Solange Knowles Speak Divorce, Her Individual & Musical Freedom With Complex Magazine (Cover)

Solange Knowles recently sat down with Complex magazine to discuss finally being able to be the true artist that she is, finding herself after divorce, being a mother to her son Juelz, and finding the balance.

On Finding Herself After Her Divorce
Solange first admits to “wil’ in” out a bit after divorcing her childhood sweetheart, Daniel Smith, in 2009. She says,“Houston’s hip-hop scene was in the forefront,” Solange recalls. “I remember going to all of these shows: Paul Wall, Bun B, Mike Jones, Slim Thug. I enjoyed the freedom and the newness of experiencing people and a world that I had not had much access to.”

On Being In Control Of Her Career
“I wanted to make all of the creative artistic decisions but I wasn’t the one paying for it. And they didn’t fully trust me to make them,” she says. “Every decision was a battle. It was exhausting. I wanted to be in a position where not only was the music fully my body of work, but everything thereafter was also my body of work. I knew that meant I had to leave and that I had to struggle.”

On Becoming An Indie Artist
“It’s an independent label, so with that creative independence comes some financial independence,” she says, laughing. “I had to get very creative with how I was gonna pull it all together. Having an intimate team makes you much more resourceful. It comes out the way you want it to, and there’s not a committee of thinkers and observers.”

On Being Ambitious
“I have a mother who never took no for an answer when it came to her creative pursuits,” Solange says. “She started a hair salon in her spare bedroom and four years later had 30 employees. I have a father who was the first black student at his junior high and high school and had to do a lot to get to that point. So it’s really in my bloodline when it comes to having an idea and making it happen.”

On Being A Mother To Son Juelz
“When I’m home, I’m just straight mommin’ it,” Solange says of life in Brooklyn, which revolves around 8-year-old Juelz. “School runs, play dates, soccer games, etc. You have to constantly fight for that balance and now I kinda got it under control.”

On Being Able To Release A Full Album
“It’s just about putting the music out when it’s ready. When I wake up in the morning, I get dressed for myself, I listen to what I wanna listen to, I make decisions for me. It’s been interesting to navigate that from such a young age so publicly. But life is short and you have to live for you. I would never wanna look back on my life and feel like I missed out on any of that.”