The Houston based artist known as Solange, or Beyoncé’s younger sister, didn’t breakout until her 2016 album, “A Seat at the Table.” The album received a lot of praise and put Solange on the map as an artist to watch. Now she’s releasing her third studio album, “When I Get Home,” with some interesting features, such as Playboi Carti and Gucci Mane.
“Things I Imagine” starts the album with a calming sound, with Solange singing in the background. Then the beat takes an eccentric turn which sounds good over her airy vocals.
The album goes into an interlude called “S McGregor,” which is about the major bypass in Houston, where Solange is from. Actress Phylicia Rashad appears on this track to deliver this message “And no my heart knows no delight / I boarded a train / Kiss all goodbye.”
“S McGregor” transitions into “Down with the Clique” which discusses how successful people from Houston can forget their roots. Solange conveys this by saying “We were down with ya / down with ya.” This song also delivers a beautiful Jazz instrumental in the background while Solange delivers a decent vocal performance.
“Way to the Show” again pays homage to her hometown Houston. She mentions candy paint jobs, which are a staple in Houston, over this chill funky beat which adds some substance to her amazing performance.
“Can I Hold the Mic” follows with a clip from the group Crime Mob. This interlude is one of best on this album, especially with John Key doing a phenomenal job matching the speed and tone of Solange’s vocals.
“Stay Flo” is an interesting track that discusses how men are viewed differently from women in certain aspects of life. The bass on this track shines, especially before Solange’s second verse.
“Almeda,” where Solange talks about black culture, is one the best songs on the album. The beat on this song is amazing and pays homage to the chopped and screwed movement in Houston. The-Dream comes in and deliver’s a mini-hook which is sung throughout the song. Even though his part is short, he still delivers a good vocal performance. Playboi Carti closes out the song with a verse of his own, which while repetitive, sounds good and delivers a young perspective of black culture.
“Time (is)” talks about taking risks and being rewarded for doing so. It includes a nice piano instrumental with a bass guitar providing some substance to the song.
Then, it transitions to “My Skin is My Logo” featuring Gucci Mane and the two artists talk about what each other like to do. This is done with a slow and jazzy beat with artists trading clever lyrics with each other.
“We Deal with the Freak’n (Intermission)” is a spoken piece by Alexyss K. Taylor, where she describes how important women are in today’s society. The interlude then goes into “Jerrod” which is very similar to the previous interlude. However, this is from the perspective of Solange, where she talks about a relationship that she had with another person. She does a decent job on this track with her vocals. One thing that could have made the song better is another beat selection, as this one is bland and repetitive.
“Binz” comes with an introspective boom-bap beat with Solange singing about her riches and touching on the stereotype of black people being underprivileged.
Solange does a lot of things right on this album however, there are some minor issues that need mentioning. Her beat selection, which is good for the most part, tails off for the last couple tracks and they sound repetitive and bland. Also, Solange’s rapping on some tracks is decent at best. Overall though, count this as another win for Solange as she continues to deliver some awesome songs that everyone can listen too. 4/5
