BEYONCE is worth hundreds of millions, is married to JAY-Z and is the best-connected woman in the music industry.

Yet she has turned to a Cockney called BIG DAVE to mastermind her new album.

Dave Taylor, also known by DJ name SWITCH, is one of the top producers but looks like a ginger brickie. At least Jay-Z needn't worry about Beyonce spending long hours in the studio with him.

Switch has worked on a raft of songs for Glastonbury headliner Beyonce, who wants to seriously re-invent herself when her fourth album is released later this year.

Meteoric rise ... Dave Taylor aka Switch

Switch has climbed to the top of the music industry in just a few years.

He made his name DJ-ing at clubs including Fabric in London, then with his house track A Bit Patchy. After remixing for LILY ALLEN and FATBOY SLIM, he made beats for M.I.A., SANTOGOLD and CHRISTINA AGUILERA.

Then he teamed up with pal DIPLO to form electro group MAJOR LAZER.

That's when Beyonce put in the call asking Dave and Diplo to work on her genre-mashing next collection.

Despite her last album, 2008's I Am... Sasha Fierce selling seven million copies, she wants her new one to be edgier.

She said: "I'm not in a box. The new record is not R&B;, not typically pop, not rock. It's just everything I love mixed together."

It's all change for Beyonce. This week she parted ways with her dad, MATTHEW KNOWLES, as her manager. He had guided her career since she was a teen. She has also hired cult rap group ODD FUTURE and noise-pop duo SLEIGH BELLS to work with her.

It's no surprise names from outside pop want to team up with her. Creating just one track for the diva could earn a producer or songwriter over £100,000 in royalties in only a year.

Not bad for a former dance DJ called Dave.