From creative directing her September cover shoot with L’Officiel USA to adopting the ubiquity of texting as a medium for her interview with rap icon and legend Trina, Solange is an artist at home in a world of her own making. Here’s a few of our favorite takeaways from her cover shoot:
On embracing and owning her fears:
“Thank you so much. It means a whole lot. I really try to embody all of it, even the parts I’m unclear on so that maybe, in some way of representing that part, too…I’ll find the answer. But there are certainly some days where I have to work a lot harder to own my fears. That’s what I’ve been trying to work on the most this past year. Moving past fear. It may look like I’m owning all of it, but some days I’m most certainly struggling, too. Those are the days I just try to be silent. Reflective. And just sit in it all. It sucks, though! It’s really not fun or sexy to have to confront those parts in that way. But I really am trying.”
On losing herself in the music:
“Thank you! I’m so happy that comes across because during that time of creation I really was fearless. I had so many tests in front of me and something really guided me at all times. Stood alongside me. Held my hand. Lifted me up. I feel my most sure and beautiful when I am creating the work. When I am thick in the midst of my own guidance. When I am done creating, that’s another story. I am all in my head and making decisions all from up there. But when I am creating I am using and speaking from other parts of myself. My gut, my legs, my heart, my fingers, my throat. That feels like the best me.”
On learning to ask for help:
“I find out things about myself that I can’t necessarily speak to when I am collaborating. There are so many facets of who I am, and that articulation just feels so much wider and more expansive when someone helps bring something out of you that you wouldn’t normally express. There’s a lot of value and humility in that trust, and when it feels safe it can be the most rewarding feeling ever. More importantly, I learn so damn much. There are people who are going to be a trillion times better at a specific scope of expression or a skill or just time and experience, and I feel such appreciation when I’m gifted that access into someone’s process. I used to be stubbornly DIY. And that shit is important too. You have to! And that spirit will never go away within me. I need to be able to do my own shit. But I’ve really learned the last couple of years to ask for help. I feel confident in my ability to guide and lead my vision, but having more tools has been invaluable for my process.”
Read the entire interview between these two queens here.
