Don't Touch My Hair

"Don't Touch My Hair" is the ninth track on American singer and songwriter Solange Knowles' third studio album, A Seat at the Table. It was released by Saint Records and Columbia Records on September 30, 2016 with its music video being released the following week. It was written by Knowles and Sampha Sisay.

"Don't Touch My Hair"
Song by Solange featuring Sampha
from the album A Seat at the Table
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2016
GenreAlternative R&B
Length4:17
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Solange Knowles
  • Sampha
Producer(s)
Music video
Don't Touch My Hair on YouTube

Background and writing

Knowles spent four years working on the album, including the track "Don't Touch My Hair".[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 predominantly white bar just around the corner from the same venue."[2]

Music video

Solange Knowles debuted the music video for "Don't Touch My Hair" on October 2, 2016 on YouTube.[3] It was directed by Alan Ferguson.[4] 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.[5] 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. The hair styling for the video was done by Nikki Nelms.[6]

Reception

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", conveying a message of brutal honesty in tender and rich harmonies.[7] Pitchfork's Sheldon Pearce 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."[8]

Natelegé Whaley, writing for The Huffington Post, gave the song a positive review, highlighting in particular the importance of its message of praising black women's hair during such a socially volatile period: "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."[9] Writing for Vogue, Eviana Hartman found the song to be an uplifting message about hair, and noted how its message relates to a specific community while also being accessible and relevant to the broader community of women in general.[10]

Despite it not being released as a single, "Don't Touch My Hair" debuted and peaked, at 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, on the week ending October 22, 2016, dropping off the chart the next week.[11]

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 91
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[13] 38

References
  1. "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. "WATCH IT: Solange "Don't Touch My Hair" (Alan Ferguson, Solange Knowles, dir.)". VideoStatic. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  5. SolangeKnowlesVEVO (2016-10-02), SOLANGE - DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR (OFFICIAL VIDEO), retrieved 2016-12-02
  6. Schott, Julie (2016-10-06). "What 'Don't Touch My Hair' Really Means". ELLE. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  7. Johnston, Maura (October 3, 2016). "Review: Solange's 'A Seat at the Table' Walks Softly, Speaks Radically". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  8. Pearce, Sheldon (September 30, 2016). ""Don't Touch My Hair" [ft. Sampha] by Solange Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  9. Whaley, Natelegé (October 6, 2016). "Solange's 'Don't Touch My Hair' Is An Anthem Reclaiming Black Autonomy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  10. Hartman, Eviana (October 3, 2016). "Solange's "Don't Touch My Hair" Video Pushes the Beauty Conversation". Vogue. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  11. "Solange - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  12. "Solange Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  13. "Solange Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
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