Could it be? The Evening Standard published a photo that was strikingly similar to Solange Knowles‘ A Seat at the Table album cover Monday, November 28 — and fans are not happy.
Alongside an article titled “Prepare to Party,” the London newspaper included a photo of a white woman with a hairstyle and accessories that resemble those worn by the R&B singer on the cover of her critically acclaimed third album. Both portraits show the women standing in front of a wall with several colorful hair clips pinning their hair.
The Evening Standard‘s picture, which was actually provided by the clothing store Oasis, caused backlash on social media as fans quickly accused the newspaper of ripping off Solange’s image and of cultural appropriation.
“I gentrified it awayyyyy” pic.twitter.com/WYSvXQBSEn
— PushingJulius (@FunnyJulius) November 29, 2016
“I gentrified it awayyyyy,” one Twitter user wrote, amending the lyrics to Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky,” a song in which she sings about cultural appropriation and her experience as a black woman in America.
“They not even TRYING to hide the creative theft anymore lol,” another fan tweeted. A third bluntly added: “Who’s f–king idea was this @EveningStandard.”
In September, the Houston native, 30, who is Beyoncé‘s younger sister, spoke about the theme of A Seat at the Table, which also includes a track titled “Don’t Touch My Hair,” during an interview with music news website Stereogum.
“Overall, I set out to make an album about self-discovery and empowerment and independence,” Solange explained. “The idea of having to fully understand where you’re from — when I say that, I mean it in a variety of ways, not just your history but some of the family heirlooms and traumas that might have been passed down to you, your overall experience — I set out to create a body of work that reflected that. I had a strong yearning for that. And obviously, a huge part of that is my identity as a black woman.”
