Solange has been receiving rave reviews for her new album ‘A Seat At The Table,’ yet her journey to emancipation started five years ago.
This week’s From The Vault journeys back to 2008, a time when the rising star released her first single in 5 years.
Today’s pick is retro number ‘I Decided’.
Serviced as the first single from Solo’s sophomore set ‘Sol-Angel And The Hadley St. Dreams,’ the track was produced by the mighty Neptunes and sampled the iconic handclaps from The Supremes’ ‘Where Did Our Love Go.’
In the US, the cut performed moderately well on the Billboard Hot Hip-Hop/R&B peaking at #44.
For its European incarnation, the throwback cut received a sonic facelift by British DJs The Freemasons which allowed it to access the UK and France’s Top 30 as well as Ireland’s Top 50.
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Acclaimed director and family friend Melina Matsoukas directed the cut’s video which retraced different eras in Pop culture. Travelling through time, the talented songbird can be seen as part of a Supremes-like ensemble performing during the Civil Right Movement era, as a Disco queen on Soul Train, an 80’s popstar in the MTV generation, and finally romancing a love interest in the future.
With its vivid vibrancy and use of pop art, the visual shared similarities with Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’ which was released a year later and was also directed by Matsoukas.
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We’ve long been rooting for Ms. Knowles – ever since ‘Hadley St. Dreams’ days. As such, we couldn’t be more amped about seeing her finally getting the recognition she deserves. What’s interesting with ‘A Seat At The Table’ is that its material isn’t far removed from what Solange has been servicing already for years.
Hopefully, the buzz surrounding the project won’t be temporary and will only allow Knowles to expand the conversation with her newly recruited supporters.
In there here and now, though, congrats to Solange for breaking through. At long last.