Solange Slams Evening Standard Magazine For Photoshopping Off Her Braids

Rule #1: Don't touch Solange's hair, because it's the feelings she wears. Unfortunately, the Evening Standard Magazine didn't get the memo because for their cover story with the artist, they literally touched her hair--or rather, retouched it. On the magazine's cover, Solange looks radiant in a white dress and otherworldly, spiral pearl earrings.

A post shared by Evening Standard Magazine (@eveningstandardmagazine) on Oct 19, 2017 at 12:01am PDT

There's one big detail missing from the cover though: a beautiful braided crown of hair atop her head, which she posted to her own Instagram with the ice-cold caption "dtmh @eveningstandardmagazine," a not-so-subtle jab at the Evening Standard's omission.

dtmh @eveningstandardmagazine

A post shared by Solange (@saintrecords) on Oct 19, 2017 at 9:25am PDT

While this might seem like an honest mistake, it's particularly jarring because Solange literally talks in the interview at length about the love for black hair and braiding that began when she was a child in her mom's salon:

"Braiding is important to Knowles. It is an 'act of beauty, an act of convenience and an act of tradition'--it is 'its own art form,' she adds. Every black woman has a personal journey with her own hair, and for Knowles it began in her mother's salon which was a refuge--a 'spare bedroom so to speak' for her as a young girl. Growing up there was pivotal. "I got to experience women arriving in one state of mind and leaving in a completely transformed way," she said. "It wasn't just about the hair. It was about the sisterhood and the storytelling."

In her Instagram story, Solange posted the excerpt from the interview along with a photo of the Evening Standard's cover with a golden circle drawn where the crown should've been. The crown is also relevant because it represents the Orion constellation, which holds a special place in her life--she has the constellation tattooed on her and her latest performance series was titled Orion's Rise. The significance comes from finding out her parents conceived her in Egypt, which, yes, she also talked about to the magazine. "I had some revelations, in terms of my parents finding out they conceived me in Egypt after visiting the Giza pyramids, and connecting to that and the constellation of Orion that aligns with Giza," Solange said.

Photo via @saintrecords

As if all of that weren't enough, one of the writers of the piece even went on Instagram to publicly disown the feature, saying that they distorted her work and reporting in a way that left her "uncomfortable." Read that entire series of tweets below and then remember what the Evening Standard will never forget: do not fuck with Solange.