What does "Blonde" mean for Frank Ocean?
Following a quiet four years after the highly rated album "Channel ORANGE," Frank Ocean has finally released another album, "Blonde," for his many fans to enjoy.
Following years of building tensions and expectations, "Blonde" fell onto the ready ears of what is arguably the simultaneously most and least patient audience in recent memory. While the amount of time spent on this album is obvious, it is unclear how much of Ocean’s time went to producing this sophomore album. This is especially apparent in the release of Endless, a 45-minute visual album that was released on Apple music on August 19th, 2016. Endless was thought to be released as a teaser for the anticipated sophomore album "Boys Don’t Cry," which was scrapped and released under the title "Blonde."
"Blonde" is easily one of the most unique albums released in recent memory. Frank Ocean clearly used his time away from the limelight to develop his musical abilities and to expand his music horizons. In a comparison of "Blonde" and “Channel ORANGE," there are some key differences that present themselves.
Firstly, Ocean presents his audience with more spoken word than he previously had. Two skits in particular are purely spoken word with only minor instrumentals underneath the words. “Be Yourself” which is a message given to Ocean from his mom before he left for college reminding him to be himself and avoid the use of drugs or alcohol. The other is “Facebook Story” which features the French producer SebastiAn recalling a story about a relationship of his that ended because he would not accept his girlfriends friend request on Facebook.
Secondly, Ocean raps more than before. While Ocean is widely regarded as a spectacular vocalist, it is far too often that people under appreciate the quality of his rapping. Ocean has shown himself to be a tantalizing rapper with both Kendrick Lamar styled mellowness to Kanye West inspired pop writing -- simply put it’s something special.
Third, "Blonde" is especially adventurous. There are many things done in this album that's easy to label as unconventional and unexpected, but since when has Frank Ocean been either of those things? Ocean widely varies his sound from track to track, and it works. This style of album producing helps to keep the listener engaged for the entirety of the work.
Frank Ocean has big things ahead of him with not only his future work, but with the growth of his fan base that ‘Blonde’ will undoubtedly bring. It can be expected for Ocean’s fan base to quickly grow through the course of the next couple of months as more and more people are introduced to his music.
This album is pure gold, earning it my highest praise. This album is sure to mean good things for Frank Ocean's career and lifestyle.
Listen to "Blonde" by Frank Ocean on Apple Music now!
1. Nikes ft. KOHH
2. Ivy
3. Pink + White ft. Beyoncé
4. Be Yourself
5. Solo
6. Skyline To ft. Kendrick Lamar
7. Self Control ft. Austin Feinstein
8. Good Guy
9. Nights
10. Solo (Reprise) ft. Andre 3000
11. Pretty Sweet
12. Facebook Story ft. Sebastian
13. Close To You
14. White Ferrari ft. James Blake & Bon Iver
15. Seigfried
16. Godspeed ft. Kim Burrell
17. Futura Free
