Museum-worthy art that heals, homing in on the Black female experience—especially her own.
A Seat at the Table
Solange
93
“Fall in your ways so you can wake up and rise,” Solange sings in the intro track of her third album. The line encapsulates the journey of the then 30-year-old artist—formerly known as Beyoncé Knowles’ little sister—emerging from an eight-year hiatus from music and recognised as a bona fide visionary in her own right.
“Look at the control that she has, the power in the nuance, in the quiet. That’s just as powerful as loud horns and belting.”
Lizzo
On cuts like “F.U.B.U.”, Solange centres Black empowerment; on “Don’t Wish Me Well”, she pores over personal growing pains and what is left behind. Eight interludes weave her stories together, featuring narration from her parents, Mathew and Tina Knowles, as well as Master P. Other collaborators include Lil Wayne, Sampha, The-Dream and Raphael Saadiq, who initially sent Solange the instrumental for what would become “Cranes in the Sky” and went on to produce eight of the album’s tracks. The 21-song set is museum-worthy art that heals, homing in on the Black female experience, inextricable from Solange’s own struggles and triumphs.