Don't Touch My Hair

"Don't Touch My Hair"
Song by Solange featuring Sampha
from the album A Seat at the Table
Released September 30, 2016
Genre Alternative R&B
Length 4:17
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Knowles
  • Cook
  • Sisay
  • Sitek
  • Wimberly
Producer(s)
  • Solange Knowles
  • Sampha
  • Sitek
  • Wimberly
  • Cook
A Seat at the Table track listing
"Interlude: Tina Taught Me"
(8)		 "Don't Touch My Hair"
(9)		 "Interlude: This Moment"
(10)

"Don't Touch My Hair" is the ninth track on American singer and songwriter Solange's fourth studio album, A Seat at the Table. It was released by Saint Records and Columbia Records on September 30, 2016 and released the music video for it a week later. It was written by Knowles, Bryndon Cook, Sampha Sisay, Dave Andrew Sitek, and Patrick Wimberly.

"Don't Touch My Hair" has raised a lot of positive attention, sending the message out to young black women that their hair is theirs and they should be proud of it, not letting others dictate their decisions with it. The track's soft melody raises this powerful message in a subtle and calm way.

Background and writing

Knowles started creating the album four years ago and has been creating and editing tracks, including "Don't Touch My Hair", since its release.[1] During the writing of "Don't Touch My Hair" and the creation of the full album, she has posted personal essays on her website, Saint Heron, linking the ideas of these personal essays with messages in the album. One essay that has been linked to the creation and writing of "Don't Touch My Hair" would be ""And Do You Belong? I Do." In this she says “You and your friends have been called the N-word, been approached as prostitutes, and have had your hair touched in a predominately white bar just around the corner from the same venue."[2] Experiencing micro-aggressions towards black women's hair, and being the daughter of a hairdresser, lead Knowles to create a song based on how hair is "incredibly spiritual, and, energetically, it really encompasses and expresses who we are."[1] She states the meaning of the song "is as much as what it feels like to have your whole identity challenged on a daily basis, although physically touching the hair is extremely problematic!"[1]

Music video

Solange Knowles debuted the music video for "Don't Touch My Hair" on October 2, 2016 on YouTube.[3] In the music video there are an abundance of different hairstyles like Marcel waves, brushed out curls, beaded braids, afros, and then a crown of looped braids.[4] It shows Knowles and cast of dancers swaying back and forth between frames, all moving in soft and elegant steps with the warm harmonies and falsetto, giving the music video a very gentle, yet strong tone because of the overall message and the facial expressions shown on Knowles and the dancers.

Reception

"Don't Touch My Hair" received widespread acclaim, not only from music critics, but from fans and the fashion world as well. Natelegé Whaley of The Huffington Post, gave the song positive reviews, especially focusing on the importance of the message of praising black women's hair while living in such sensitive times, "Hair is used as a metaphor for our entire essence on this track and is the perfect symbol, as our hair is one thing that has always been policed throughout history and into the present."[5] Vogue Magazine found the song to be an uplifting message about hair, it includes how the message relates to a specific community, but can also be applied to a broader community of women in general, both on the runway and in real life.[6]

Rolling Stone said the track "uses sparkling synths and drowsy horns as broadsides against those who might deny Knowles and other black women their bodily autonomy", a message of brutal honesty in tender and rich harmonies.[7] Though "Don't Touch My Hair" has been critiqued in very positive ways, its status on the Billboard's Hot 100 was low, being set at 91 on the week of October 22, 2016 for only one week until finally dropping below 100.[8] Pitchfork Magazine wrote that " 'Don’t Touch My Hair' moves at a heartbeat’s pulse, subtle and steady, yet vibrant" and "can be read as an explicit rejection of this behavior (the devalue and alienation of black spaces), as a simple establishment of boundaries, or as a powerful pledge of personal identity."[9]

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 91
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[11] 14

References

  1. 1 2 3 "A Seat With Us: A Conversation Between Solange Knowles, Mrs. Tina Lawson, & Judnick Mayard - Saint Heron". Saint Heron. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  2. ↑ "And Do You Belong? I Do - Saint Heron". Saint Heron. 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  3. ↑ "Solange Knowles Dropped Two New Music Videos From A Seat at the Table". Vulture. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  4. ↑ SolangeKnowlesVEVO (2016-10-02), SOLANGE - DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR (OFFICIAL VIDEO), retrieved 2016-12-02
  5. ↑ BE, Natelegé Whaley Digital storyteller passionate about giving millennials of color spaces to (2016-10-06). "Solange’s 'Don’t Touch My Hair' Is An Anthem Reclaiming Black Autonomy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  6. ↑ Hartman, Eviana. ""Don’t Touch My Hair"—Solange’s New Music Video Has an Announcement to Make". Vogue. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  7. ↑ "Review: Solange's 'A Seat at the Table' Walks Softly, Speaks Radically". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  8. ↑ "Solange - Chart history | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  9. ↑ ""Don't Touch My Hair" [ft. Sampha] by Solange Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  10. ↑ "Solange – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Solange. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Solange – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Solange. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
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