Solange Knowles - Public Image

Public Image

Knowles has always been compared by the media to her sister, Beyoncé, whom she considers one of her role models. She has expressed her opinion of the comparison in the lyrics to "God Given Name": "I'm not her and never will be" — which was purposely set as the album's opening track to show their differences. In his review for the album, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone magazine referred to the lyrics a declaration of independence. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Knowles commented: "People think there should be this great rivalry between us, but there's never been any competition. There's a big age gap and we are two very different characters." In another interview, Knowles said that she would not live by her sister's level of stardom, stressing that she and Beyoncé are artistically different, even stating that blogger Teddy Birmingham was "disrespectful" for saying she was living in her sister shadow on his website "Teddytalks" in June 2009. Beyoncé was unwilling to bring her sister into the recording industry, reasoning that it "involves a lot of pressure". Knowles countered by saying, "It's good to have her advice, but we really have different goals".