When we sit down to consider the greatest albums of the 2010’s, Solange’s “A Seat At The Table” leads the charge in that conversation. Ten years ago today, Solange gifted the world with an offering in the form of her third studio album. The masterpiece that is “A Seat At The Table” is a classic in its own right. For many of us, it remains a topic of discussion and a staple in our personal music rotations. Each track, perfectly curated to create a body of work that has stood the test of time, continuing to deeply resonate with us all.
She was able to produce a project that gave us the space to feel, understand, and explore the feelings we struggle to put words to. It was permission to be consumed by the messiness that coincides with being alive. Acknowledgement of the complexity to being a Black woman trying to figure it all out in the midst of life’s turmoil. But in the same breath, it was a call for celebration of self. A forward prompt that continues to be unpacked and understood deeper by the year.
Tracks like “Cranes in the Sky” addresses the avoidance we’re all guilty of at some point or another. Solange’s buttery voice glides over the melody, confessing that all she’s done escape her anguish — from sexing to working it away — explicitly depicts that running isn’t the answer. In “F.U.B.U” she transitions to the frustration of watching the culture that belongs to us be appropriated and affirming that some things are just for us by design. So much ground was covered in this album and while for some bodies of work, it can be perceived as overwhelming, Solange’s recipe is a favorite among the greater community. Albums like “A Seat a the Table” don’t come along every day. It’s a project that prompts you to breathe, urges you to sit with yourself, and challenges your point of view. For that, Solange is forever goated in our book.