Solange's 2016 Album A Seat at the Table Is a Source of Joy and Validation for the Black Community

SOLANGEELISA TAHAN

When Beyoncé releasedLemonade last April, it was one of the greatest celebrations of Black womanhood and collaborative Black excellence ever created by a mainstream artist—musically and visually, it was everything.

Or at least we thought it was everything, until her more experimental little sis Solange Knowles dropped A Seat at the Table just six months later. While Beyoncé’s genre-melting Lemonade illustrated her personal experiences with infidelity, family, and loss as a declaration of the worth and power of Black women, Solange’s record provides 21 tracks of beautifully arranged R&B with lyrics more relatable to the average Black American.