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COVER STORY
 www.BREmagazine.com
The Dreams ofA
Sol AngeL
fromHadley Street:
BY RUTH ADKINS ROBINSON
F YOU ARE YOUNG,at the beginning of official adult-hood, beautiful and talented,dreams can take on manydimensions: perhaps travelingto distant and exotic places,standing on stage to dance forcrowds of thousands, becom-ing a star, moving to Holly-wood. Perhaps more domesticstuff suits you and having afamily might drift into yourdaydreamed future. Whereveryour flights of fancy take you,it’s an exciting time of life—afuture full of just about any-thing you can dream up.
 
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But none of this regular kind of stuff fits the daydreaming scenario of the talented Solange Knowles, simply because she doesn’t have todream about them, she’s accomplished all this already.Solange has different dreams these days, built onher life experiences and her strong personality. Hersecond album sends a clear signal that Solangeis extra grown and fully in charge of themessage she wants to send.“Solange has always marched to thebeat of a different drummer and her newalbum, which she’s been working onfor the past couple of years, reflectsthat. It’s different,” says MatthewKnowles, Founder/CEO MusicWorld Music and ExecutiveProducer, along with Geffen’sRon Fair, of 
Sol AngeL & theHadley Street Dreams.
She’s got that different drummerthing down. There’s no cookie cuttergene in Solange. She’s not trying tofollow in the footsteps of any of thecurrent crop of chart-toppers. In fact, she is asoul pop hybrid with a very different spin on most things. Solange justmight be the kind of revoluntionary singer/writer/performer to stir thewaters in the floundering seas called the music business.The first single, “I Decided,” hit the number one spot on bothBillboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop singles sales chart and the Hot DanceSingles Sales chart. It also hit number two on Billboard’s Hot SinglesSales chart. The entire Music World Entertainment/Geffen Records LPreleases on August 26th.
 
In her car, on the way to rehearsals for her second year of appearingat the important Essence Music Festival, Solange was tired but intent ongetting her point across. She spoke of her music, her life and her thoughts onthe world in general and how things could be changed. Her intellectual bentcomes across, her concern for the world her young son Julez is inheriting anda glimpse of her enthusiastic regard for musicmakers of old leaps through thephone lines as well.She is very charming and very clear on where her music stands: “Idecided to lyrically tell my story, with hopes to inspire and most importantlyspare no punches.”
There’ssomethingmagical aboutthis record. This
is
 Solange; it’s her ownidentity. It’s almostspiritual.
—Mathew Knowles,
Founder/CEO Music World Music
 www.BREmagazine.com
 
The result is her interpretation of what the soul groups of the ‘60s could be with someelectronica overlaid in the mix. “I hope this album takes listeners back to a time whenmusic was melodic, sweet, and soulful. When music was less provocative and came froma place of inspiration and storytelling. I hope to have followers with an intelligent ear whoare willing to take risks.”Clearly Solange feels a bond with the music of the soul divas like Minnie Ripertonand Dusty Springfield and girl groups, including the Supremes, Ronettes andMarvelettes.The young writer knew what kind of music she wanted to make but ran intosome resistance and frankly, lack of interest. “I had trouble getting peopleinvolved; people tended to chase me away easily.” She decided that theway to make some impact was to let the people she wanted to be involvedactually hear what she was doing. That meant taking direct action andbypassing the traditional way of contacting the people she wanted throughmanagers and agents.“I ran into Cee-Lo in a club and begged him to come and listen tothe album in the car after the club and he was on board.” They wroteand recorded ‘T.O.N.Y’ and the album’s second single, “Sand CastleDisco,” the next week. Producer Jack Slash who produced three songson the album (“T.O.N.Y,” “Would’ve Been the One,” and an “Ode toMarvin”) “captured the sound I envisioned right away.”By the end of the process, all the producers and artists she haddreamed of were on board such as Q-Tip, Pharrell, Raphael Saddiq,Boards of Canada and Grammy Producer of the YearMark Ronson. Others involved include Soulshock & Karlin,Shea Taylor, Bama Boyz and Marsha Ambrosius from Floetry.When she talks about those who collaborated withher, she emanates a warm glow when it comes to thelegendary writer/producer Lamont Dozier. “When I gotthe call that he would take time to write with little oleme, I was ecstatic beyond words. He is probably thesingle most influential person who worked on thisalbum!” The result of that meeting was “6 O’clockBlues.”The first single, “I Decided,” was written by PharrellWilliams, with production from The Neptunes and a remix by theFreemasons. “Sand Castle Disco” was produced by Soulshock & Karlin. And Lil’Wayne shares the spotlight on “ShampagneChronicKnightCap.”Despite the fact that early numbers are promising, Mathew Knowles,is looking past first reactions. “This project is about building a careeras opposed to first-week numbers. In the 15 years I’ve been in thisbusiness I’ve seen a lot of artists. And people forget that AliciaKeys was on J Records for two years before breaking out andher first product at J was the same product she had whenshe was originally signed at Columbia. Ne-Yo, 50 Cent…they all took time to build. No matter what though--whether it is the timing, or that labels don’t get it,whatever--true artistry finds its way.”“Programmers may remember the samething I asked of them when Destiny’s Child’s“Bills, Bills, Bills” and “No, No, No” cameout. These became hits that no one thoughtwould, but when programmers gave it achance, look what happened.”“I believe this is what will happen to Solangeif given a chance. She’s definitely different, but lookat the Internet responses on Seventeen.com, YouTube,MySpace…kids are embracing things that are different.They’re ready for something new…with some substance to it. Thefeedback has been so encouraging, so positive.”A quick scan of those sites does reveal lots of support for Solange. FromSeventeen.com, sdotworld wrote:
“Man Solange did an awesome job on this song!!!. It’slike a classical beat with a mixture of rock lyrics!!! Her voice sounds amazing.” 
Many sites post when the full CD is releasing and others talk about her blog andask questions like IbeRockinDaNewNew, who says,
“Where can I get it? When can I douload it? This is the kind of music I like to drive too. And I jut got my car so this will be
COVER STORY:SOLANGE
 www.BREmagazine.com 2 0 0 8
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