Pic: Michael Appleton

April 22, 2012

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She has a million-plus followers on Twitter, but often walks her son to school.

She was interviewed by Italian Vogue, but goes incognito to pop-up parties in Chinatown. She vacations on yachts in Europe, but talks giddily of sneaking into the Chick-fil-A in Greenwich Village.

Since moving to New York City from Los Angeles last fall, Solange Knowles has kept up a dual life. Her public persona includes D.J.’ing a party at the Ferragamo store on Fifth Avenue and posing for V magazine. But her schedule also includes going to see avant-garde musicians like Grimes in Brooklyn warehouses and attending fund-raising meetings at her 7-year-old son’s school.

“The strollers don’t bother me, but the intensity of the moms does,” she said of her new neighborhood, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. “Everyone does so much yoga and drinks so much tea.”

And while she is acclimating to New York, the shadow of Beyoncé Knowles, her older sister, extends like a skyscraper. During a recent lunch at Walter Foods, a restaurant in Williamsburg, Ms. Knowles glanced around the patio with a sense of relief. When she dined there with her sister several months earlier, she said, patrons ogled them and reached for camera phones.

“It did not feel like this,” she said, pausing from her steak salad to gesture at diners minding their own business. She wore a flowing white Tucker dress, Alexander Wang heels and powder-blue Prada sunglasses. “I’m so proud,” she added, “of her success, but I could not do that. It’s given me a pretty clear blueprint on what I don’t want to happen.”

Instead of pursuing pop stardom, Ms. Knowles has wrapped herself in indie cred — a Pitchfork-approved chanteuse, boldfaced D.J. and fashion ambassador, as comfortable on the party pages of Paper magazine as she is onBeyoncé’s Tumblr blog. It’s an appealingly spongy zone of celebrity for the 25-year-old.

Ms. Knowles was born in Houston in an upper-middle-class household; her father was a successful salesman at Xerox and her mother ran a beauty salon. But in the late ’90s, the rise of Destiny’s Child turned the Knowles clan into an entertainment juggernaut. Beyoncé was the star, their father was the manager, and their mother was the stylist and choreographer. Kelly Rowland, another singer in the group, moved in with the family.

Solange never joined Destiny’s Child, but began traveling with the group as a backup dancer at 13, after a performer became pregnant. “It felt very orthodox in its own twisted way,” she said of spending most of her high school years on tour.

While her mother urged patience, Ms. Knowles followed her sister’s path, pursuing a career as a singer and songwriter in her teenage years. Neither her debut album (Solo Star, in 2003) nor her sophomore effort (Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, 2008) was a commercial success, but music seemed a secondary pursuit.

At 18, she gave birth to Daniel Julez J. Smith II, which put her career and education on standby. She married his father, Daniel Smith, and moved to Los Angeles, then to rural Idaho, where he attended college. They divorced in 2007, and Ms. Knowles split time between Houston and Los Angeles, where she still owns houses. But New York City beckoned, not only because her family is now on the East Coast, but also for professional opportunities.

“I’ve been trying to talk her into going to Brooklyn for six years,” Beyoncé said. “It’s so close to her personality. She’s such a fashionista — she’ll get used to it.”

Indeed, Ms. Knowles has made an impression. Last fall, she sat in the front row at runway shows for Rodarte and Vera Wang, D.J.’ed a Rimmel cosmetics party in London and hit the Kenzo and Kanye West shows in Paris. She has earned attention for mixing designer labels with vintage pieces and incorporates bright colors (especially yellow and purple) that routinely inspire “hot or not” polls on style blogs. In January, she signed with Next Model Management.

“Solange can wear anything she wants,” said Humberto Leon, a co-owner of Opening Ceremony, the influential SoHo boutique, who has booked Ms. Knowles to D.J. at several events. “I’ve enjoyed watching her evolution as a style icon.”

Brooklyn is also fertile soil for indie music. Despite her R & B origins, she has deftly infiltrated the genre, remaking a song by the Dirty Projectors, recording with Of Montreal and collaborating with Grizzly Bear and Twin Shadow. “I sort of witnessed her charm the whole indie world in the last two years,” said Alain Macklovitch, a D.J. who performs under the name A-Trak.

