Rapper Common found Solange‘s single Cranes In The Sky so inspiring that he has added his own verse in an unofficial remix of the track.
Dropped the same week it was announced, a good four years after her last EP, Solange’s album is an unassuming, touching, masterful and altogether powerful album. A beautiful, bold expression of frustration and self-love and pride, the album pulls influences from all the genres Solange has shown incredible flair for throughout her career – from soul to funk to electronica.
An awe-inspiring collection of 21 songs, it has amassed acclaim from both critics and Solange’s peers alike and placed her in good stead to feature on many Best Of lists at the end of the year. The album has also earned Solange her first number one on the Billboard charts, the break out single Cranes in the Sky already receiving the remix treatment from producer Kaytranada.
Much in the way that A Seat At The Table is an expression of self-empowerment and love, social justice and the experiences of Solange as a black woman in the United States, rapper Common’s upcoming album Black America Again and single of the same title express the rapper’s frustrations with racially motivated violence and the inequality and injustices faced by black people in America.
Adding an entire verse to the beginning of the song, Common raps with a similar quiet aggression as is thematic throughout Solange’s album. “Can’t work it away, can’t drink it away, can’t laugh it away. Kept my love locked down like it was all dreaded/ wishing for wings again so I can spread it.”
Speaking to theFADER, he described the track as being timeless: “Every once and a few years, there are certain songs that come out and have the sound of forever. Cranes in the Sky is that song for me… Every time I listened to it, I keep wanting to hear it again and again,” he said. “I started mumbling some words to it and then decided I want to write a verse.”
Read more: Feature: A spotlight on Solange
Image: Billboard