A look back at Solange Knowles Interview With Essence About Being a Divorced Mother at 21

 
Full Interview after cut ........................
Beyonce's younger sister sat down with Essence magazine this month to discuss everything from her music, mother hood, rumors that she left her husband for Lil Wayne, plastic surgery and being divorced at the age of 21. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

 

ESSENCE.com: What do you hope to accomplish with this album?
S.K.: First I want to create music that I enjoy and listen to. I just feel like a lot of my peers are in a superficial state, and everything is about clubbing and buying drinks. Nothing really has substance out right now. So I have many songs on this record that talk about life in general, the state of our society. I have a lot of records that inspire dreaming, which is so important as a young person, because a lot of people don’t know what they want to do yet; they don’t have any aspirations.

ESSENCE.com: What are some of the drawbacks of being in this industry?
S.K.: The lack of privacy is first and foremost. You just have to know that the more successful you get as an artist, the less of a normal life you have. It’s a trade-off. When I say I only want to reach a certain level (professionally), people look at me like I’m full of sh–. But when you get to a certain point, you can’t just go to the mall anymore, and I don’t know if I’m willing to ever give that up.

ESSENCE.com: So you don’t aspire to your sister’s level of superstardom?
S.K.: No, I don’t want to get that far. (Laughs) I feel really bad for my sister. I’m always like “Oh, let’s go to the mall” or “Let’s go here” and she can’t. I enjoy having that.

ESSENCE.com: But do you ever feel as if you have to compete with her?

S.K.: No, I think that as artists we’re totally different, and when this record comes out it will express that. But I admire my sister so much. She’s one of my role models in that she is successful and classy. She’s very diplomatic and lives her life true to self.

ESSENCE.com: She’s been known to say she doesn’t go on the Internet because of all the craziness. Do you avoid the Web and reading what’s in the blogosphere?
S.K.: People actually e-mail me the links all the time, and I’m like “Okay, thanks I really wanted to see that.”

ESSENCE.com: Let’s address some of the rumors out there. Apparently, folks believe you left your husband for Lil Wayne. Is that true?
S.K.: (Laughs) That’s absolutely not true. Yes, we know each other but I absolutely did not leave my husband for him.

ESSENCE.com: There’s also been some buzz that you had cosmetic surgery—a nose job.
S.K.: (Laughs) Not true. I’ve heard that one, too. That one actually cracked me up. I mean if I got some surgery, I would wait until I’m older and pop out a couple more kids.

ESSENCE.com: So even if you had had cosmetic surgery, you wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it?
S.K.: No.

ESSENCE.com: What’s the craziest rumor you’ve heard about yourself?
S.K.: I think the craziest rumor was that my dad paid my son’s father $1 million to marry me. That was everywhere at one time, and that was really funny. I always joke that I wish we had it like that: “Here, take a million dollars, marry her…”

ESSENCE.com: Your dad once said you were the family’s “secret weapon.” Does that mean folks better get ready for your musical arsenal?
S.K.: (Laughs) Umm, he could’ve meant that in a couple of different ways. There are a lot of times when people are diplomatic about things and I’m not that type. I’m not afraid to say exactly what I mean. I don’t feel like I owe anybody other than my child and my family anything. So if someone has opinions about something, then that’s fine, but I’m not going to just smile and hold it in. Also I think I’m a little different in the fact that if someone tells me to go right, I usually go left.

 

Solange went on to say:

"Well, I am no longer married, but I think it’s very important not to dish details. We are friends and we coparent our son. When he gets older I don’t want him to read anything about me saying anything about his father or vice versa. When there’s a child involved I think the less information given is best." "No, I think every decision has made me who I am today. I’ve embraced everything because I know that only God can give life, no one else. I’m happy that I have a beautiful, wonderful, amazing child who’s made me a better person." In a nutshell: "I got pregnant when I was a teenager and since my sister was in the process of becoming America's pop princess, in an effort to keep the family image in tact; my family, my baby daddy and a couple of "friends" posed for some fake "wedding" pictures and leaked them to the media so that all was well within the almighty Knowles clan."