Via Vibe.com: I’m trying to cut down my cursing,” admits Solange Knowles as she sits inside a cabana on the roof of Manhattan’s upper Westside Empire Hotel. The feisty and outspoken baby sister of global pop superstar Beyonce has garnered somewhat of a reputation for having a sailor’s vocab. The rebellious chick who sucker punched the music industry after releasing 2008’s critically acclaimed Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, a confident mix of ‘60s pop, ‘70’s soul and underground alternative, made her indie queen aspirations known to the public.
As Solange prepares her ‘80s R&B meets new wave dance-rock follow-up, we spoke to the quirky vocalist-songwriter about her thoughts on getting the “weird” tag, why being Beyonce’s sister has its pitfalls, going independent and how recording her new material almost drove her to the brink of insanity.
Via Refinery29: We recently started seeing Solange Knowles at our favorite bands’ gigs, rocking couture bunny ears, a luxe turban, and shoes so awesome, we could barely pay attention to the music—and the more we got to know the singer, the more we fell in love with her songs, her perspective, and—of course—her sensational style. Though she might have a super-famous older sister with whom she shares her Aphrodite-like looks and virtuoso voice, she’s definitely her own woman through-and-through. A mother, a sister, a daughter, an artist, musician, writer, and singer…Solange wears many hats, and channeled a bit of love from each of them to create her third studio album, to be released later this fall. We met up with Solange at The Standard Hotel to gain a little insight into how she maintains her inspired style.
Back in ’08, when Solange Knowles released her sophomore album, the daffy, Motown-checking Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, she sang “I’m no soul girl equipped with no afro.” Now however, in wake of her collaboration with Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes and the myriad “Solange Embraces Indie Rock!” profiles that have emerged in the last year or so, Knowles has had a different assumed identity to content with: “They’re like, ‘Are you going to be this indie-pop girl and be there with your guitar?’ And I’m like, ‘Hell to the nah!’” Though she’s currently putting the final touches on her upcoming album, Solange sat down with us to explain why, latter day indie influences or no latter day indie influences, she and soul music are inseparable and how, yes, working with Kevin Barnes “makes all the fucking sense in the world.”
We caught up with Beyonce’s lil sis Solange Knowles on Thursday night at the DKMS’s 4th Annual Gala: Linked Against Leukemia in New York City. And she had plenty to say! Solange weighed in on Sandra Bullock’s adoption, her own five-year-old son and Beyonce’s future as a mama. Check out our interview below.
Your little man, Daniel Julez, is 5. What’s his newest milestone?
Whenever I’m asked to define today’s Honey girl, my quick, canned response is: “We’re more Solange, than Beyonce.” Now don’t get me wrong, Honey hearts Queen Bey (the supernova keeps us perpetually entertained and inspired) but we tend to identify with the 23-year-old rebel — the adventurous, outspoken, risk-embracing, cuss-you-out-if-you-even-try-to-diss-her-sis, outrageous-ensemble-rocking singer/songwriter. And the list goes on:
* Her tweets inspire countless midday outbursts of laughter (and plenty of RTs)
* Her fashion-forward ‘fits send us into fits of envy (and reckless shopping sprees).
* During our photo shoot, she insisted on climbing into an abandoned shopping cart (in sparkly leggings and a Gordon Gartrell-esque top).
* Even though the sun called it quits, she refused to leave until the last shot was perfect. (There was no way she was bouncing before rocking the vintage Christian Dior party frock!)
* Her playlist had us jamming (and Googling names of the bands we didn’t recognize like the beguiling Grizzly Bear, of Montreal, Chairlift, and Theophilus London).
* She was actually amused (and slightly interested) when she detected the pungent smell of “mixed greens” wafting from someone’s bag…
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