The “Cranes in the Sky,” artist might be following in her older sister Beyoncé Knowles’s footsteps by entering a new musical era and starting to write music for the tuba by following her creative intuition.
It’s been half a decade since Solange Knowles released her fourth studio album, “When I Get Home,” which was met with critical acclaim as the follow-up to her 2016 Grammy-award-winning album, “A Seat at the Table,” that explored Solange’s hometown of Houston, Texas. Now, after years of hiatus, the 37-year-old singer-songwriter has recently hinted in a new cover story interview with Harper’s Bazaar that she might be coming back to the musical game by exploring an exciting genre.
In the legacy issue published on Feb. 20, 2024, the Grammy winner revealed she learned how to play the tuba and has been writing music for the instrument for a while, but there’s a catch, as she’s not sure how fans would receive it. Explaining further, Solange told the outlet that the tuba is her current obsession. “I love it. I’ve started writing music for the tuba, and I am trying to talk myself into releasing it, but I can only imagine the eye rolls from people being like, ‘This b***h hasn’t made an album.'”
Take a look at the cover photographed by Larissa Hofmann below:
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Solange also shared the issue on Instagram with her 6.9 million followers by writing, “Thank you @kaitlyn_greenidge_author for seeing me, and writing this story that feels like a mirror, and in it, I am proud of what I see 🤲🏾 Thank you to all the homies who shared such generous words, I hope u feel lifted, how you lift me everyday 🖤” In addition to this, with Solange’s concerns about how her musical direction by writing new songs with the tuba will be perceived by her fans there seems to be a relief.
Her fans seem to be rather excited to hear the tunes as one Instagram user left a comment stating, “And please drop the tuba music please! Imma be right there like toot toot toot!!!” A second user wrote, “The article was magical! I loved it! ❤️” A third one said, “girl just drop some music pleaseeeeee.” A fourth one said, “THE KNOWLES SISTERS ARE FEEDING US.” A fifth one wrote, “Can you drop a song damn 😭”
On the other hand, the multi-talented star also explained why she took up interest in the instrument, “It sounds like what the gut feels like to me.”
The “Almeda,” singer further added, “There’s a way that it takes up space that you can’t deny, and it also just feels very Black to me.” In addition to this, she also discusses how Black history continues to shape her approach to art, “So much of what I’m being pulled by now is making sure that there is physical evidence of my legacy, making sure that I have tangible objects and history that people can hold in their hands as an embodiment of who I am and how I showed up in the world.”
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Most recently, she was seen performing a multi-medium, four-act performance exhibition titled “In Service to Whom,” at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Over its four acts, it explores “everyday mundane gestures” that have played parts in expanding Solange’s creativity, per her Saint Heron website. It encompassed “sonic meditations with performance-specific scenography and digital-visual archive projections,” the show featured Solange performing original orchestral works inspired by “repetition, gospel vocal arrangements, minimalism, and the Black southern marching band music of football games” she attended in her hometown.
In the same Harper’s Bazaar interview, Solange also opened up about how she remained nearly anonymous for some elements of the performance exhibition.
“There were moments I just stood there in silence,” she told the outlet. “When people entered the space, they didn’t notice that I was there. [When they did] they had to adjust to the uncomfortableness of me just existing, not entertaining or delivering or slaying.” Lastly, the “Dreams,” singer also spoke about how her approach to performing has changed throughout her career. “I show up in performance as myself. Fifteen years ago, the idea was to show up in costumes,” she said.
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