It’s official, nobody can knock Solange off her Brooklyn girl ranking; she has officially landed a spot in Brooklyn Magazine, which pretty much means that she’s inducted into the borough’s unofficial, official residency club with social acceptance.
Solange is the ever-irreverent subject of the latest issue of Brooklyn Magazine, and she’s opening up, not only about what it is to be Solange in Brooklyn, but what it is to be a working mother to her 8-year-old son, Julez, in Brooklyn. From picking apartments based on zone schools, to serving as Juelz’s personal driver for his overwhelming social schedule, SoSo is bare bones in the latest interview.
Check out some excerpts below.
Solange on her decision to move to New York City for Juelz’s sake:
“You know, my parents are here, my sister is here, my cousin is here, all my friends are here. We really wanted Julez to have the experience that we had growing up—being able to drop in on his aunt’s house and being able to hang out with Grandma and see our friends and have that experience of actually having a soccer game and having family show up. It’s such a beautiful feeling, but also having that village is a necessary reality so that I’m able to pursue my passion both outside of motherhood and outside of my career.”
On her connection to the city:
“I’m still a newcomer here, but I feel like because my family moved to New York when I was 17, that I have a longer and deeper connection. And I think about the times when I would come and visit them, and I would always spend a lot of time in Brooklyn. So it feels like an extension of me, living here, because I spent so much time here before.”
On how she manages being a single working mom:
“Is definitely a balancing act, and it is not at all easy. I do the best I can, which involves a lot of saying no to things, actually, and a lot of really organized scheduling and a lot of help, to be honest. That was one of our major incentives to moving here. We were living in LA and I was writing and recording this album literally between the hours of 9am and 3pm every day because that was the time that Julez was in school. We were completely isolated, we didn’t have any family or long-term friends there, and we didn’t have that support system built in there that we have in New York.”
Be sure to head over to Brooklyn Magazine for Solange’s full article.
