Songfacts®:

• The London Times November 13, 2008 asked Beyoncé if this tune about a confident man was based on her husband, Jay-Z. The Texan singer replied: "I am attracted to someone who is strong and confident." She then added laughing, "You're waiting for me to answer! Hahaha! I'm not saying anything. I'm just a smile!"
• A re-mixed version featuring Kanye West was released by Beyoncé in 2009. She explained to MTV News, with a small laugh, why she chose West to appear on the re-mix: "When you think about ego... I told Kanye this. 'You're the perfect person, Kanye.' I remember calling him and I was like, 'Uh, I want you to be on my remix.' And he was like, 'Oh, cool, what's the song about?' He was like, 'You have a song called "Ego" and you want me to do it?' He was like, "I love it, I'll do it!'"
  Beyoncé added that the fun vibe of this R&B number ended itself to a unique Kanye remix. She said: "One of the great things about the album is that it's so diverse. I really wanted people to get to know what I love and to introduce them to different types of music. I started out, obviously, in Destiny's Child singing R&B, and I still love it. So I had to make sure I still had those grooves on the album. And this song is fun, it's not to be taken too serious. It's very 'Sasha Fierce,' which is why it's on the Sasha Fierce disc. And it kind of talks about someone being very confident and having this swagger when they walk and when they talk, and that being one of the reasons why I'm attracted to them. And also saying he's not the only one, I have the swagger too. It's all in good fun," she added. "And [Kanye's] voice sounds so wonderful on it. He definitely has the confidence and he backs it up. And that's what this song is about."