Solange Knowles

Solange Knowles

Solange Piaget Knowles (born June 24, 1986), professionally known as Solange, is an American actress, R&B and pop singer, songwriter, producer, model, and dancer. She is also the younger sister of R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles.

Early life

Solange Knowles was born in Houston, Texas, to Mathew and Tina Knowles. Her father is African-American and her mother is of Creole descent (African-American, Native American, and French). She is the cousin of Angela Beyincé (song co-writer) and her maternal grandparents are Lumis Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, (a seamstress).

Recording career

2001-2006: Solo Star

Managed by her father Matthew, Knowles broke into music business in 2001 with an appearance on Destiny's Child's 2001 holiday album 8 Days of Christmas, providing vocals for the tracks "Little Drummer Boy" and "Proud Family." The following year she was featured on Lil Romeo's second studio album Game Time (2002), singing portions of Luther Vandross-penned "So Amazing" on the single "True Love," and on Kelly Rowland's solo album Simply Deep (2002), for which she penned the title song. In the meantime, Knowles intensified work on her debut album, which involved high-profile producers such as Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Linda Perry and Timbaland among others. Knowles wrote or co-produced eleven tracks on Solo Star, including its leading single, Damon Elliott-produced "Feelin' You (Part II)." The song failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, but reached the top 3 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales and the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. Solo Star was eventually released on January 21, 2003 in the States, where it debuted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 and number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 112,000 copies domestically, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

In the following years, Knowles contributed songs for Destiny's Child, Rowland, Michelle Williams, Trin-I-Tee 5:7, and sister Beyoncé, including single releases "Get Me Bodied," "Upgrade U," and "We Break the Dawn." In 2005, she made a cameo appearance in Destiny's Child's music video for "Soldier" when she was pregnant with her son Daniel.

2007-present: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

In late 2007, while being in the studio, recording her second album, Knowles signed a new record deal with Geffen Records. Heading into a new musical direction with elements of "modern twist on hip-hop and R&B flecked with tinges of blues and jazz," the album includes production by Cee-Lo Green, Soulshock & Karlin and Mark Ronson as well as appearances by Lil' Wayne, and Bilal.

Knowles finished work on her second studio album in 2008, and titled the project Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. The music video for its first single, The Neptunes-produced "I Decided" was shot in April 2008, and premiered on June 4, 2008 on BET's Access Granted. So far, the single has reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts. For the UK & European release, Solange worked with British producers Freemasons, who previously worked on remixes for Beyonce & Kelly Rowland, to create "I Decided Part II". This version will be released August 11, with the album following on August 26.

Solange recently announced, via her Blog, HadleyStreetJournal.com, that she will be releasing a series of mixtapes, to coincide with the album. The first mixtape, titled "I Can't Get Clearance...", includes the recently leaked track "F*** The Industry (Signed Sincerly)". On this record, Knowles expresses her views on the current state of the music industry. The track name checks some major artists such as Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, and sister Beyonce Knowles, although on her blog, she clearly stated that the song does not have "a negative light to any of the artists"

Other ventures

Acting

Knowles appeared in Johnson Family Vacation. She provided a song for its soundtrack; a song called "Freedom", a collaboration with a Houston-based funk-jazz band Drop Trio. The song was a soundtrack-only cut, not appearing during the actual movie. She also appeared on the TV show One on One, as well as in The Brothers Garcia and Taina in special guest roles. She then starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing alongside Heroes star Hayden Panettiere, which was released straight to video on August 8, 2006.

Modeling

She models for her mother's clothing line, House of Deréon, named after her grandmother, Agnéz Deréon. Knowles also helped to launch a sister line to House of Deréon, named Deréon, for younger customers. She and Beyoncé model for Deréon, and feature in most of its marketing campaigns. Solange and Beyoncé were featured in a "Got Milk?" campaign ad, while still wearing House of Deréon.

Entrepreneuring

Knowles has been promoting Baby Jamz, a hip-hop/rhythm inspired toy line for preschoolers. She is executive producer of the CD, updated hip-hop inspired nursery rhymes, and the music featured in all of the toys. Knowles' son, Julez, is the face of Baby Jamz.

She is currently working with a Private Equity firm to help finance special projects in distribution, promotions and marketing music with Music World Entertainment and Geffen. The Private Equity firm is focusing on buying and selling music licensing rights to the movie industry and consumer products like Coca-Cola, Alcohol beverages and Proctor & Gamble Company products. The music for commercials will be the first deal of its kind for a female R&B singer.

Personal life

Knowles married football player Daniel Smith in February 2004 and on October 18, 2004, Knowles gave birth to Daniel Julez Smith, Jr.

In October 2007, Solange confirmed in an interview with Essence magazine that she and husband Daniel Smith had divorced. She has also appeared in Teen People, Seventeen, YM, Honey, and J-14.

She also totally fucked up a Boards of Canada song one time.[[1]]

Discography

Main article: Solange Knowles discography

• 2003: Solo Star
• 2008: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
2004	Johnson Family Vacation	Nikki Johnson
2006	Bring It On: All or Nothing	Camille

Tours

• 2001: TRL Tour (host)
• 2002: Young Pop Power Tour
• 2003: Simply Deeper European Tour (opening act for Kelly Rowland)
• 2008: The Art of Love Tour (opening act for Chrisette Michele & Raheem DeVaughn)
• 2008: As I Am Tour (opening act for Alicia Keys for Germany tour stops)

External links

• SolangeMusic.com official site
• HadleyStreetJournal.com official blog
• Template:Amg
• Template:MySpace
• Solange at IMDb