Solange Knowles.... Owww!

You already know I love this lady. Here's her spread and some of the interview in this month's Honey Magazine!

"Let’s talk about the Honey shoot, you coming in and seeing all those crazy clothes that you fell in love with. How was your experience shooting with us?

It was amazing. You guys had the best energy of a shoot to me — I was just talking about it last night on Twitter. I really admire and study and respect the brilliance of fashion. I don’t live, breathe, eat, drink and depend on fashion to be more than what it is. I think when you have that frame of mind you really can go there. You really have no resignations about putting looks together that are just fun and fearless and that’s what you guys provided and allowed me to do so I was really happy."

"Good. Who’s closet would you raid if you had the chance to do it?
Probably Björk. It would be a tie between her and Grace [Jones], but I think I’d have to go with Björk because over the years there have been so many different phases and extremes and color. I am a person who loves color and I think it’s the most beautiful backdrop for life."

"You talked a little bit about your stages for fashion and philosophy but what would you say this stage is in your style evolution? What are you looking toward for spring 2010?
I think right now, I’m learning how to incorporate completely different extremes as to my last record, it was just like an overstimulation of extremes, which I love. Now, I’m learning how to have one more simple extreme or one more statement extreme, and learning how to blend those together. But you probably will still see me rocking animal print as I did the other day. Someone cracked up laughing and was like ‘Where the hell do you think you’re going with flannel, leopard and stripes?’ I was like ‘I’m going to tackle my day.’"



"Do you have any advice to industry moms in particular, or just young working moms who still want to be themselves?
I think balance is the essential key to motherhood. I think it’s a really hard rhythm to find, but if you learn how to capture it, it makes the rewards so beautiful. I try not to ever be away from him unless he’s with his dad. We have equal custody, so we work together on it, but it definitely gets hard when I have all these opportunities coming at me. I have to say no to a lot of things because at the end of the day I know that no matter how many awards or accolades or praise or money I get, the one thing that really is a judgment of me is what kind of mother I am. A lot of people feel like their life has to stop because of the child, and they have to let go of their interests. You definitely have to compromise some of them, but I’ve been really blessed. When I went to see Grace Jones, Julez was right there with me. Julez is right there with me when I go for my bike rides. And when I go on tour, he’s with me. And I feel so blessed to be in the position to do that."



"Your album is critically acclaimed and I’m wondering how much you care about what the critics think. What kind of sales expectations, if any, did you have? Are you happy with the album?
I mostly feel proud that I literally, everyday, come in contact with somebody who was affected by my music because it was so personal and honest. I can’t even explain to you how many people are like, ‘I have a “T.O.N.Y.”’ I’ve had people tell me they used “I Decided” in their wedding. Those are the moments where I feel really proud that I followed my heart and made something that I was really proud of instead of conforming to expectations. There were definitely fights along the way about not getting the radio or video support, but I would much rather be in a marketplace full of really smart, intellectual, and cultured young people who I can grow with. I feel like I can have a longer lasting and less gimmicky and for-the-moment response. It makes me feel very secure in my career, because I know I make music that may not matter to an astounding number of people, but the people that it does matter to are more like me. They have the same interest as me. They are people who want to be exposed to different things. I feel really good being in that space. It was never my intention to have this huge commercial success because otherwise, I would have made other kinds of records. I know how to write pop [and radio] records. I’ve written them for other people. But that isn’t the music that inspires me. It isn’t the music that I feel good about performing or that makes me want to get up and push every morning and be in 10,000 cities in one month promoting. I think people are the ones to put expectations on you. I never really put expectations on myself. I know that it’s a business and the record label has to make a profit from it. I understand that side of things, but at the end of the day it was always my goal to do exactly what I was able to do. That makes me feel really good."

"I think that’s why people are so dedicated to your music. The people that are fans are hardcore.
They are. That’s what I’m saying. I would rather have that than make a record that I know will be cool for a short period of time but those fans will move on from the trendy, pop sound when it changes."