Claim: Solange Knowles sings and writes songs.

A Seat at the Table is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Solange . It was released on September 30 , 2016 , by Saint Records and Columbia Records . While recording the album , Knowles released an EP , titled True -LRB- 2012 -RRB- and launched her own record label named Saint Records . Writing for the album began as early as 2008 , while the recording sessions took place from 2013 to June 2016 . Solange enlisted the variety of collaborators with American rappers Lil Wayne and Q-Tip , and fellow American singer-songwriters The-Dream , BJ the Chicago Kid , Kelly Rowland and Tweet , and musicians Sampha , Kelela and David Longstreth , among others .   The album was widely acclaimed by music critics and became Solange 's first number-one album on the Billboard 200 in the United States , debuting with 46,000 copies sold -LRB- 72,000 with additional album-equivalent units -RRB- . The album 's lead single , `` Cranes in the Sky '' was released on October 5 , 2016 , and won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance , becoming Solange 's first Grammy nomination and win .