Friday, June 13, 2008 - Solange "Decided" to Step Out of Beyonce's Shadow...

Solange, Beyonce's younger sister, probably has it the toughest. 

I mean, let's face it... anyone around Beyonce Knowles,  don't get much of a chance to shine. You might get a guest gig from the diva (like designing her a hideous dress), but to be a season regular, to share the limelight and the stage with her is clearly out of the picture... The living proofs are the Destiny's Child ex-members.

So, how will Solange cross over when she is mostly known as "Beyonce's younger sister" who was a teenage music artist not immersed in the child-hit-making-machine called Disney???

Pretty soon after Destiny's Child took off, Solange was also working on her music career. On her artist page, you'll find an album and dozens of old tracks, but nothing memorable... Now at 21, she is about to release a new album (expected to be a "Beyonce Jr. Project") which will be a ne-soul record as opposed to a hip hop R&B pop offering.

It turns out that Solange has recruited production from Pharrell, who did the first single "I Decided," Cee-Lo, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip. All of these guys are excellent, and we all know how successful Mark Ronson has been with the throwback sounds from Amy Winehouse.

I like "I Decided." It's somewhat of a warm up track. It's light and feels good, and a nice way to reintroduce Solange. Solange wrote a three page autobiography about her career and compared the record to music of the '60s and '70s. "I would like to think that it is as if The Supremes, The Marvelettes, Dusty Springfield and Minnie Riperton were to make the music they did with a modern touch," she said.

If she can pull this off, she will easily be on the path of setting her accomplishments apart from those of her big superstar sis, but as for now... her efforts are the second best with a little uniqueness to it and with a lot of Beyonce's moves, singing and copy-catting.

Hope you have better luck Solange than Ms. Kelly did...