In popular media Solange is the crazy chick who beat the shit out of Jay Z in an elevator. To those in the know she's Beyoncé's talented little sister. For me I see a bit of both.
I like Solange, she's dope. Plus I've been punched in the face before by a woman so I feel like I understand her point of view.
Solange has the voice of an angel and the right hook of a prize fighter. But I'm not gonna spend this whole review talking about how she beat up Jay. This is about the music.
Where Beyoncé is larger than life, a goddess of sorts, Solange is a carefree pixie. If there was a black remake of Peter Pan Solange would play Tinkerbell. She's just as magical as Beyoncé but is so content just doing her own thing.
Enter "A Seat at The Table"
This is great music to get high and have sex too. Usually I try not to get too explicit with these reviews but this is carefree no condom music. Like "fuck plan B whatever happens happens" music. It's pretty cool.
With all that said, this is profoundly Black. Like BLACK. Take a aspirin before you get your hair braided cuz you tenderheaded black (it legit has a song called "Don't Touch My Hair").
A lot of people have written pieces about how this and Luke Cage are "unapologetically black" but in my opinion you can't compare the two. Luke Cage is a made up superhero who lives in Harlem but never runs into Cam'Ron or any lower level DipSet member. Solange is a real Ass person who's just expressing herself.
But maybe that is "unapologetically black; the idea of that even though your self expression being is used to represent all blackness, you just don't care and live your truest life.
Throughout the tape there's interludes from her mom and other older black people who talk about race, it's all pretty insightful. Like Solange acknowledges that the reason she can permeate this black consciousness is because those before her had to wade through bullshit.
The interludes make the album a bit longer but they frame her mindset in ways the tracks alone can't.
Overall this album is really good. It has a dope fall aesthetic and I think it'd go well with a joint or anti anxiety medication.
I give this 8 bottles of raw shea butter out of 10.