Lots of little girls dream of stardom. Solange Knowles, younger sister of Destiny's Child frontwoman Beyoncé Knowles, follows a five-year plan. At age 5, she entered her first dance competition. At 10, she announced she wanted a record contract. At 15, she landed one with Sony. Now that's the only label she acknowledges. "I don't want to be known as just a singer or dancer," she says. "I'm an entertainer."

Just 16, Knowles is already well on her way. After lending vocals to the film soundtrack of last year's Scooby Doo and helping write and arrange songs for Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland's Simply Deep, Knowles makes her own album debut this week with Solo Star, a collection of teen-themed pop, R&B, reggae and country tunes. "Her voice is very mature, and her dance moves are incredible," says Beyoncé Knowles, 21. "I can't believe that's my little sister onstage."

A throwback who favors retro peasant blouses and prefers vinyl albums to CDs, Solange shares a Mediterranean-style mansion outside Houston with her parents, Destiny's Child manager Mathew Knowles and his wife, Tina, the group's stylist. Solange is old school when it comes to boys as well. A devout Christian who has just begun dating, she prefers "guys with morals" to those who "only want to play video games. I like Christian guys, definitely. And," the reggae fan adds, "I like guys with dreads."