Solange Knowles has landed her first ever number one with her latest album release 'A Seat at the Table'. She dropped the surprise third album on September 30th 3016 through Columbia and her own imprint Saint Records, and now finds herself competing with elder sister Beyonce.

Solange KnowlesSolange Knowles reaches number one for the first time

The 30-year-old sibling of Queen Bey has topped the Billboard 200 Album chart for the first time since launching her music career. She's also reached number 17 in the UK charts. The 21-song record is her first full-length in eight years, and she's been working on it since 2013. Some songs were even written as far back as 8 years ago. 

Of course, Solange has got a long way to go before she reaches Beyonce status. The latter sister's six albums have all reached number one and she's won 20 Grammy Awards over her career of roughly the same amount of years. 

Nonetheless, fans are enjoying this new masterpiece. Solange described it as being about 'identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing'. Featuring guest stars Lil Wayne, Sampha, Kelela, The Dream, BJ The Chicago Kid, Q-Tip, Kelly Rowland and Nia Andrews, Solange wrote, arranged and co-produced every song on the album. 'It wasnt always easy', she admitted on Twitter. 'Often wanted to give up & hand the pen elsewhere, but knew I had to use my voice to tell this story.'

More: Solange Knowles unveils 'A Seat at the Table'

'A Seat at the Table' follows 2008's 'Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams', which reached number 9 in the US. Her first album was 2003's 'Solo Star', and she has also released an EP entitled 'True' which came out in 2012. Since she began her music career, she has had three US Dance Chart number ones: 'I Decided', 'Sandcastle Disco' and 'T.O.N.Y.'.

The singer released two music videos from the album, 'Don't Touch My Hair' and 'Cranes In The Sky', the latter of which was co-directed by husband Alan Ferguson.