Solange Knowles Quotes

“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

“Dubai’s a pretty powerful place.”

― Solange Knowles

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

― 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

“Motherhood is such an evolving journey.”

― Solange Knowles

“My blog is actually all self-photography unless it’s a photo shoot.”

― Solange Knowles

“Through style, you can communicate to the world who you are and what you stand for.”

― 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

“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 really special to have a niece because I have a son, so I get to have a little girl, too.”

― 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 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

“I’m surrounded by such beautiful, creative people, and I just love sort of sharing their stories and their journeys.”

― 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 stand for people who are firm in their journey.”

― Solange Knowles

“I think all artists have a different story to tell, and no story is the same.”

― Solange Knowles

“I try to transition my energy into just having fun.”

― Solange Knowles

“Colors and prints are part of my style.”

― Solange Knowles

“My sister and I truly are best friends.”

― 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

“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

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

― Solange Knowles

“I still stand behind the stuff I did early on, but I was on a record label, and I didn’t have a lot of creative control. Another side of that is just being young and having bad taste. There was plenty of that, too.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’d rather be on the cast of ‘Love & Hip-Hop’ than ‘Project Runway.’”

― Solange Knowles

“When you think back in history about producers and artists or writers who’ve had good synergy, a lot of times they date, or they’re married, or there’s a friendship and a kinship.”

― 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

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

― Solange Knowles

“I’m not very good at writing songs when I have a lot of clutter in my mind.”

― 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

“There are a lot of times when people are diplomatic about things, and I’m not that type. I’m not afraid to say exactly what I mean.”

― Solange Knowles

“When you’re younger, you get shoved a lot. You don’t really have a say-so.”

― 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

“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

“You get educated by traveling.”

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

― 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

“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

“I felt like when I took my weave out, I wasn’t pretty, I wasn’t noticeable.”

― Solange Knowles

“My ultimate beauty icon is Diana Ross.”

― Solange Knowles

“You have Vampire Weekend who have more African references musically than most African-American artists.”

― 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

“Once I had my son, I stopped shopping in stores because it’s not an easy process to try on clothes – and I’m not an impulsive buyer. I need to do the dance in front of the mirror, the whole nine yards.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’m a lot more interested in style than fashion – style is what makes us who we are.”

― 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

“I wear short shorts. After 10 years of strenuous ballet, it’s the least my legs can do for me.”

― Solange Knowles

“The Fela Kuti Queens – the band members and wives of the late African musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti – are my fashion icons.”

― Solange Knowles

“Every mom believes her kid’s school doodles are amazing, and I’m no different.”

― Solange Knowles

“Beyonce adores my little boy. She takes him everywhere.”

― Solange Knowles

“I have a lot of guy-like quintessential relationship qualities that I have had to work on.”

― 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 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 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

“Beyonce has set the tone as an aunt. I’ve set the tone as a mom.”

― 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

“If I had to define ‘sexy’ now, as Disney as it sounds, I would have to say it’s about complete and utter confidence.”

― Solange Knowles

“Mainstream media tends to showcase a very specific kind of Mardi Gras, but my experience of Mardi Gras is very different; it’s very cultural.”

― 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 feel like I was 30 when I was 17, and I decided to get married and have a baby.”

― Solange Knowles

“If a piece makes you look good and makes it easier to get dressed, it wins.”

― Solange Knowles

“Fashion is a strange world sometimes. Amazing, but strange.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’d rather live in the U.S. than Europe.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’d rather be the cool aunt than the authoritative aunt.”

― Solange Knowles

“I love hip-hop. I have gone through many difference phases in my love affair with hip-hop.”

― Solange Knowles

“I don’t ever claim to be a hip-hop head.”

― 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

“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

“Anytime fashion and music go hand-in-hand and it really is an organic fit, it’s amazing.”

― Solange Knowles

“I can’t take any credit for people dressing like me, you know?”

― Solange Knowles

“If I have on a bright red lip, you’ll rarely ever catch me with eyeshadow on. It’s one or the other for me – pick one feature for the day and really focus on that.”

― Solange Knowles

“From a very early age, I decided that I wanted to be able to do my music but still be able to live a normal life.”

― 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

“I’m such a Southern girl.”

― Solange Knowles

“What’s important is that my family and I are all good.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’m not sure if it’s cause I’m getting old, but my heels have to be 3.5 inch or less, or a chunky heel.”

― Solange Knowles

“I was diagnosed with ADHD twice. I didn’t believe the first doctor who told me, and I had a whole theory that ADHD was just something they invented to make you pay for medicine, but then the second doctor told me I had it.”

― 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’m really good at telling people ‘no.’”

― Solange Knowles

“I think it’s really important for every mother to find their own way.”

― 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’m super-sensitive when it comes to my sister. I’ve been known to snap off a little bit behind her.”

― Solange Knowles

“People from New Orleans are extremely prideful.”

― 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

“I’ve always loved Dusty Springfield and Martha Reeves.”

― Solange Knowles

“I have more to offer than music that is automatically dance.”

― Solange Knowles

“My son spends as much time with his dad as he does with me.”

― Solange Knowles

“My sound is Solange. It’s definitely not Destiny’s Child.”

― 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

“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 so sad, actually, how teachers and parents tell their kids, ‘You’re never gonna be anything.’”

― Solange Knowles

“I’m happy that I have a beautiful, wonderful, amazing child who’s made me a better person.”

― Solange Knowles

“I don’t feel like I owe anybody other than my child and my family anything.”

― 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

“I’m trying to cut down my cursing.”

― 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

“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

“My mom’s best friend growing up was diagnosed with AIDS, and he basically raised me when my mom was launching her business. Although I didn’t understand at the time what HIV or AIDS was, I knew that’s what he passed away from.”

― Solange Knowles

“I really fell in love with dance. By the time I was seven, I had dance class six times a week. I was obsessed.”

― Solange Knowles

“I grew up seeing my sister in the studio. I would go to recording sessions and take notes.”

― 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

“Both my parents are first-generation success stories.”

― Solange Knowles

“A lot of people don’t know me as an artist.”

― Solange Knowles

“I’m making the music I want to make, in my own space, and it’s just incredible to be able to continue to do that.”

― Solange Knowles

“I have so many friends who are designers of color.”

― 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

“I had my own little quirks as a child.”

― Solange Knowles

“In any relationship, there’s gonna be conflict.”

― 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

“There are a lot of historical lofts in Houston, and it’s amazing for me that a lot of them were built in the 1920s. I love the exposed bricks and the very industrial stuff.”

― Solange Knowles