Solange - When I Get Home

Collecting various ephemera associated with the release of Solange's When I Come Home here.

When I Come Home was the work of art I cherished the most in this last calendar year. Don't know that I could ever fully put into words my connection with the album but my words should not be the point of reference anyway.

To start, here are a few influences on the album worth noting:

1. Here is a playlist Solange curated for the birthday of Sun Ra, a clear forerunner for When I Get Home

2. Here is a very solid selfie with fellow Houston legend Bun B, who Solange repurposes lines from in the album

View this post on Instagram

So proud of my lil sis @saintrecords and her new project. The album is amazing and the visuals are crazy! She knocked it out the park! #WhenIGetHome album and short film out now!

A post shared by Bun B (@bunb) on Mar 4, 2019 at 5:57am PST

3. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Christophe Chassol (a pianist on When I Get Home) spoke about the album-writing process: 

 "We listened to a lot of music. We listened a lot to Steve Reich, to Minnie Riperton, to Stevie Wonder’s wife’s [Syreeta] albums from the Seventies. It’s really crazy, sophisticated black music from the Seventies, really good. You know the Minnie Riperton album Come to My Garden? These are models."

Maybe my personal favorite social media moment of the When I Get Home era would be Solange getting down to "Sweetner" by Ariana Grande in a speeding convertible, getting spanked by Kelela. 

no mo digital hoardingggg taking up spaceee i luh yallll pic.twitter.com/FTCisYdPp6

— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) March 25, 2019

A few written pieces that help contextualize this era:

1. An expansive interview with writer Stevona Elem-Rogers

2. A brief interview with a few of the creatives who worked on this project

3. A Vulture "explainer" article that contains links to all of the sampled material within the album

4. An interview with WeTransfer on the breadth of the process of both the album and the film, as well as its personal connection to Solange

Solange for numéro berlin, issue #6 amerika.

Finally, in the last week, Solange has seemingly brought an end to this era with two events:

1. She appeared with a whole ensemble to perform a medley of songs from When I Get Home, surely the most unique and accomplished television event in many years. A victory lap to close out the decade.

2. Solange also has made the director's cut to When I Come Home (the film companion to the album) available on YouTube. Watch when you get the chance. I hope it is as refreshing and nurturing for you as it has been me.

.