One For US

More than a song for you, this is an album and "This Shit Is For US."

Solange's latest album A Seat At The Table is one of the blackest albums of the year. This album takes you on a journey that touches on identity, healing, purpose, and pride.

I have always been a fan of Solange's music because I could relate to her sound. I was rocking with her when she released Solo Star in 2002. Then she released Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams and I knew I was a fan. She wasn't just serving up the Dark Child and Scott Storch sounds, Solange was giving me disco beats and the "6 O'clock Blues" and it was everything I needed.  

In 2012, Solange blessed us with True and I sang "Bad Girls" for weeks straight.

"I look down on your soul deep down I know that we're the same."

"Locked in Closets" is still a ring tone on my phone.

"When I was just a girl I wore a thousand lives heading on a search for the thing that makes me feel alright." 

But, A Seat At The Table was something completely different. I feel these lyrics on a visceral level. Every song sounds like a classic. "F.U.B.U." had me hooked from the beginning. I think it's my favorite song on the album. I heard "One for us" and I immediately turned the volume up to the max.

"When you feeling all alone and you can't even be you up in your home when you even feeling it from your own." I had to run that back. Why are you reading me like this Solo? 

In "Don't Touch My Hair" Solange sets some boundaries and lets you know what she'll no longer tolerate. If you're a black woman living in America or anywhere else really, you've probably come across a random stranger who asked to touch your hair or some misguided soul that didn't bother to ask and just reached their filthy hands out to touch your hair. But more than hair, for me this song was a refusal to compromise. "Don't test my mouth. They say the truth is my sound."

"Cranes In The Sky" is for anyone running away from their problems or feelings. You're going through the motions and trying so hard to escape but all it ever does is make matter worse. 

"Borderline (An Ode to Self-Care)" is my second favorite song on the album. In a W Magazine interview, Solange stated that the song was written as an ode to how our homes become safe spaces where we can just be without having to deal with the intensities of existing in the world. 

There is so much to love about this album that I could go on for days. Broken down above were just a few of the songs I tend to play on repeat. If you haven't listened to the album yet, it's streaming on all the major apps.

I highly recommend A Seat At The Table, but, "if you don't understand my record, you don't understand me, so this is not for you."

+Bria