When I Get Home

For the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2016 album A Seat at the Table, Solange wrote a love letter to her native Houston. Like its predecessor, 2019’s When I Get Home is steeped in the multidisciplinary artist’s strengths—and infused with a well-rounded concoction of the Black music that has come to define her south Texas city. Written and recorded with an overarching playfulness that never sacrifices its messaging, When I Get Home signifies a return to the familiar, with nods to Houston’s chopped and screwed sound; tributes to hometown heroes like Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, and Pat Parker; and hints of such jazz legends as Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra. And while her hometown serves as the album’s catalyst, Solange broadens her scope on When I Get Home, collaborating with a host of predominantly hip-hop artists from across the country—including Gucci Mane, Playboi Carti, and Tyler, The Creator—and, in doing so, conveys the interconnectedness of Black music throughout space and time. While A Seat at the Table was about what Solange had to “say,” When I Get Home is about communicating a feeling—one that’s evident throughout the album’s ambience of thick harmonies, and effortlessly blended analogue and digital instrumentation. But what stands out most on the album is Solange’s one-of-one perspective, as she seamlessly weaves together themes of futurism, and makes unlikely connections feel unmistakable.