Mathew Knowles originally wanted Destiny’s Child to be a family affair. While putting together one of the greatest all-female groups in pop music history, the music executive wanted to include his youngest daughter in the group that catapulted his oldest daughter Beyonce into her current superstar status.
On Saturday (Nov. 5), Knowles took to social media to pour out some fatherly pride on his daughters, posting two separate messages for his daughters. In them, he expressed how he always knew they would be superstars. But he also talked about how one of his baby girls rejected his plan for greatness and did it her own way.
That would be Solange.
The #GirlDad posted a natural face portrait of the “Cranes in the Sky” singer with the caption, “Many of you aren’t aware, but I personally wanted Solange to be in Destiny’s Child.”
“That didn’t appeal to her,” he continued. “You would think joining Destiny’s Child would be a dream to her, and she had every opportunity to seize the success that the group was experiencing—but she wanted to forge her very own path.”
Knowles wrote, “She wanted to trust her own instincts. She loved music, but she just loved it from a different perspective…her own!”
One might wonder where a young Solange got such identity security. The family worked hard to make sure the two had the personal and professional support to create healthy sibling relationships and self-awareness.
According to Tina Knowles-Lawson during an interview with Maria Shriver, the family invested in counseling for the girls, having both Beyoncé and Solange see a therapist as children.
“I was very sensitive to that because I grew up where I felt like my mom liked my brother more. And she loved him more,” Knowles-Lawson said. “So, I was really sensitive to it. So I had days I devoted to—on Wednesday I took off work and that was Solange’s day. She was a lot younger than Beyoncé. It was tough because Beyoncé was this little superstar in our city.”
Despite the actual sessions being a physical challenge (especially after Beyoncé’s career started to explode), Mom said it was a necessary sacrifice. She didn’t want her girls to experience sibling rivalry or jealousy based on one arriving at the top before the other.
“I took them to counseling,” she said. “Very early. So that the counselor could help Beyoncé be more sensitive to Solange because she couldn’t stand her for a minute.”
“You know, when they were little, when she was 5, she was all in her stuff, she was trying to hang around her and her friends. Beyoncé was really irritated. But it made her more sensitive to who her sister was and what she had to deal with because of her,” Knowles-Lawson shared.
The celebrity influencer added, “My family was like, ’You’re going to make them crazy because they’re too young for you to take them. But I wanted Beyoncé to be sensitive to the fact that Solange had to deal with being a little bit in her shadow. And it made her way more sensitive and protective. And they’re still fiercely protective of each other.”
The mama’s intuition was spot-on. The two have been able to navigate their careers through the ebbs and flows of each other’s success. All this possibly played a major part in why Solange opted not to join the group with her sister, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson.
“Solange’s desires and faith in herself trumped my personal desires for her,” the father declared.
“You see, I realized then that she had an unmatched character and an unwavering belief in herself. Me, as a father, could never get in the way of that. I finally supported and encouraged her decision. I didn’t fight against it anymore.”
“I knew my Solange would be OK in this world of super-stardom that we were all getting used to at the time when I saw this level of resolve in her,” Daddy Knowles noted.
The proud mother of Daniel Julez Smith Jr. is no slouch and has learned to stand on her own.
From singing the theme song for “The Proud Family” to producing and participating in multiple child-friendly projects like “Baby Jamz ” and “Yo Gabba Gabba,” she has also established herself as an eclectic creative. This is best exemplified in her critically acclaimed fourth studio album, “When I Get Home,” which rose to No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts.
Most recently, Solange was selected to compose the score for the New York City Ballet at the Lincoln Center, debuting on Sept. 28.
Okayplayer reports, “The ballet will hold performances again on October 1, 8, 11, and 16 as well as May 2, 11, 13, 17, and 18. As part of New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala, Solange and Reisen’s performance will be paired with costumes by Alejandro Gómez Palomo of genderless fashion brand Palomo Spain.”
