Month: June 2022

Solange Knowles is one talented lady. Completely aside from being Beyonce’s sister — something that likely both benefitted and hindered her own music career over the years — Solange has been a groundbreaking musician, film director, and even art curator over the past few years. Her work is a lightning rod of empowerment and representation for Black women, and she’s always looked super cool doing it. Rumor has it that she’s also nice with her hands when people disrespect her big sis.

However, while talent might be genetic and/or generational, it’s not always a given no matter how gifted your family is. Solange’s son, Danieal Julez J. Smith Jr., seemingly proved as much recently when he posted a video to social media showing off his own music. Let’s just say… It didn’t go well. On Sunday, the 17-year-old, who goes by the stage name Julez, posted a snippet to TikTok in which he raps along to one of his songs in his studio. Here it is:

There are a few issues here, mainly that the beat seems to be a loose guideline for young Julez. The mix is something that can probably be addressed at a later date, but between Julez’s listless delivery and generic bars, fans on Twitter had plenty to say about how much work the young aspiring rapper will need to put into becoming a commercially viable artist in his own right. Maybe he can tap Uncle Jay-Z for help? (Considering the relationship between Jay and Solange, let’s drop that pin somewhere between “unlikely” and “impossible.”)

Fortunately for him, these are all correctable mistakes, and he’s only 17 — he’s got plenty of time (and now, plenty of … ahem… “constructive” criticism) to get started on fixing them. Besides, I used to work at a Boys & Girls Club recording studio and I’ve heard way worse from kids his age. Still, it’s probably going to be awkward when his little cousin Blue flexes her Grammy Award at the family reunion while giving him that signature side-eye of hers.