Solange has always been unique. She cut all her hair off on a whim back in 2009, she has spoken frankly about having a baby young and the freedom that came when she divorced the baby’s father, the photos from her second wedding broke the internet, she is recognized as one of the country’s most stylish celebrities, she quit Brooklyn to move to New Orleans, her son speaks fluent French. She takes pictures like this…
https://www.instagram.com/saintrecords/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/saintrecords/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/saintrecords/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/saintrecords/?hl=en
Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Solange Knowles is dope, insanely talented and a completely separate identity from her older sister, Beyonce. (And while we’re discussing this, shout out to Mama Tina for raising two dope black girls.)
On September 30 Solange dropped her latest album A Seat at the Table. It’s an easy listen, with Solange, in her fluttery soprano voice, offering gems of black girl wisdom (there is a song called Don’t Touch My Hair) over lush instrumentals.
The response from critics and fans was overwhelmingly positive. But Tyree Boyd-Pates a professor of Africana Studies at California State University who has written for Fusion and The Huffington Post had a different take.
First he posted a bizarre review of the album…
Okay fine, everything ain’t for everybody (although we’re still trying to figure out what ‘good branding’ has to do with whether music is good.)
But he took it a step further when he insinuated that the positive reviews of her album were because of her relation to Beyonce.
Cue Black Twitter, which gathered Boyd-Pates in his mentions…
“@TyreeBP Would you give this album love if Solange wasn't related to Beyoncé?
… my thoughts exactly.” https://t.co/T5ZOcVjP91
— Fabrizio (@Always_BFLY) October 3, 2016
We’ll file this under ‘when being casually sexist goes wrong’. Now excuse us while we listen to Cranes in the Sky one more time…