A Seat at the Table

The album cover.

The album cover.

Areha Jackson, Staff Writer

Solange Knowles debuted her anticipated third album, A Seat at the Table on September 30, 2016. It had been 4 years since Solange had released an EP. Solange described the album as “a project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing.”

On Solange’s official website, she released a digital book that goes along with the album for free. The book is a collection of photos along with lyrics for each of the 21 tracks on the LP. Solange enthused her anticipation for her album, “I am overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to share this body of work I have written, with you,” Knowles wrote in an Instagram post. Following her post, she shared the featured artists which include Lil Wayne, Kelly Rowland, BJ the Chicago Kid and more.

The album is primarily about the problem surrounding anti-blackness. Solange has openly been an artist to question the issues in society today and often takes to her social media to talk about the issues. “And the fact that black pride does not mean anti-white. We had to do this out of necessity. We had to find that rhythm, that glory, given the circumstances and the cards that we were dealt,” she said in an interview with W.  A Seat at the Table could be described as an eclectic album: R&B, indie, activism, all thrown into one album.

The album has 21 tracks on it, 8 of which are interludes. Titles such as “Don’t Touch My Hair,” “F.U.B.U,” and “Borderline: An Ode to Self Care” catch your eye when looking at the track list. In the interlude, “Dad Was Mad,” you hear Solange’s father, Mathew Knowles speak on how he managed to overcome the anger ignited into him by the memories of when KKK members and white families spit at him and threw cans. A couple tracks later in “Interlude: Tina Taught Me,” we listen to Solange’s Mother, Tina Knowles speak on how there is a beauty behind being black and how she is saddened when individuals misconceive black-pride.

A Seat at the Table, according to Nielsen Music in the week ending on Oct. 6 earned 72,000 album units, 46,000 of which were in pure album sales. Solange earned her first No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart ultimately beating out Bon Iver’s 22, A Million. She took to Twitter to thank all of her fans on October 12, “And I thank you and everyone else who has been a voice for the project….endlessly. So much gratitude. All love….all love…”