How Solange Is Taking The Road Less Traveled To Success–And Winning

October 10th, 2012 - By La Truly

I was pleasantly surprised last week when a link to Solange Knowles’s new song and video, “Losing You” shimmied down my Twitter timeline. I’ve been a fan of hers since Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams so I eagerly clicked the link and waited for some musical magic.

With vibrant mixed ’70s patterns and colors against a South African backdrop, the video gave me everything I wanted and then some. Solange sings in a retro tone to a retro beat about losing the love of her life, all the while partying out with friends, having the time of her life in Cape Town.

Though I was already a Solange supporter, I started to lean into her work even more after watching this video because I was intrigued by the concept. I learned something pretty awesome. According to an interview with The Fader, Solange explained her fascination with and use of the unique subculture of the Sapeurs in her video:

“They’ve been able to just sort of create this movement and have the foundation of it be about, you know, having style and grace and edict and portraying that in every way. It’s not just about the fashion, a Sapeur must know how to speak French, a Sapeur must know how to tie his tie the right way, he must have perfect posture, just that classic edict.”

In the same interview Solange went into more detail explaining how she was able to make the video possible through hard work and the generosity of friends and family, giving she and her friends their frequent flyer miles to make the trip to South Africa possible. She is signed with indie label Terrible Records and seems to have a very clear idea of who she is and what she wants: A creative young woman who simply wants to make honest music.

Solange also recently took off her spokeswoman hat for natural bath and beauty products line, Carol’s Daughter citing differences of opinion when it came to what message was being sent out to the masses.

“I was constantly fighting for the right message to be heard. The message that the way we wear our hair is a personal choice, there’s no right or wrong way; one way doesn’t make us more intelligent, or more superficial, and everyone makes that choice for very different reasons,” Solange told Lurve magazine in their latest issue.

At 26-years-old, she seems to be more self-reflective and sure of what she wants more than most 26-year-olds I know, including myself. Whether it’s her hair or her music, Solange obviously blazes her own trail, never allowing the media, big business or misplaced hateration to deter her from her goal: To simply be and create REAL. Her journey to finding herself from dropping her freshman album in her teen, which was clearly heavily (if not totally) influenced by the label to now putting together a third album with an independent label where creative freedom is all hers is refreshing to say the least. Not many artists have the guts to go against the grain and stay inspired. Most look for the easiest way to cop a Billboard hit whether it is a musical masterpiece or not. Solange seems to have a deep passion for being original, inspired and diverse. And why should she be anything else? With a sister who has solidified herself as one of the world’s biggest musical icons, Solange could easily have crumbled under the pressure of living up to that image. Instead she paved her own way as a prime example of how one doesn’t have to do what the majority does in order to be a hit, or to be beautiful, beloved or respected. She went natural, dresses in mixed prints and far out ’70s style, signed with an indie label and shot an amazing video in South Africa with a whole subculture of fly South Africans! She could have stuck with a weave and overly-sexualized lyrics to make her mark, but she took the path less traveled, carving out her own space. I think that deserves a more finely tuned listen and a closer look.

La Truly is a late-blooming Aries whose writing is powered by a lifetime of anecdotal proof that awkward can transform to awesome and fear can cast its crown before courage. La seeks to encourage thought, discussion and change. Her blog: www.hersoulinc.com and Twitter: @AshleyLaTruly.  

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  • dbatt001

    R-E-S-P-E-C-T IND-A-VIDU-A-LITY! Sang it!

  • KJ23

    I feel bad for Solange, because it seems like no matter how well she does, she’s still going to be either compared to her sister or trying to be like her. She’s really talented, but it seems like people don’t want to give her a fair chance without comparing her to Beyonce.

  • C

    It’s her thing, so I can fault her for wanting to do her own thing. For the longest she’s seemed a lot more resentful of being in Bey’s shadow than welcoming of the spotlight from it. I don’t even think she alludes to her last name often, although we all know she’s Beyonce’s sister. If aligning herself with the indie movement is what she wants then I can’t fault her. Although, I do think she’s always going to have that tie to Beyonce, and clearly people are either going to love it or hate it.

    • C

      *can’t

  • Gye Nyame

    Someone enlighten me and tell me why she is “successful”, w/o being Beyonce’s sister being at the top of the list. You know what develops talent…hunger, and a deep respect for one’s craft. I’m sorry but she has never lived as a hungry artist, where every decision you make can make or break your career. As far as I’m concerned this is an expensive hobby bankrolled by her wealthy family. BTW I’ve seen better singing displayed at a 7th grade talent show.

  • brooke

    I see the argument but I agree with the article. Sure enough Solange comes from wealth, a single mother…..still you could always catch glimpses of who she really was. Whether it was her firing off at the mouth, going against the industry, protecting her family…early on there were signs of who we know her as today. It’s been a long road for Solange. How many of us actually thought she had a chance of getting out of Beyonce’s shadow ?

