Who better else to interview you after a pivotal shift in your career than someone who’s been around for it all? That’s the route Solange took for her latest cover and feature in Interview Magazine. In December, Solange got personal on the phone with her big sis, Beyoncé, to talk about the challenges and achievements of a lifetime.
First things first, I absolutely love Solange. Always. All ways. She’s my favorite Knowles and a part of my soul left my body when it was announced that she would be performing at this year’s ESSENCE Festival, knowing I wouldn’t be in attendance. That is unless I can holograph myself or finesse the game to be in New Orleans and back home to be a bridesmaid in my linesister’s wedding the same weekend. I am desperately hoping she plans a ‘A Seat At The Table’ tour considering the last time I saw her was years ago in Chicago.
B asks Solo all types of questions, giving us insights into her musical influences, what the song title “Cranes in the Sky” means, where her inspiration comes from, womanhood and much more.
“It was very intentional that I sang as a woman who was very in control, a woman who could have this conversation without yelling and screaming, because I still often feel that when black women try to have these conversations, we are not portrayed as in control, emotionally intact women, capable of having the hard conversations without losing that control.”
“One of my [Beyoncé] proudest moments as a sister was when I was able to introduce you to your hero, Nas, and you cried and acted a fool.”
“I remember thinking of it as an analogy [speaking on “Cranes in the Sky”] for my transition—this idea of building up, up, up that was going on in our country at the time, all of this excessive building, and not really dealing with what was in front of us.”
“Aaliyah was also a huge influence and has always been. Her vocal arrangements with Static Major are some of my favorite in the world.”
While reading this interview, I imagined it to be similar to that of the McClure Twins, the adorable twin sisters taking the Internet streets by storm and causing a womb fire with their adorableness.