When he gave Ms. Knowles a D.J. tutorial a few years back, he was surprised by her omnivorous musical diet. “I realized pretty quickly that she had broad musical taste that was totally different from what you expected. She was ahead of the curve.”

Some skeptics say Ms. Knowles has curled leftward as a reaction to her sister’s pop prominence. Hipster Runoff, a satirical culture blog, described her as an “alt hipster blipster songstress” and wrote last March that “Solange Knowles is on a never-ending quest to find her niche in the indiesphere.”

Ms. Knowles bristles at the accusation. “There’s always going to be a bit of mystery as to how two people who grew up in the same household have different interests,” Ms. Knowles said, referring to her sister. “I’m younger than her, and even in five years, there’s a total gap in how you’re exposed to musical things and fashion and art.”

Despite her familial advantages, Ms. Knowles still has a younger sibling’s stubborn streak. While she has helped to write several songs for Beyoncé — “Get Me Bodied” and “Upgrade U,” among them — she has declined any professional help from her more famous sister.

“My sister will not record with me,” Beyoncé said. “She’s her own woman.”

[Edited 4/26/12 6:48am]

''sigh'' if i had a cookie for everytime someone gave a fuck about Solange or bought one of her albums. I would have have half of one cookie

I don't really think much of her - she's unattractive and her songs aren't catchy.

But i give her props for writing 'Why don't you love me' for her sister - it's quite nice.

I don't think she's all that great a singer, but I respect her for having her own identity and not trying to be a copy cat of her famous sister. Seems like she has drive and ambition for her own style.

I like her. That last cd had a couple of joints that i was feelin.

Gunsnhalen said:

''sigh'' if i had a cookie for everytime someone gave a fuck about Solange or bought one of her albums. I would have have half of one cookie

her and the other simpson sister did the same thing. it must really suck to have popular sister to follow after.

Gunsnhalen said:

''sigh'' if i had a cookie for everytime someone gave a fuck about Solange or bought one of her albums. I would have have half of one cookie

Ouch...........

Alas, it's unfortunate that fate smiled upon the less talented, weave-whipping, oversinging sister. Solange is the true artist of the family.

Its funny how yall bash her sister (who exactly makes good music and writes her own songs) unlike her more popular sister who lies about songwriting credits and makes music just to get played on the radio. Yall would cry that people hate on B but its okay to bash her not so popular sister who exactly is a overall better artist and technically more talented.

I just think its... interesting

[Edited 4/23/12 9:08am]

Solange's cool, I like her. Her last album was nice. I applaud her for going natural with her hair and not being all lace-fronted out and bleaching her skin like alot of alot of these other chicks.

I think Solange is beautiful. It can't be easy to be Bey's lil sister. I do believe that Matthew Knowles and Beyonce could have done alot more to help Solange with her career. She is a decent actress and has talent. She just needs some help.

nursev said:

I think Solange is beautiful. It can't be easy to be Bey's lil sister. I do believe that Matthew Knowles and Beyonce could have done alot more to help Solange with her career. She is a decent actress and has talent. She just needs some help.

Solange seems like a smart girl that is very independent minded.

It seems she doesnt care about mainstream or being commercial. She has said numerous times she gears toward the Indie market. I think she is dope and that takes alot considering she has a more famous sister when Im sure she could easily be on the commercial market if she wanted to. Regardless, her talents and efforts are appreciated. She is definitly more talented and has a better catalogue than Beyonce.

She definitly is far more prettier than B without makeup as well not to mention she doesnt wear a weave

mjscarousal

i cant believe their sisters they look nothing alike,imo.

mjscarousal said:

nursev said:

I think Solange is beautiful. It can't be easy to be Bey's lil sister. I do believe that Matthew Knowles and Beyonce could have done alot more to help Solange with her career. She is a decent actress and has talent. She just needs some help.

Solange seems like a smart girl that is very independent minded.

It seems she doesnt care about mainstream or being commercial. She has said numerous times she gears toward the Indie market. I think she is dope and that takes alot considering she has a more famous sister when Im sure she could easily be on the commercial market if she wanted to. Regardless, her talents and efforts are appreciated. She is definitly more talented and has a better catalogue than Beyonce.

She definitly is far more prettier than B without makeup as well not to mention she doesnt wear a weave

I think she's beautiful and yes she has chosen to make her own path-very commendable(spelling)

I wanna like Solo but her stank attitude gets in the way.

