Solange Knowles Quotes & Sayings

Every teenage artist out there is mostly talking about boys, and I think there's so much more to being a teenager than just boys. — Solange Knowles

It's really special to have a niece because I have a son, so I get to have a little girl, too. — Solange Knowles

You have Vampire Weekend who have more African references musically than most African-American artists. — Solange Knowles

In any relationship, there's gonna be conflict. — Solange Knowles

I wear short shorts. After 10 years of strenuous ballet, it's the least my legs can do for me. — Solange Knowles

My parents constantly tried to talk me out of being an artist. They had gone through the whole journey with my sister and just wanted me to have a normal teenage life. — Solange Knowles

So over time, playing shows - after every show we would have pow-wow, I would have notes and we'd go over and we'd really restructure and re-do and now I feel really, really good about the show. But it's taken time. — Solange Knowles

I'd rather be the protector than the protected. I'm naturally the protector - being a mother and having a famous family. You have to navigate when it's right to protect. — Solange Knowles

I really enjoy my privacy and being able to walk my son to school every morning and pick him up every afternoon. — Solange Knowles

With Saint Heron, I really wanted to celebrate and continue to cultivate the community for genre-defying R&B artists. — Solange Knowles

I have so many friends who are designers of color. — Solange Knowles

Colors and prints are part of my style. — Solange Knowles

I always have looked at "indie" as a term of "independence." Never associated a sonic gesture with that in the same way that pop music has always meant "popular" to me it didn't define a sound. And I think now that has been the context for things. If something is indie, it almost has this sonic association with it, or pop has become this term of shame almost, like, bubblegum sweet pop. — Solange Knowles

Whether it be a red eyeliner or a graphic line on the crease of my lids, I'm more attracted to the ideas of something interesting than being 'pretty.' — Solange Knowles

I really don't listen to anyone that I'm not proud of saying that I listen to. Even if it's something a little bit more unexpected, I didn't get too deep into the Waka, Gucci records, but I like those with pride. — Solange Knowles

For me, I always have looked at 'indie' as a term of 'independence.' Never associated a sonic gesture with that in the same way that pop music has always meant 'popular' to me; you know, it didn't define a sound. — Solange Knowles

Just going through a marriage and a divorce - which I essentially did by 21 - will give you an insane amount of perspective on life. — Solange Knowles

I actually love my natural hair when it's in a twist out and it's been slept on for five days and revived by the steam of the shower. — Solange Knowles

There's just so, so many overlooked R&B artists and I think it's really about, again, being sensitive to whatever you're addressing culturally. I just always try to have a sensitivity to it and what that might make someone feel. — Solange Knowles

Through style, you can communicate to the world who you are and what you stand for. — Solange Knowles

I think there's just certain lyrics and certain forms of hip-hop that definitely rang true, again, to a lot of people's truth, but you don't necessarily want to hear someone using that as a just kind of a in-the-moment, fun, careless expression. — Solange Knowles

I have a mother who never took no for an answer when it came to her creative pursuits. She started a hair salon in her spare bedroom and four years later had 30 employees. — Solange Knowles

I never borrowed clothes from Beyonce when we were growing up. But now my style is a little more tame and hers is a little more adventurous. — Solange Knowles

I have a lot of guy-like quintessential relationship qualities that I have had to work on. — Solange Knowles

Luckily, I dated all of the losers ages ago. My love life has been stable for a while. — Solange Knowles

I'm trying to cut down my cursing. — Solange Knowles

I can't take any credit for people dressing like me, you know? — Solange Knowles

My sister and I were not allowed expensive clothes. We so badly wanted these Fila sneakers as kids, but my mother took us down to the flea market and got imitation ones. Look at the early Destiny's Child videos. You'll see. — Solange Knowles

My earliest love, which was sort of an obsession, actually, was Nas. I was in seventh grade, I believe, when 'Nastradamus' was out, and I took it pretty far. — Solange Knowles

As an artist, everybody has the opportunity to celebrate and speak their truth. — Solange Knowles

I love hip-hop. I have gone through many difference phases in my love affair with hip-hop. — Solange Knowles

I can tell you what I really love: when I run into people on the street that tell me they have connected with my music. — Solange Knowles

