Solange Knowles released a new album recently, and if you haven’t listened to it yet, I suggest you give it a try. Every song on Solange’s third studio album is a very soft, relaxing song, so this is the album you want to listen to if you plan on sitting down to spend time with yourself, or maybe get some work done. People have said that the album centers around “black survival in 2016” and the singer refers to her album her “project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing.” If you’re not sure exactly which songs you want to give a first listen, these are a few of my favorites in no particular order.
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Where Do We Go
The piano in the intro made me like this song from the beginning. It wouldn’t even have to have lyrics (it does by the way, and they’re great too) but the instrumental is enough to make me enjoy it. Though the song is really soft and makes you feel at ease, in an interview with her mother, it was described to be inspired by a racially charged event that caused her grandparents to be run out of town, so it can’t be said that the song has no message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbV7YuxsRA4
2. F.U.B.U
F.U.B.U stands for “For Us, By Us,” which is a hip hop clothing brand. If you read the lyrics to this song, it’s very clear it’s about the injustices in the black community, when describing the song Solange says she “named different incidents where I felt like society acted in fear of Black people and how that automatically escalates into violent, awful experiences along with the demonization of Black men and women” Also, BJ The Chicago Kid features on this song, and the end of the song is just him and Solange blessing me with their amazing voices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njp2vaBzgto
3. Don’t Touch My Hair
This one is the first one I listened to and it’s probably my most favorite of them all. This is the one of only two songs on the album that have a video, which I also would recommend watching. It’s not simply about hair, but it’s about setting boundaries, the lyrics go on to also say Don’t touch my soul; Don’t touch my crown; and Don’t touch my pride. Don’t Touch My Hair seems like a fitting title because (for some reason) black women’s hair is a controversial topic, but it’s a part of who a woman is, it’s not there for judgment or entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTtrnDbOQAU
4. Weary
I like everything about this song. When I first listened to it I wasn’t really sure if I liked it all that much, but after a few seconds it grew on me. I could say the same thing about every song, the background music is good enough to enjoy without her even singing over it. Which she does, which makes it better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Y5gk8J7XQ
5. Scales
OK I wasn’t sure if I liked this one at first either, but it’s so pretty. I was reading the comments to see what other people had to say about the song and someone said something about “beautiful chord progression,” I’m not really a critic so about all I could say about it is that it’s pretty, but yea, I agree with what that guy said. Also the lyrics in the chorus paint a really pretty picture .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PuEMSf-kLc
So this is Solange’s third album, and truthfully the last Solange song I’ve heard was the Proud Family theme song (Which may forever be one of my favorite songs)