Solange's A Seat at the Table was probably 2016's most important album (we put it at #2 on our year-end list). Interview magazine managed the heroic feat of getting Solange's older sis Beyoncé to interview her sibling about the album, their hometown of Houston, and themselves in a playful and insightful conversation.
After a bashful intro from Bey, ("I'm so happy to interview you because, clearly, I'm your biggest fan and I'm super proud of you.") Solange delves into what "Cranes in the Sky," a song that had been written eight years before Seat was released, really means:
I used to write and record a lot in Miami during that time, when there was a real estate boom in America, and developers were developing all of this new property. ... I remember looking up and seeing all of these cranes in the sky. They were so heavy and such an eyesore, and not what I identified with peace and refuge. I remember thinking of it as an analogy for my transition—this idea of building up, up, up that was going on in our country at the time, all of this excessive building, and not really dealing with what was in front of us. And we all know how that ended. That crashed and burned.
Solange compares her and Bey's father Mathew Knowles to Master P, who was featured on Seat's interludes as a narrator. "Well, I find a lot of similarities in Master P and our dad..." she says before detailing the two men share a an independent business drive and that they're both "invested in black people, invested in our community and our storytelling..." The now-iconic cover art for Seat was inspired partially by the Mona Lisa's "sternness," according to Solange, who wanted an image that "communicated, through my eyes and my posture, like, "Come and get close. It's not going to be pretty. It's not going to be perfect. It's going to get a little gritty, and it might get a little intense, but it's a conversation we need to have."
The Knowles sisters themselves seem to get along just fine, with a very cute moment happening when Beyoncé asks Solange how she's done as a older sibling, to which Solange replies "You did a kickass job. You were the most patient, loving, wonderful sister ever. In the 30 years that we've been together, I think we've only really, like, butted heads ... we can count on one hand." This then leads into an honest speech from Solange on the continuing struggles of being a woman musician.
One thing that I constantly have to fight against is not feeling arrogant when I say I wrote every lyric on this album. I still have not been able to say that. That's the first time I've actually ever said it, because of the challenges that we go through when we celebrate our work and our achievements. I remember Björk saying that she felt like, no matter what stage in her career, if a man is credited on something that she's done, he's going to get the credit for it. And, unfortunately, that still rings true. It's something I've learned so much about from you, getting to be in control of your own narrative. And, at this point, it should be an expectation, not something that you're asking permission for.
There's far more about the album and the two siblings in the full interview and you can read the rest of it over here.
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