Summer is hot and so is Solange! The stunning singer covers the June/July 2013 issue of Complex magazine.

Now mononymous, the soulful singer’s clout no longer hinges on the power in her last name. Her brand carries with it an effortless cool that she says is nothing to do with being “indie”. In fact she tells the magazine in her feature interview “the idea of convention versus non-convention or mainstream versus indie or any of those quote-unquote ‘conflicts’ has never crossed my mind.”

She does, however, wax honest about other conflicts elsewhere. Most notable is her description of what caused her to go independent in the first place.

More quotes and pics after the jump…

On Leaving Her Major Label deal…

“I wanted to make all of the creative artistic decisions but I wasn’t the one paying for it. And they didn’t fully trust me to make them. Every decision was a battle. It was exhausting. I wanted to be in a position where not only was the music fully my body of work, but everything thereafter was also my body of work. I knew that meant I had to leave and that I had to struggle. (I) split with the label and later that year leaked a song called “Fuck the Industry (Signed Sincerely).”

On being an independent artist…

“It’s an independent label, so with that creative independence comes some financial independence (laughs). I had to get very creative with how I was gonna pull it all together. Having an intimate team makes you much more resourceful. It comes out the way you want it to, and there’s not a committee of thinkers and observers.

“I have a mother who never took no for an answer when it came to her creative pursuit. sShe started a hair salon in her spare bedroom and four years later had 30 employees. I have a father who was the first black student at his junior high and high school and had to do a lot to get to that point. So it’s really in my bloodline when it comes to having an idea and making it happen.”

On being a mom…

“When I’m home, I’m just straight mommin’ it,” Solange says of life in Brooklyn, which revolves around 8-year-old Juelz. “School runs, play dates, soccer games, etc. You have to constantly fight for that balance and now I kinda got it under control.” After a hectic few weeks on tour, she’s looking forward to leaving town with Juelz later today for a two-week vacation—a week in L.A. and a week in New Orleans, where she feels very, very at home. “I go to crazy bounce clubs,” she says. “I eat crazy po’ boys, drink daiquiris. I ride my bike a lot.”

Click here to read the full interview, which also details her plans to shoot a video for ‘Lovers In The Parking Lot’ from her ‘True’ EP and much more.

Before that, check out more sensational shots below…

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