Released in the final year of Obama in power and in the middle of a Trump-obsessed election season, A Seat at the Table couldn’t have come at a better time. Solange promotes an atmosphere of self-love directed straight at black folks all over the album. “Cranes in the Sky,” “Don’t Touch My Hair” and “F.U.B.U.” are all standouts; interludes of extra affirmative self-empowerment come courtesy of Master P. The mood is mostly smooth and mid-tempo—cool, calm and collected even on a track entitled “Mad.” Dedicated to the black condition, A Seat at the Table has all the trappings of a woke music classic.

– Miles Marshall Lewis