Solange Calls First Grammy a 'Beautiful Honor'
Almost 15 years after launching her career with Solo Star, Solange Knowles took home her first Grammy on Sunday (Feb. 12) for her work on “Cranes in the Sky” off her third studio album, A Seat at the Table.
Backstage, the 30-year-old singer opened up about what her Best R&B Performance award means.
“I’m most excited that I wrote ‘Cranes in the Sky’ in a period of desperation and weariness,” she told reporters. “The fact that it’s resonated the way that it has eight years later, a song that got pushed to the side a lot, I knew that this was the right time.
“This is such a beautiful honor and I’m so humbled by it,” she continued. “But I honestly felt like I won far before this because of all of the connectivity the record has had, especially with black women…It’s a wonderful, wonderful night. I just feel gratitude.”
During the presser, Solange also thanked artists of yesteryear for their influence on her latest material. “I looked to Nina Simone and Marvin Gaye and artists of our times that have really pushed political message through their music and artistry,” she said. “Those are the artists who paved the way for us to do what we’re doing now. So we’re not doing nothing new.”
Her award came during the pre-show telecast, keeping her from delivering a speech she revealed on Twitter. “Thank you for your well wishes,” Solange tweeted. “Gratitude. If I would’ve gotten to accept this, I would’ve said black girls/women ARE grammys mothafuckaaaa.”
https://twitter.com/solangeknowles/status/830997619841208322
The Seat at the Table songstress also took a photo with her pregnant sister Beyoncé at the show. Rubbing her stomach, she captioned the photo: “mathews babies.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQcKapAgs59/?taken-by=saintrecords
It wasn’t all good, however. After Queen Bey lost the night’s biggest awards to Adele, Solange also tweeted “wuddup frank,” sharing a link to Frank Ocean’s Tumblr post about the Grammys being culturally biased.
https://twitter.com/solangeknowles/status/831000797232001025