Solange. Muthafuckin Solange. Is a G. She is arguably the carefree-est of all the carefree black girls living on this island called "Society Doing The Most." She is one of my iconic examples of just living. She is one of my iconic examples of expressing what it feels like to be both carefree while simultaneously knowing that you might not be. She is one of my iconic examples because she encapsulates what it is to be free... and still struggle.
SIS! BRUH! What in the hell? That's from the dictionary! I just... I can't... I... (Breathes deeply.) To that I say... fucketh thou society. Imma be free or at least die trying. Okay maybe not die, but will definitely try. Back to Solange.
I guess if I'm honest, one of the things I like most about Solange is that she doesn't have a "storybook, cookie-cutter, perfectly-manicured" story. Well, perfect by some people standards. I mean she got married really young, had a child really young, the timeline for such is ... it is what it is.
We all know that she, just like the rest of us still faces internal battles. She still has moments of not being completely sure of oneself but she works through it. (Both her own personal struggles and that which is the elephant in the room: her older sis). And she's written about it. She's chronicled the process of the messy journey of discovering oneself, owning oneself, and the mistakes and triumphs made in the process. And then there's the whole elevator thing (which... as a woman with sisters... I'm pretty much okay with my honor being defended in this manner). She just over here living and still manages to find her joy, acknowledge her sadness, and flourish regardless.
She followed her own got-damn path, and for someone like me, who constantly feels like I'm starting over when compared to everyone else in my life, having a beacon like Solange makes me feel safer, makes me feel like I'm a part of a cool club of imperfect perfect young creatives trying to make away.
I love her aesthetic. I like that she knows who she is and does that. Nothing feels forced... anymore. I like that she's still a creative, a performer, with a unique voice. I like that her music videos have texture. Her creative team is bomb. BRAVO. I can always count on color. I can always count on small nuances from a side line character. I can always count on a still moment or shot that gives me my complete life. I mean... okay let's talk about "Cranes in the Sky" as an example. (This could be an entire dissertation because we outchea making deep artistic shit and being savage with metaphors so diatribes are needed to accurately dissect our work but we'll do a small something somethin' real quick.)
So, "Cranes in the Sky." I mean I was really just sitting up in my room one day all perplexed thinking about the song title just confused, creating new neuro-pathways really analyzing like "hrmm.. long necked birds...that are white... flying... hmmm. What do I think, what do I think?"
Then, I found an interview where she talks about how she was in Miami, which is her second or third creative home, she quite literally looked up in the sky and saw the city changing with all if it's new development. There were literal cranes in the sky changing the very foundation, culture, ecosystem upon which her home, her creative home, had thrived. One's creative home is where the heart it. The structure of her heart and by extension, how she loved and created, was undergoing a forceable change. So she's having this upheaval in her home, but also experiencing upheavals in her life. Taking that metaphor, and pairing it with the other lyrics talking of all of these upheavals in life all the while attempting to figure out a way to find balance, a sense of self, a sense of ease. And trying different ways to go about it - trying, and trying, and trying, and trying... and failing. There's nothing more human that that. Solange... WROTE THAT!
REVEALING HOW WE ALL FEEL TRYING TO GET THROUGH THIS LIFE.
AND NOW I DON'T FEEL.... ALONE.
Carefree: free from (or without) anxiety or responsibility.
As in "she changed from a carefree girl into a woman"
SIS! BRUH! What in the hell? That's from the dictionary! I just... I can't... I... (Breathes deeply.) To that I say... fucketh thou society. Imma be free or at least die trying. Okay maybe not die, but will definitely try. Back to Solange.
I guess if I'm honest, one of the things I like most about Solange is that she doesn't have a "storybook, cookie-cutter, perfectly-manicured" story. Well, perfect by some people standards. I mean she got married really young, had a child really young, the timeline for such is ... it is what it is.
We all know that she, just like the rest of us still faces internal battles. She still has moments of not being completely sure of oneself but she works through it. (Both her own personal struggles and that which is the elephant in the room: her older sis). And she's written about it. She's chronicled the process of the messy journey of discovering oneself, owning oneself, and the mistakes and triumphs made in the process. And then there's the whole elevator thing (which... as a woman with sisters... I'm pretty much okay with my honor being defended in this manner). She just over here living and still manages to find her joy, acknowledge her sadness, and flourish regardless.
I love her aesthetic. I like that she knows who she is and does that. Nothing feels forced... anymore. I like that she's still a creative, a performer, with a unique voice. I like that her music videos have texture. Her creative team is bomb. BRAVO. I can always count on color. I can always count on small nuances from a side line character. I can always count on a still moment or shot that gives me my complete life. I mean... okay let's talk about "Cranes in the Sky" as an example. (This could be an entire dissertation because we outchea making deep artistic shit and being savage with metaphors so diatribes are needed to accurately dissect our work but we'll do a small something somethin' real quick.)
So, "Cranes in the Sky." I mean I was really just sitting up in my room one day all perplexed thinking about the song title just confused, creating new neuro-pathways really analyzing like "hrmm.. long necked birds...that are white... flying... hmmm. What do I think, what do I think?"
Then, I found an interview where she talks about how she was in Miami, which is her second or third creative home, she quite literally looked up in the sky and saw the city changing with all if it's new development. There were literal cranes in the sky changing the very foundation, culture, ecosystem upon which her home, her creative home, had thrived. One's creative home is where the heart it. The structure of her heart and by extension, how she loved and created, was undergoing a forceable change. So she's having this upheaval in her home, but also experiencing upheavals in her life. Taking that metaphor, and pairing it with the other lyrics talking of all of these upheavals in life all the while attempting to figure out a way to find balance, a sense of self, a sense of ease. And trying different ways to go about it - trying, and trying, and trying, and trying... and failing. There's nothing more human that that. Solange... WROTE THAT!
REVEALING HOW WE ALL FEEL TRYING TO GET THROUGH THIS LIFE.
But she's not afraid to say it. And she's not afraid to fail. She's just gonna be and do and work and live and laugh and love along the way.
So... I say all us follow suit.
Enjoy fam.
"Cranes in the Sky"
"Losing You"
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