” Throughout the record are spoken interludes by Master P of ’90s juggernaut No Limit Records and her parents Mathew Knowles and Tina Lawson: on their respective histories, of building a successful label despite executive resistance, of being bussed into white neighborhoods with the KKK standing by, of being questioned for their pride. Its title evokes Langston Hughes’s “ I, Too, Sing America. All these were the subject of an essay Solange wrote earlier this year : a statement, prompted by having trash and half-eaten limes thrown at her and her family at a Kraftwerk concert, that has coalesced into her third studio album, A Seat at the Table. Overshadowing both, of course, are several years in which the lingering undercurrents of racism in America have ceased to be undercurrents. After True came a falling-out, since mended, between Knowles and Hynes over her contributions to the album. Her sister, Beyoncé, released two huge albums, both explicit statements of black artistry and interiority yet at the same time, the tabloids came calling and Solange was put in the position-yet again, after a decade-of introducing herself as an artist to an incurious audience who would see her otherwise.

The record is tonally complex, balancing joy with rueful, winter-hued reflection, but its subsequent reductive canonization deemed it a party record somehow indebted to labelmate Grizzly Bear.Ī lot has happened since 2012. Dreams was somewhat frequently called an R&B novelty similarly, True, released in 2012, remains critically acclaimed but pigeonholed by critics with minimal R&B backgrounds. Her debut, Solo Star, has been criticized for being more a producer’s than an artist’s showcase, despite Solange being under 18 when it was recorded-how many albums by underage artists (and in the early ‘00s there were a lot) earned their performers a career asterisk? Follow-up Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Solange Knowles has released about as misunderstood (and excellent) records as she’s released records at all.

Cranes in the sky acapella