He [ the son]'s grown up listening to all types of music, and the natural form of rebellion is to find the one genre that maybe he hasn't listened to and to make that his thing. — Solange Knowles

Beyonce has set the tone as an aunt. I've set the tone as a mom. — Solange Knowles

I love music. But I'm not gonna work myself to death. If there ever comes a point where I'm not enjoying it, then I'm not gonna do it anymore. I've promised myself that. I've written it down on paper and signed a contract. — Solange Knowles

I try to transition my energy into just having fun. — Solange Knowles

People from New Orleans are extremely prideful. — Solange Knowles

I have been writing songs since I was 9 years old, so writing has and always will be my first love and passion. — Solange Knowles

I have gone through many difference phases in my love affair with hip-hop.It evolves, your taste. It sometimes deepens, in terms of what's out; sometimes it's not as deep in terms of what's out. So it's definitely an evolution. I don't ever claim to be a hip-hop head. — Solange Knowles

Motherhood is such an evolving journey. — Solange Knowles

I feel like I was 30 when I was 17, and I decided to get married and have a baby. — Solange Knowles

Opening Ceremony is my number one favorite place to shop here. It's the only place I'll shop in New York with my son. All of the sales people are so cool; the music is great; it's just like a big fun house, so he stays entertained. — Solange Knowles

I've let go of being a super perfectionist on every single note and wanting the pitch to be absolutely perfect all of the time. I grew up watching the best of the best. — Solange Knowles

Every mom believes her kid's school doodles are amazing, and I'm no different. — Solange Knowles

Any decision I make is based on myself, and the only person I have to give an explanation to is God. — Solange Knowles

There's a lot of situations where I feel irony involved when R&B and hip-hop is expressed in the indie worlds. There's a lot of times when I feel like the juxtaposition becomes a thing. — Solange Knowles

When Destiny's Child released their first record, I don't think I even noticed. I was still at school, and I had my own life in Houston. — Solange Knowles

Anytime fashion and music go hand-in-hand and it really is an organic fit, it's amazing. — Solange Knowles

I have a father who was the first black student at his junior high and high school and had to do a lot to get to that point. — Solange Knowles

I'd rather live in the U.S. than Europe. — Solange Knowles

I'm happy that I have a beautiful, wonderful, amazing child who's made me a better person. — Solange Knowles

I think all artists have a different story to tell, and no story is the same. — Solange Knowles

It's so sad, actually, how teachers and parents tell their kids, 'You're never gonna be anything.' — Solange Knowles

Self-love is really a foundation for everything, and however you practice or express that is so, so important. — Solange Knowles

A lot of people don't know me as an artist. — Solange Knowles

I'd rather be on the cast of 'Love & Hip-Hop' than 'Project Runway.' — Solange Knowles

We are getting an education of a lifetime. We're actually out there in the real world. — Solange Knowles

The Hadley Street Dream is a tribute to making a vision come to life. My father built a compound on a dessert city block, he saw something in that space we couldn't see. It was years later the album was born right there on Hadley St. He built the studio I started recording the album at. — Solange Knowles

I'm a lot more interested in style than fashion - style is what makes us who we are. — Solange Knowles

I talk very slow. I move very slow. I definitely have that Southern drawl and although I never necessarily participated in the activities that go along with screw.I definitely was a huge fan of screw.Because melodically, I don't ever really sing very staccato or very fast. It's really about a groove; it's really about a vibe. — Solange Knowles

I'm really good at telling people 'no.' — Solange Knowles

I've also learned to only write songs and melodies that really work for my voice and that I won't have issues doing live. Because you can get really, really comfortable in the comping process: out of five takes, maybe one of those high notes that you struggled to do, nailed it, and then live you're having that challenge of really having to recreate that. — Solange Knowles

My parents only played Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye. That's when New Kids came out, and we wanted to jam that. My mom was like, "Put that thing off and put my damn record on". So from old school to '90s to recent, it's just always been there. — Solange Knowles

People who live in L.A. don't like to leave their homes because they have so much space. They have the nice kitchens and a cook and a pool. When you live in L.A., there is a sense of isolation in terms of raising a family. — Solange Knowles