I love me some Solange, but I've never found her prettier than Beyonce. Beyonce has better eyes, better nose, better lips, better eyebrows, etc. I can't find one feature that Solange has that is prettier than Beyonce. Solange is cute though! I loved those dookie braids she was rockin' for a while.

People act like Beyonce needs a lacefront to be pretty, but she'd be beautiful regardless of what she does with her hair.

popgodazipa said:

Ease the FUCK OFF the Sistas..Damn. MF Internet bullies. Sounds like fucking High School with the wanna be popular kids playing judge and jury. Fuckin posers! Let Solange do her thing ...you do yours...but all this..she's ugly yada yada bullshit needs to stop! On another note I really digged her last album. We need a different sound to combat the Rhianna Birthday Cakes of the world..hope she releases something new soon.

Right, thats what I was saying BUT let someone say Beyonce is overrated or Rihanna (which is true) these motherfuckers would throw a tantrum

I think Solange is more interesting than her sister.

"Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams" is one of my all time favorite albums.

I like this kid, she's got edge. She is the true definition of what makes an "It Girl" in fashion, music and art circles more than her commercially overexposed-determined- to- be-a-manufactered-icon sister will ever be.

babynoz said:

I think Solange is more interesting than her sister.

Right that's pretty much what I was saying, the only thing negative I said was that I didn't think she could sing, but her other talents seem to outweigh that one flaw, in my eyes.

missfee said:

babynoz said:

I think Solange is more interesting than her sister.

Right that's pretty much what I was saying, the only thing negative I said was that I didn't think she could sing, but her other talents seem to outweigh that one flaw, in my eyes.

I like her tone. But yeah she seems REAL cool.

missfee said:

babynoz said:

I think Solange is more interesting than her sister.

Right that's pretty much what I was saying, the only thing negative I said was that I didn't think she could sing, but her other talents seem to outweigh that one flaw, in my eyes.

Yup...like Ottie said, she has a bit of edge without overdoing it to the point of being artsy-fartsy just for the sake of it. I think her voice is kind of interesting too...maybe just not typical.

I like Solange. She's just as talented as her sister. Just her style is different.

Hope's she's not like Rachel Marron's sister in The Bodyguard.

babynoz said:

missfee said:

Right that's pretty much what I was saying, the only thing negative I said was that I didn't think she could sing, but her other talents seem to outweigh that one flaw, in my eyes.

Yup...like Ottie said, she has a bit of edge without overdoing it to the point of being artsy-fartsy just for the sake of it. I think her voice is kind of interesting too...maybe just not typical.

This is what I like about her. She's not commercially calculated in who she's aligned with artistically. Everything flows with that kid like osmosis, whether she's dj-ing in Japan or working through the fashion circles of Milan. She just seems naturally more Bohemian and "alternative" than her sister creatively speaking- and it shows in the artistic projects she chooses (especially outside of music). As much as I'm happy for Beyonce's world wide success, some of what she chooses to do by way or visual art or aesthetics leave me either cold or irritated because it's always so forced and contrived, she has not the adaptability to fit into some of the images she wants to project, and most importantly it feels like it's shoved down the public's throat.

When I look at the black women who have been taste or trend makers in the history of fashion I just don't see B having anything in common with any of them- and it always looks like she simply "bought her spot on the list" by simply being the best at getting pop culture accoldaes.

Solange however, is someone I look at and think, okay this kid has a natural edge, is not afraid to experiment, she has the mold to something interesting. She's not as powerful a singer as her sister, but she hound her niche I think in other ways. If she continues to do do music however, I just hope to gawd that she'll keep going a route entirely different from her big sis... it suits her to use her talents that way.

This is soooo classy.....I love it Bey should take notes.

I enjoy that her face looks natural. Her sister's looks like it has been enhanced. I liked some stuff off her first record, including the single "I Decided."

That white dress looks like labia, though.

+Identity said:

Alas, it's unfortunate that fate smiled upon the less talented, weave-whipping, oversinging sister. Solange is the true artist of the family.

Bey ain't that awful. I swear the org gives her less credit then she deserves. She has a lot of talent.

Gunsnhalen said:

''sigh'' if i had a cookie for everytime someone gave a fuck about Solange or bought one of her albums. I would have have half of one cookie

You would have no cookie.