    However she did that and at a gradual pace. It wasn’t overnight.I like the way she never gave up. She took time to go back and establish and find herself. She made it happened. She took her life into her own hands and built something. I mean this chick started off djn. Come on. How many of you would have actually thought of that ? She went from a artist/actor to djn. Back to the drawing board. She built herself up off that. The next thing you know she was finding her style, cutting her hair, entering the world of high fashion, getting back to music all while seeming to be a fantastic mom . She did that. Not Matthew, not Beyonce. Didn’t Matt drop her from the label ? She made her situation work and I can’t think of too many of today’s artist who could make this happen let alone a single mother in the shadows of big sis. Give her,her props. Of course there is nothing new under the sun so who cares if she invented something or not. Nothing new under the sun and that’s straight from the father ! At least her nothing new is something this generation hasn’t seen ! Everyone else is doing the same old nothing new. Her nothing new is diff !

    • monirorette

      Djing is a new trend among socialite. Emma de Caunes is doing it in France, I know you don’t know her, but that’s common. Because that is something easy to learn. And as Solange had connections among the music industry thanks to her sister and her father, she had access to the VIP places, and then to the Djing set. Let’s be honest, even before learning how to DJing, Solange had the money to hire the best ones to her birthdays parties.

      • brooke

        I wouldn’t have thought of djn. Chick like me would have thought I was too good to go from artist slash actor, Beyonce sister to djn…what ??? Moi, she…*in my Tamar’s 3rd person voice* lol. Point is it worked and she built up into her own off of it ! Me as Solange there may have been 100 things I would have thought of trying and failed at before djn. She had a plan and she worked it ! I ain’t mad at her !

        • brooke

          actress

  • monitorette

    First of all, the ‘sapeurs’ is not a South African subculture: that is a concept invented by members of the Congolese community in Belgium. These are Congolese men who love the clothes, who love mixing clothes, who love talking about clothes, and that dates back to the 90s.
    Then,”Losing you’ is a track well sung & well produced, but there is nothing new to it.
    So really with no hate, I wonder why you’re swooning over it!? You may have a very poor knowledge in nowadays music, on the likes of Rebbeca Ferguson for instance.
    Also, yes, Solange is a 26-year-old different from others of her age, because Solange has been surrounded by the wealth brought by the success of her sister Beyonce and because his father has created his own record label.
    And finally, I wish Solange all the best as I also enjoy her music, but we cannot label as ‘Success’ the state she’s in.

    • OSHH

      Pretty much! I’m kinda tired of her to be honest or at least the way certain blogs sweat her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • keke

      Girl you could not have said it any better. IF beyonce had no fame and she wasn’t from a wealthy family where she did not have to work…. she would have been a single young mother like many not here. I am not knocking her I am saying … she has been able to test and try different looks until one finally stuck and one sound sounded right most artist dont have that opportunity. They get one chance and that is it. She comes from money different situation…. I get so tired of people praising her for going to Africa and taking pictures and coming back here to the states as if she so “brand new” please Amil larrieaux, the roots and many other artist in this genre have talked about the same thing…. This girl will continue to always be relevant and get endorsements and be a fashion icon cause she has the money!!!!!!!!!! Not because of of pure talent. She is talented dont get me wrong. But not talented enough to have her name separate from the Knowles. Please get off her piece. …..I like solange I honestly do..its just like duh of course she is successful now because she had the financial means to get there and grow into herself and try different formulas meanwhile being attached to her sisters name.

      • monitorette

        Yessss, i also thought of Amel Larrieux who paved the way in the 9Os. And also the inimitable Grace Jones. And let’s not concentrate only on solo acts: there was Arrested Developpment, the Phare-Cyde, the Spearheads in the USA , Urban Species in the UK, who offered us their own music and found some kind of mainstream success.
        And to go back to Solange, as for her sister Beyoncé, I highly doubt her songwriting skills.
        I long for the Aaliyah days, when the late artist had no problem saying that the tracks she sung were created by others for her.

    • Adrina

      So she can’t be labeled “successful” because she came from money? True, her family had money but Solange probably felt she, herself was successful..That was Beyonce’s fame. She wanted her own identity. And that to her, may mean success. I think that’s what the blogs are saying.If you had a sibling who was famous, would you automatically be successful? No. But if you did your own thing and had the financial means to do so bc of your sibling, then that’s a different story. Just because she didn’t grow up poor and hit it big like JayZ, for example doesn’t mean she herself isn’t successful.

      • monitorette

        By explaining that Solange is coming from a wealthy family and that her sister and her father have strong ties in the music industry, I wanted to point out that she cannot be compared to other singers of her age. Solange has hit the news lately because of her change in hairstyle and because she attends many celebrity parties: but is this art? No, that’s being a socialite.

        • Adrina

          I think she had to do that to get first to get back in the limelight (bc let’s face it, she’s Bey’s sister to everyone), and then re-introduce her music.

  • eyeconic1

    She’s beautiful, she’s classy, she didn’t sell out and she is true to herself and enjoying her life…love Solange