Why Solange Matters
Published on 6. May 2021
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-571-36898-3 (ISBN)
Description
A ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, CLASH BOOK OF THE YEAR
The dramatic story of Solange: a musician and artist whose unconventional journey to international success was far more important than her family name.
'Why Solange Matters is a significant and sober treatise on popular music . . . This book is more than necessary.'
THURSTON MOORE
'The author's prose sparkles . . . This is a book about what freedom could look like for Black women.'
CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, OBSERVER
'Invigorating . . . much more than a dry thesis and at times something nearer to personal reverie.'
IAN PENMAN, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
'A love letter to quirkly black creatives . . . [Phillips'] vibrant writing reminds us how Solange lit "the flame of creativity" within many Black women.'
gal-dem
Growing up in the shadow of her superstar sister, Beyonce, and defying an industry that attempted to bend her to its rigid image of a Black woman, Solange Knowles has become a pivotal musician and artist in her own right.
In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips chronicles the creative journey of Solange, a beloved voice of the Black Lives Matter generation. A Black feminist punk musician herself, Phillips addresses not only the unpredictable trajectory of Solange's career but also how she and other Black women see themselves through the musician's repertoire. First, she traces Solange's progress through an inflexible industry, charting the artist's development up to 2016, when the release of her third album, A Seat at the Table, redefined her career. With this record and, then, When I Get Home (2019), Phillips describes how Solange has embraced activism, anger, Black womanhood and intergenerational trauma to inform her remarkable art.
Why Solange Matters not only cements the subject in the pantheon of world-changing twenty-first-century musicians, it introduces its writer as an important new voice.
MUSIC MATTERS: SHORT BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE
- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips
- Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson
- Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson
The dramatic story of Solange: a musician and artist whose unconventional journey to international success was far more important than her family name.
'Why Solange Matters is a significant and sober treatise on popular music . . . This book is more than necessary.'
THURSTON MOORE
'The author's prose sparkles . . . This is a book about what freedom could look like for Black women.'
CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, OBSERVER
'Invigorating . . . much more than a dry thesis and at times something nearer to personal reverie.'
IAN PENMAN, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
'A love letter to quirkly black creatives . . . [Phillips'] vibrant writing reminds us how Solange lit "the flame of creativity" within many Black women.'
gal-dem
Growing up in the shadow of her superstar sister, Beyonce, and defying an industry that attempted to bend her to its rigid image of a Black woman, Solange Knowles has become a pivotal musician and artist in her own right.
In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips chronicles the creative journey of Solange, a beloved voice of the Black Lives Matter generation. A Black feminist punk musician herself, Phillips addresses not only the unpredictable trajectory of Solange's career but also how she and other Black women see themselves through the musician's repertoire. First, she traces Solange's progress through an inflexible industry, charting the artist's development up to 2016, when the release of her third album, A Seat at the Table, redefined her career. With this record and, then, When I Get Home (2019), Phillips describes how Solange has embraced activism, anger, Black womanhood and intergenerational trauma to inform her remarkable art.
Why Solange Matters not only cements the subject in the pantheon of world-changing twenty-first-century musicians, it introduces its writer as an important new voice.
MUSIC MATTERS: SHORT BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE
- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips
- Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson
- Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson
Reviews / Votes
'Every once in a while, a musician comes along who so beautifully, so poignantly speaks that Black women remember that we are more than our vulnerability. In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips gracefully positions Solange amongst that elite cohort. From Houston to London and many places in between, Phillips presses our ear to the street in order to reveal how Solange broke the mold and released us all.' - Shana Redmond, author of EVERYTHING MAN: THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF PAUL ROBESONMore details
Series
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 206 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
333 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-571-36898-3 (9780571368983)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Stephanie Philips is a London-based music journalist and musician who writes for the Independent, The Quietus, Vice, Bandcamp and The Wire. She started the Black feminist punk band Big Joanie and played backup for Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney. She is also part of the collective behind Decolonise Fest, a festival celebrating punks of colour.
@Stephanopolus
www.steph-phillips.com
@Stephanopolus
www.steph-phillips.com