A ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, CLASH BOOK OF THE YEAR

The dramatic story of Solange: a musician and artist whose unconventional journey to international success was far more important than her family name.

'Why Solange Matters is a significant and sober treatise on popular music . . . This book is more than necessary.'
THURSTON MOORE

'The author's prose sparkles . . . This is a book about what freedom could look like for Black women.'
CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, OBSERVER

'Invigorating . . . much more than a dry thesis and at times something nearer to personal reverie.'
IAN PENMAN, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS

'A love letter to quirkly black creatives . . . [Phillips'] vibrant writing reminds us how Solange lit "the flame of creativity" within many Black women.'
gal-dem

Growing up in the shadow of her superstar sister, Beyonce, and defying an industry that attempted to bend her to its rigid image of a Black woman, Solange Knowles has become a pivotal musician and artist in her own right.

In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips chronicles the creative journey of Solange, a beloved voice of the Black Lives Matter generation. A Black feminist punk musician herself, Phillips addresses not only the unpredictable trajectory of Solange's career but also how she and other Black women see themselves through the musician's repertoire. First, she traces Solange's progress through an inflexible industry, charting the artist's development up to 2016, when the release of her third album, A Seat at the Table, redefined her career. With this record and, then, When I Get Home (2019), Phillips describes how Solange has embraced activism, anger, Black womanhood and intergenerational trauma to inform her remarkable art.

Why Solange Matters not only cements the subject in the pantheon of world-changing twenty-first-century musicians, it introduces its writer as an important new voice.

MUSIC MATTERS: SHORT BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE
- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips
- Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson
- Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson

The dramatic story of a musician and artist whose unconventional journey to international success was far more important than her family name.

About the Author

Stephanie Philips is a London-based music journalist and musician who writes for the Independent, The Quietus, Vice, Bandcamp and The Wire. She started the Black feminist punk band Big Joanie and played backup for Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney. She is also part of the collective behind Decolonise Fest, a festival celebrating punks of colour.
@Stephanopolus
www.steph-phillips.com

Reviews
'Every once in a while, a musician comes along who so beautifully, so poignantly speaks that Black women remember that we are more than our vulnerability. In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips gracefully positions Solange amongst that elite cohort. From Houston to London and many places in between, Phillips presses our ear to the street in order to reveal how Solange broke the mold and released us all.' - Shana Redmond, author of EVERYTHING MAN: THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF PAUL ROBESON



Book Information
ISBN 9780571368983
Author Stephanie Phillips
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Faber & Faber
Publisher Faber & Faber
Weight(grams) 339g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 18mm