In an interview with Q2 Music podcast host Helga Davis, Solange spoke about the inspiration behind her hit album A Seat at the Table.
It all started in 2013, when Solange got caught up in Twitter drama after she stated that two white male New York Times writers basically had no clue what they were talking about when discussing her fellow singer Brandy and how they can't realize how "deep Brandy album cuts." One of the New York Times writers, Jon Caramanica, invited Solange to appear on their podcast; she declined, but that didn't stop Caramanica from talking about her.
"I went to Solange’s concert and I noted who her audience was," a white guest writer on the podcast stated. "And if I were her, I'd be careful of making these statements because I'd be careful not to bite the hand that feeds me."
And it was that statement that got Solange fired up and inspired. Solange stated during the interview that those words stuck in her head.
"That was kind of the turning point in the transition for me writing the album that is now A Seat at the Table," Solange admitted. "I began to think a lot about that conversation and replaying it, and it haunted me. And it haunted my mother to hear someone telling her daughter, 'Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.' And also the racial subtleties—are not so subtle—of what that encompasses when you say that to a black woman. Then you connect it by saying, 'Do you know who's buying your records?’”
Solange also referred to the statement on her song "Don't You Wait":
Now, I don't want to bite the hand that'll show me the other side, no / But I didn't want to build the land that has fed you your whole life, no / Don't you find it funny?
Listen below to hear Solange talk about the album: