Solange Knowles is a singer, songwriter, and actress. She began her career in entertainment as a backup dancer in the R&B group Destiny’s Child where her older sister Beyoncé was the lead. As a singer, Solange has released four studio albums.

In 2002, she made her debut album Solo Star. It debuted and peaked at No. 49 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and No. 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album featured artists such as boy band B2K, Lil’ Romeo (now known as just Romeo), N.O.R.E., and Murphy Lee. The album also had superstar producers like Timberland, The Neptunes, and more. Writing credits included: herself, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Luther Vandross, her father, Mathew Knowles, and more. The album produced two singles: “Feelin’ You” (featuring N.O.R.E.), which debuted at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart and “Crush” (later renamed to “Don’t Fight the Feeling”).

In 2008, she released her sophomore album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, which was more soul-inspired than her debut project. Her second album was her best placement on that chart at the time on the US Billboard 200 when it peaked at No. 9. The project only had one feature which was Bilal Oliver. The album spawned four singles: “I Decided,” “ChampagneChroniKnightcap,” “Sandcastle Disco,” “T.O.N.Y.,” and
“Wanna Go Back.”

Her third studio album, her magnum opus, A Seat at the Table was released in 2016. It became her first No. 1 placement on the US Billboard 200. She got her first on and win for her lead single “Cranes in the Sky.” The record won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. In an interview with Vibe she spoke about what this album meant to her and the sacrifices “mentally, emotionally and financially” she made to have it recorded. “It’s more than an album to me. It’s a transitional time in my life.”

Her fourth studio album, When I Get Home, was released in March 2019. It features contributions from several musicians such as Sampha, Playboi Carti, Gucci Mane, Panda Bear, Tyler, the Creator, Metro Boomin, The-Dream, Abra, Dev Hynes, Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, and Scarface. This album had a mix of R&B, jazz and hip-hop elements.

Take a look below at five songs you need to know by Solange:

• 5. Rise, 'When I Get Home' (2019)

  “Rise” is from Solange’s Grammy-winning album A Seat At The Table. She later performed the song in promotion of her album on Jimmy Kimmel’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Take a look at her show-stopping performance below:

• 4. Binz, 'When I Get Home' (2019)

  “Binz” is only 1:26.  But that’s all the time Solange needed to make this song a repeat offender on many playlists. The music video is also a humble touch as the singer is seen setting up her laptop camera and playfully dancing around the house. “Binz” is found on When I Get Home.

• 3. Almeda, 'When I Get Home' (2019)

  “Almeda” praises everything Black and Brown. You can hear this throughout the hook and chorus. The record was a fan-favorite on Solange’s When I Get Home and its title literally hits home. The song is named after an area near the singer’s home city of Houston.

• 2. Don't Touch My Hair, 'A Seat at the Table' (2016)

  Solange used a common phrase in the Black community and created a beautiful record about the importance of Black hair. “Don’t touch my hair/When it’s the feelings I wear/Don’t touch my soul
  When it’s the rhythm I know/Don’t touch my crown/They say the vision I’ve found,” she begins the song. “Don’t Touch My Hair” is found on A Seat at the Table.

• 1. Cranes In The Sky, 'A Seat at the Table' (2016)

  “Cranes In The Sky” is Solange’s breakout hit which was the lead single to A Seat at the Table. The song embodies who Solange is as an artist, and its backstory gives the record even more substance. “‘Cranes in the Sky’ is actually a song that I wrote eight years ago,” she told her sister Beyoncé in 2017 for Interview Magazine. “It’s the only song on the album that I wrote independently of the record, and it was a really rough time.” The singer recalled the “rough time” being that she was ending her relationship with her son’s father Daniel Julez J. Smith, who she met in middle school. “Cranes In The Sky” would earn Solange her first Grammy nomination and win for Best R&B Performance in 2017.

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