in being a female version of a hustla (Diva) or is so clingy that she cant breathe without having her man by her side (Scared of Lonely). Nobody knows for sure. Sasha Fierce is the one singing those songs.

Even if theres an element of psychic dissociation in splitting the two discs, it doesnt seem to be Knowless primary goal. By playing tag team with herself, she is able to target two disparate demographics, which allows her to increase her record sales. Single Ladies dropped while If I Were A Boy was still fresh and charting well, and the contrasting vibes of these two songs ensures maximum Beyonc play on a broad range of radio stations, from easy listening to hip hop.

Ultimately, the Sasha Fierce shtick provides a nifty angle for fans and pundits to fixate on. (Heck, Ive spent a good 1,000 words deconstructing it right here.) Is Sasha Fierce really separate from Knowless true self? Does I Am really let us get up close and personal? None of it really matters. If this gimmick results in even a fleeting blip in Beyonc-related buzz, it will have proved to be a successful promotional stunt, which is what pop celebrity is all about. To borrow a line from underground hip-hop MC Jean Grae, "F--- real; Im right."

I Am Sasha Fierce is in stores now.

Sarah Liss writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.