As you all know, I've already decided that I am loving Solange's new song, "I Decided," but I've now decided that I am just loving Solange and am very much anticipating her album, SoL-Angel & the Hadley Street Dreams which is due out August 26th. I can't imagine what it must have been like for Solange...growing up being in the background all the time, constantly being compared to her ever evolving superstar sister, and knowing she was just as talented but where did she fit in? Daddy Knowles' makes her a background dancer, just to keep her involved, and then she releases a solo album that was well received but always viewed as the little sister of the star and she is no where near as talented, as pretty, and should prolly stick to background dancing. I don't think anyone stopped to actually really listen to Solange. Yeah, I liked her one song, but I know I am guilty as charged. I knew she wrote and sang the theme song to "The Proud Family" (which I used to catch er'now and then), and I knew she wrote songs for her sister and DC but I would think to myself, they got Angela Beyince (Yonce' cousin and assistant) in the liner notes as a writer....I'm sure they all added a "Oh boy" in the chorus and now they are all song writers. Must be nice.
When Solange got married and was getting her pregnant belly rubbed in the DC "Solider" video I just shook my head and thought of how she is crying out for attention and still no one gives a shit. People only even care about her son because he is Yonce's nephew. She just kind of dissolves into the background. But not anymore. Solange is stepping out and making a name for herself and I love it. I love that she realizes that she can't do anything about who her sister is and the comparisons and people hating are going to continue no matter what she does. I love that she isn't trying to be her sister and isn't trying to go the radio friendly route. She is going to be Solange, and you either love it or you don't. I love it and I'm proud of her.
Here is a snippet of a song off of her album....hotness: Sandcastle Disco
And what sparked my whole Solange revelation was reading some of her interview with Sister2Sister magazine. She is just so mature, so secure with who she is, and the girl is really talented. I am rooting for her big time!
Solange on Living In Idaho with her ex-husband:
My ex-husband was finishing school there and I was totally down! I loved the thought of going to the country, and it was such a good move for me as a mom because the very first year of my son’s life I had to sit down and focus and not have any distractions–not from work, not from aunts, not from nannies, not from babysitters. So we have a bond that I don’t think could have been there as much maybe if I was in Houston with a thousand aunts and Mom and Dad and everyone there wanting to pitch in. Idaho made me realize that I can be in any environment and survive. (laughs) And I didn’t realize this, as a woman–that I would step up that much to the plate. I literally cooked and cleaned. I definitely was able to be secure in myself with just staying home and doing whatever I needed to do to be a wife and mommy. And in Idaho that’s all I had time to do ’cause there’s nothing else to do.
Solange on if she regrets having a child at the age of 18:
Oh, absolutely not. I have been so blessed, number one, that my son is the coolest kid ever. Of course, that first year of ‘non-sleeping’ and just being dedicated to him had tough parts. But as far as motherhood goes, it’s been a blast for me. A lot of people hear that answer and they have doubts, but when you have a child, I think it takes a really unemotional person not to–no matter what age. And I think that emotional attachment, there’s nothing out of it that someone could regret. I haven’t had an experience where i’ve been blue. I think just the fact that I have so much family and the fact that my son’s father is still involved in his life…I don’t know how (being blue) feels so I can’t really give any advice other than that, as a mother, your goal is always to make sure that your child is the happiest.
Solange on How she was able to keep her personal business (her divorce) out of the limelight:
You don’t hear my sister really speaking about her relationship, and I never really spoke about mine. And I still don’t go into detail about anything, just because I feel like music is definitely our lives–and all of the other career choices that we’ve made. And of course it comes along with the territory, but our personal lives don’t have anything to do with our careers. Just like if anyone worked at a job as a marketing director at a firm, it wouldn’t be in their qualifications to share their personal life, so I don’t feel like I should have to. And that’s something my parents have been really big on instilling in us. I just always try to keep a positive take on life, and I think that’s how I was able to keep my divorce quiet, (laughs) because I was positive and there wasn’t any bitterness and I wasn’t going around badmouthing or trash-talking anyone. I live a very, very low key life. In Idaho, there wasn’t any paparazzi walking around there. And then in Houston it’s the same thing, I go to drop my son off at school at about 10 every day and go to the studio from 10 till 4, and go to dinner or make dinner at home. And that’s pretty much it. I’m going to have to adjust to being back out there when this record comes out.
Solange on Her Album Title and How It Relates To Her Father:
For me, my father– a lot of people don’t know that he came from a really small town, Gadsden, Alabama. He grew up very poor and he had a dream for his life and his family. He beat a lot of odds; he came from a family of 10 and just to see him–hearing the story about him starting off with nothing and building this empire, building his future; it just started off as a dream for him. That’s sort of what this record has been for me. I’ve always wanted to do a record that was organic for me, and that was my dream from day one. I was always scared. I always had pressure from the label or from people to create a certain kind of persona. But with this record, I went to Hadley Street (which is the street where Mathew Knowles Music World organization is located) one day and I wrote this song called Heartbreak after a friend of mine passed away when I was 17. Then that next week I found out I was pregnant. I went to the studio and I just started freestyling with a jazz band, and I came up with a great record and it made me feel things in music that I had never felt before And it was on that street. This record portrays my life. This is the first piece of creative art by me that shows I am woman and i’ve gone through things that women do, and i’ve gone trhough real life situations that don’t involve dancing and partying and dating: ‘Boy, I like you. Do you like me too? I’m feeling you.’ (laughs) So I definitely think that’s portrayed through the record.
Solange on Taking over Her Father’s Empire in Five Years:
My father has always wanted Music World to stay in the family. This was something he started from in an extra bedroom in our house, and now, on Hadley Street, he has 30 employees all over the United States and London. It’s very important for him to keep that legacy within, and i’ve always been the one out of all us girls wanting to go to the office, wanting to sit in A&R meetings, wanting to research marketing and keep up with the industry, so naturally my father has always said, ‘When I want to retire, you’d better run my company well.’ I’d love, love to run Music World one day. My only fear is that is it’s really hard to run a label when you have such an artistic ear…My father thinks he’s going to retire at 60, which is where the five years come into play, but I seriously doubt it.
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If you even buy CDs anymore, how often do you take the time to read the writing credits in the liner notes? Well if you are one of those that actually pays attention to such details, then you should already be very familiar with Keri Hilson. She has written for everybody and their cousin's mother. Mary J., Britney, Puff, Usher, J. Lopez and the list goes on. She has done vocal guest spots on a few hits so if you didn't know she was writing most of your favorite bangers, you've seen and heard her. You know that Keri is hot to def -- um, have ya'll seen her in Usher's new "Love in This Club" video with her see through shiny body suit on doin some type of acrobatic move around Usher's neck and working that back arch and booty pout -- and she can sing. For real.