Solange | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Solange debuted in the early 2000s with pop-oriented contemporary R&B; material and has since grown into one of the millenniums more adventurous, expectation-defying artists. The singer, songwriter, and producer steadily emerged from the background of Destinys Child, her sister Beyoncés group, and broke through commercially and critically as a solo artist with the colorful retro-soul flavorings of Sol-Angel & the Hadley St. Dreams (2008). Since then, she has released A Seat at the Table (2016) and When I Get Home (2019), simultaneously potent and tender works reflecting upon the effects of systemic racism and the comfort of romantic bliss, among other subjects. The former LP was particularly successful, topping the Billboard 200 and leading to a Grammy award for Best R&B; Performance for "Cranes in the Sky." In addition to recalling Minnie Riperton and Janet Jackson with her mellifluous vocals, Solange has been fond of mixing it up with the dissimilar likes of Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane, while she and her fellow producers have drawn from a multitude of styles including classic soul, ambient electronica, new wave, and chopped-and-screwed hip-hop. Houston native Solange Knowles studied dance and theater as a child. She made her singing debut at age five at an amusement park and within a few years started writing songs. As her father managed her sister Beyoncés emergent Destinys Child, she replaced one of the R&B; groups background dancers on short notice, and during the next two years continued to perform with them. By the end of 2002, Solange had also taken her first steps as a recording artist. Among her earliest works are the theme song for the animated television series The Proud Family and a contribution to the soundtrack of The Master of Disguise. She made a featured appearance on her sisters "Hey Goldmember," heard on the soundtrack of Austin Powers in Goldmember, as well as on Kelly Rowlands "Simply Deep," which she also co-wrote. Signed to her fathers Music World label with distribution from major-label Columbia, Solange also released her first solo single, "Feelin You," which cracked the Billboards R&B;/hip-hop chart and narrowly missed the top of the publications club chart. Solanges first album, the pop-R&B; set Solo Star, arrived in January 2003 and debuted in the Top 50 of the Billboard 200. Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and Pharrell Williams were among the star-studded collaborators, as was Beyoncé, who co-produced a handful of cuts. For the next few years, Solange took acting roles in films such as Johnson Family Vacation and Bring It On: All or Nothing, and wrote and produced songs for Destinys Child and a number of the groups solo projects. Most notably, she co-wrote her sisters "Get Me Bodied" (number 46 pop, number 10 R&B;/hip-hop) and "Upgrade U" (number 59 pop, number 11 R&B;/hip-hop). A creative breakthrough was made with Solanges second album, Sol-Angel & the Hadley St. Dreams, which materialized in August 2008 -- over five years after Solo Star. Both more unique and commercially successful than its predecessor, Sol-Angel was steeped in mid- to late-60s soul with an individualistic twist and peaked in the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. Five of its singles peaked within the Top Ten of Billboards club chart. Two of them, "Sandcastle Disco" and "T.O.N.Y.," reached number one. Despite how well it did commercially -- its sales doubled that of the debut -- Solange subsequently went independent. The move was unsurprising, perhaps, given that the album also contained a song titled "Fuck the Industry." After she signed with Terrible Records, co-founded by Grizzly Bear member Chris Taylor, she released the funkier yet more new wave-inspired "Losing You" single, as well as its parent EP, True, during the fourth quarter of 2012. Written and produced with Dev Hynes, the songs took her even farther away from the prevailing sounds of commercial R&B.; The following year, Solange established the Saint label with Saint Heron, a compilation of material by emerging artists including Kelela, Sampha, and Starchild, as well as the comparatively established likes of Cassie and Jhené Aiko. (Many of these figures worked on Solanges future solo releases). The album also contained a new song by Solange, but she took her time to complete her third solo full-length. In September 2016, A Seat at the Table arrived through Columbia. Raphael Saadiq, Dave Longstreth, and Adam Bainbridge were among the songwriting and production collaborators, while Lil Wayne and Kelela added prominent guest vocals. Calmly cathartic and considerably at odds with mainstream R&B;, the progressive set promoted healing and empowerment in response to racial oppression. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Standout single "Cranes in the Sky" (number 74 pop, number 28 R&B;/hip-hop) won that years Grammy award for Best R&B; Performance. Sessions with an extensive cast including Pharrell Williams, the-Dream, John Key, and Gucci Mane yielded the comparatively lighter and leisurely When I Get Home. Released in March 2019, Solanges fourth proper album peaked at number seven. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 5 Title: Solo Star Released: 2003-01-21 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:08:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Feelin’ You, Part II (04:09) 2 Ain’t No Way (03:47) 3 Dance With You (03:06) 4 Get Together (04:18) 5 Crush (04:36) 6 True Love (03:51) 7 So Be It (04:10) 8 Feel Good Song (03:31) 9 Wonderland (04:05) 10 Feelin’ You, Part I (03:24) 11 Just Like You (03:39) 12 Thinkin’ About You (04:06) 13 Solo Star (03:16) 14 I Used To (03:30) 15 Sky Away (04:00) 16 Naive (03:48) 17 This Song’s for You (03:25) 18 This Could Be Love (04:03) |
| Solo Star : Allmusic album Review : Manager and record company president Mathew Knowles, having established Destinys Child -- featuring his daughter, Beyoncé Knowles -- as the top female vocal group of the early 21st century, has gone on to try to build an empire that includes solo releases from each of the group members, an acting career for Beyoncé, and, now, the premature emergence of younger daughter Solange as a Solo Star, or so the album title would have it. Executive producer Knowles has surrounded Solange with a bevy of trendy writer/producers, including the Underdogs, Platinum Status, Timbaland, the Neptunes, and Rockwilder, along with such guest stars as B2K and Lil Romeo. The result is a state-of-the-art contemporary R&B; album full of big beats, catchy choruses, and gimmicky production effects. But the nominal star of the show is lost somewhere in the mix. It doesnt help that the 16-year-old has a thin, undeveloped voice that is easily overwhelmed. The way to deal with that, of course, is to cut back on the busy production. Solange impresses most when the arrangements are simpler, such as on "Crush" and "Wonderland," when she doesnt have to work as hard to be heard. But there arent enough tracks like those on the album to allow the listener to tell whether there is any talent here, or whether Solange is just another cog in her daddys entertainment machine. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 5 Title: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams Released: 2008-08-18 Tracks: 13 Duration: 54:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 God Given Name (02:51) 2 T.O.N.Y. (03:53) 3 Dancing in the Dark (03:57) 4 Wouldve Been the One (04:31) 5 Sandcastle Disco (04:28) 6 I Decided, Part 1 (04:13) 7 Valentines Day (03:26) 8 6 O’Clock Blues (03:37) 9 Ode to Marvin (03:15) 10 I Told You So (03:57) 11 Cosmic Journey (06:12) 12 This Bird (06:07) 13 I Decided, Part 2 (04:01) |
| Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams : Allmusic album Review : Solo Star, Solanges debut, lacked character. Not without a small clutch of memorable songs, much of it was nonetheless generic, containing little to separate it from the average R&B; album fronted by an up-and-coming performer. Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, released five years later, is an entirely different affair -- fun, silly, slightly eccentric and, most importantly, fearless. Steeping an album in classic Motown and other R&B; sounds of the late 60s and early 70s may not be the wildest maneuver in 2008, but throughout Sol-Angel, there is a kind of frolicsome adventurousness that is singular and undeniable, even when Solange lets loose with the sourness and addresses her false public image. In spots, it sags, and a couple tracks seem more like sketches than neatly bundled songs, yet its one of the years more entertaining and easily enjoyable R&B; releases, fronted by someone who does not take herself all that seriously, someone who is slightly more concerned with raw emotion and clowning around than technical prowess and polished product. Solange hasnt merely taken Stevie Wonder and Minnie Ripertons advice to "Take a little trip through your mind and explore it." She has inhabited the space, converting into a combination rumpus room/whimsically ornamented meadow/unmanned Hitsville U.S.A., where she can be herself, pull all the strings, and make her album, whether that entails paying tribute to Whats Going On-era Marvin Gaye ("Ode to Marvin"), ringing Lamont Dozier (the Mark Ronson-produced, Dap-Kings-sampling "6 OClock Blues"), rewriting Martha & the Vandellas "Heatwave" ("I Decided"), or collaborating with Cee-Lo and Soulshock & Karlin on a laser-laced shaker that is nothing if not clever ("Im a cool ol Jane with a skip on my feet/I play as tough as nails with my heart on my sleeve/Im nothing but a sandcastle/Dont blow me away"). Most surprisingly, she uses Boards of Canadas typically downcast and alluring "Slow This Bird Down" as a platform for a cathartic kiss-off, the albums true finale, one of three songs not soaked in bouncing pop-soul: "Im not in denial/Im not suicidal/Not an alcoholic/Im not out here hoin/So just shut...the fuck...up." Despite the mood and purpose, the song -- because of its invitingly insular nature -- is just as representative of the album as the ones that are dressed in handclaps and horns. