Go Behind the Scenes of Beyoncé's Racy 'Partition' Video with Jay Z

March 14, 2014 — -- When Beyoncé surprised the world with a new album in December, fans wondered about the amount of work that went into recording it.

Turns out, the accompanying music videos were equally labor-intensive.

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According to "Partition" director Jake Nava, the shoot was meant to be "even more risque than she's been in the past." It also required a lot of effort from Jay Z, who makes a brief appearance in a limo scene.

"We actually had to do it really quickly because he was in the middle of doing a tour in London and we were actually filming in Paris," Nava said. "We had to kind of, like, [have] a police escort waiting for him to jump out and get on a helicopter and do his gig."

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For the shoot, Nava said he tried to "create and capture a bit of genuine intimacy," which was in line with the singer's goal of presenting a different side of herself.

"I think that Beyoncé's always got a really good instinct of [how] she wants to have herself presented, and now more than ever," he said. "Although she's famous for becoming a mom recently, that doesn't stop you from being the sexiest woman you can be."