Solange, "Losing You" video (2012) [music]
Beyonce's hipper younger sister in South Africa with friends and Le Sapeurs
I find Solange to be the kind of Cool Person that makes me feel cool for relishing her particular flavor of cool. The video for “Losing You” is an ode to that; it brings together culture, fashion, art, and history. It’s clear just how deliberate her choices are (setting, tone, choreography), but there remains an effortlessness to all of it. It doesn’t feel overly curated or stilted. It just feels… yeah, very cool.
Why I love Solange
She hangs with music’s craftspeople more than music’s stars (Dev Hynes, Charlift, Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and Terrible Records). Her style is bold but easy to grock. She writes, she sings, she produces, she dances. She brings art to music and music to art. (One of my favorite projects is her choreographic debut of “SCALES”- pictured below- at The Menil Museum in Houston, her hometown, Pérez Art Museum in Miami, and later in Marfa Texas). And, when she does this stuff, it’s not in the “I have a rich and famous old sister bank-rolling my hobbies” kind of way. It’s in an authentic, thoughtful, multi-talented, polymath making art kind of way.
She’s demure but not too aloof to smile in her photos. She’s polished but isn’t afraid to let it rip from time to time. She turned a fall on the mainstage stage at Coachella into an adorable moment of sisterly playfulness. She attacked JayZ in an elevator in defense of her big sis. She’s outspoken about her politics, culture, and identity as a Black Woman and I have long admired how she does so with a vulnerability, composure, and precision that pushes thinking without intimidating or excluding.
Why I love this video:
“Losing You” is the opening track to Solange’s 2012 album, True. (Solange and Dev Hynes of Blood Orange co-wrote and co-produced the album over a several year period). The video is set in South Africa in Cape Town’s Langa and Khayelitsha townships. Solange, her friends, and Les Sapeurs dance, strut, and bike around in stunning, boldly-colored, boldly-printed outfits.
If it weren’t for Solange’s striking dancing and outfits (specifically the Giraffe-print pantsuit), Le Sapeurs would have completely stolen the show with their canes, parasols, and white gloves. They smoke cigars, sip tea, and strike poses for no reason at all.
Who are Le Sapeurs? The name stands for Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People in English). The group originated in Congo in the 1920’s when it was still a French colony. A group of Bakongo men began adopting the elegant Parisian style and bringing their own ostentatious flare; combinations of bold prints, unusual fabrics, and flamboyant accessories. There are said to be 6,000 “Le Sape” members today and they embrace the lifestyle and philosophy of Sapeurism as much as the clothes.
Photographer Daniele Tamagni documented Le Sapeurs in his project, Gentleman of Bacongo. The pictures are stunning.
More to buzz about:
My favorite piece of writing on Solange; Solange, the Polymathic Cultural Force, New York Times
More on Les Sapeurs in NPR and The Culture Trip
The video is directed by the Melina Matsoukas who also directed the music video for Beyonce’s Formation.
Solange was awarded Album of the Year in 2016 by Pitchfork for A Seat At The Table. Beyonce’s Lemonade came out the same year and was awarded the third position.
Terrible Records, Solange’s label, was co-founded by Grizzly Bear’s producer and bass guitarist, Chris Taylor.