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 5 Title: True Released: 2012-11-27 Tracks: 7 Duration: 27:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Losing You (04:20) 2 Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work (04:57) 3 Locked in Closets (03:22) 4 Lovers in the Parking Lot (04:22) 5 Dont Let Me Down (04:13) 6 Looks Good With Trouble (01:30) 7 Bad Girls (Verdine version) (05:10) |
 | Album: 4 of 5 Title: A Seat at the Table Released: 2016-09-30 Tracks: 21 Duration: 51:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Rise (01:42) 2 Weary (03:14) 3 Interlude: The Glory Is in You (00:18) 4 Cranes in the Sky (04:11) 5 Interlude: Dad Was Mad (00:46) 6 Mad (03:55) 7 Don’t You Wait (04:06) 8 Interlude: Tina Taught Me (01:15) 9 Don’t Touch My Hair (04:18) 10 This Moment (00:49) 11 Where Do We Go (04:24) 12 Interlude: For Us by Us (00:53) 13 F.U.B.U. (05:14) 14 Borderline (An Ode to Self Care) (03:03) 15 Interlude: I Got So Much Magic, You Can Have It (00:27) 16 Junie (03:06) 17 Interlude: No Limits (00:40) 18 Don’t Wish Me Well (04:16) 19 Interlude: Pedestals (00:58) 20 Scales (03:39) 21 Closing: The Chosen Ones (00:42) |
| A Seat at the Table : Allmusic album Review : Solange Knowles started writing her third album in New Iberia, Louisiana, a town where her maternal grandparents lived until a Molotov cocktail was thrown into their home. That setting helps explain how A Seat at the Table turned out drastically different from Knowles previous output. Theres no revisitation of beachy retro soul-pop and new wave akin to "Sandcastle Disco" or "Losing You." Nothing has the humor of "Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work" or the bluntness of "Fuck the Industry." There certainly arent any love songs in the traditional sense. Instead, surrounded by a collaborative throng that includes Raphael Saadiq, Dave Longstreth, and Adam Bainbridge, Knowles composed and produced alleviating pro-black reflections of frustration and anger. They regard persistent dehumanizing burdens dealt to her and other persons of color in a country where many are hostile to the phrase "Black Lives Matter" and the equality-seeking organization of the same name. Remarkably, tender elegance is the mode for much of the albums duration, as heard in the exquisitely unguarded "Cranes in the Sky" and dimly lit left-of-center pop-R&B; hybrids "Dont You Wait" and "Dont Wish Me Well." Those songs crave release and reject character assassination and stasis while hinting at inevitable fallout. Their restrained ornamentation and moderate tempos are perfectly suited for Knowles, an undervalued vocalist who never aims to bring the house down yet fills each note with purposeful emotion. When the rhythms bounce and the melodies brighten, as they do during a short second-half stretch, the material remains rooted in profound grief and mystified irritation. In "Borderline," a chugging machine beat and a lilting piano line form the backdrop of a scene where Knowles and her partner tune out the world for the sake of their sanity. Then, after Nia Andrews and Kelly Rowlands half minute of proud harmonic affirmation, along comes "Junie," a squiggling jam on which André 3000 makes like the tracks namesake (Ohio Players and Parliament legend Junie Morrison), where Knowles delivers a sharp metaphorical smackdown of a cultural interloper like its merely an improvised postscript. All of the guests, from Lil Wayne to Kelela, make necessary appearances. The same goes for Knowles parents and Master P, who are present in the form of short interludes in which they discuss segregation, self-reliance, cultural theft, and black pride. These segues shrewdly fasten a cathartic yet poised album, one that weighs a ton and levitates. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 5 Title: When I Get Home Released: 2019-03-01 Tracks: 19 Duration: 38:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples AlbumCover | 1 Things I Imagined (01:59) 2 S McGregor (interlude) (00:16) 3 Down With the Clique (03:42) 4 Way to the Show (02:55) 5 Can I Hold the Mic (interlude) (00:21) 6 Stay Flo (02:55) 7 Dreams (02:28) 8 Nothing Without Intention (interlude) (00:23) 9 Almeda (03:56) 10 Time (Is) (03:39) 11 My Skin My Logo (02:55) 12 We Deal With the Freak’n (intermission) (00:31) 13 Jerrod (03:02) 14 Binz (01:51) 15 Beltway (01:41) 16 Exit Scott (interlude) (01:01) 17 Sound of Rain (03:05) 18 Not Screwed! (interlude) (00:22) 19 I’m a Witness (01:51) |