My blog is actually all self-photography unless it's a photo shoot. — Solange Knowles

Major labels act as banks in terms of how they produce and release your album. No major label is really good or bad; they just 100 per cent operate as a business, which makes sense ... no hard feelings. — Solange Knowles

I don't feel like I owe anybody other than my child and my family anything. — Solange Knowles

Everyone talks about how, in your 30s, all of these growing pains transition into wisdom and you feel more self-assured and confident, but I think I had a bit of a jump-start on that at 27. — Solange Knowles

My sound is Solange. It's definitely not Destiny's Child. — Solange Knowles

You're just so excited that you have this record deal or this movie opportunity that you don't stand up for yourself and say, This is what I want to do. — Solange Knowles

I think the thing about what I want to achieve for the label is it to really be a home for artists who are already developed, who already have a great sense of their artistry or their imaging, who don't really feel or want that marketing push. — Solange Knowles

The one thing I'm really excited about is that the Saint Heron shop is not grounded in just fashion and clothing. We have connected with artists and artisans in every landscape. — Solange Knowles

When you take care of yourself, you're a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better. — Solange Knowles

I think every generation has that movement of hip-hop that you know you're playing it and you definitely have that moment of like, "Why am I saying this so enthusiastically? Why am I so stoked and psyched to say these lyrics?" — Solange Knowles

You get educated by traveling. — Solange Knowles

I really wanted people just to get to know Solange on my first album, just to establish Solange's sound, just to establish Solange's personality. — Solange Knowles

I had my own little quirks as a child. — Solange Knowles

I'd rather be the cool aunt than the authoritative aunt. — Solange Knowles

When you're younger, you get shoved a lot. You don't really have a say-so. — Solange Knowles

I think that some people get wrapped up in their own egos. They need to see certain album sales and certain monuments. — Solange Knowles

My ultimate beauty icon is Diana Ross. — Solange Knowles

I'm not very good at writing songs when I have a lot of clutter in my mind. — Solange Knowles

Why is it so important for you to give back? I honestly feel like it's our responsibility as citizens of the world to ground ourselves in selflessness and all do our part. — Solange Knowles

What's important is that my family and I are all good. — Solange Knowles

I have always had tremendous respect for my sister as an artist, as a woman, and now as a mother. — Solange Knowles

I'm surrounded by such beautiful, creative people, and I just love sort of sharing their stories and their journeys. — Solange Knowles

My name, Solange, means 'Angel of the sun,' and I'm completely enamored of my African history. The culture is so expressive. — Solange Knowles

I think it's really important for every mother to find their own way. — Solange Knowles

Traveling is definitely something that your average 17-year-old doesn't get to do. One week we're in Japan, one week we're in Australia, one week we're back home going to football games. — Solange Knowles

My beauty ethos? Well, I'd love to tell you it's something like 'less is more,' but honestly, it all starts with happiness. If only someone could bottle that up - when I'm happy, I'm at my most radiant and glowing. It does me better than any product ever could. And I stand by how cheesy and cliched that sounds. — Solange Knowles

In my experience, as a young black artist, you have to fulfill an archetype, or be a token - and I was unwilling to do that. — Solange Knowles

I felt like when I took my weave out, I wasn't pretty, I wasn't noticeable. — Solange Knowles

It is always an honor to work with those that share your passion for music and just enjoy making great music. — Solange Knowles

My sister and I truly are best friends. — Solange Knowles

I think many people, especially from other cultures, just don't understand the role hair plays in black women's lives. — Solange Knowles

It's always been my dream to look like Mariah Carey in my photos with a microphone. I don't know how she does it. When she sings, she looks perfect. — Solange Knowles

If a piece makes you look good and makes it easier to get dressed, it wins. — Solange Knowles

I really feel like because I had my son so young, I didn't want everyone's help. I think people felt entitled to give advice, so I'm always very sensitive to moms and letting them feel their way out. — Solange Knowles

At 15, saying I wanted to do a reggae album after growing up in a snazzy house in Houston - it was kind of random. — Solange Knowles

You just have to know that the more successful you get as an artist, the less of a normal life you have. It's a trade-off. — Solange Knowles