After a four year hiatus, Frank Ocean, singer/songwriter, released his long-awaited second studio album, Blonde, on August 20th, 2016.
With the release of his debut album channel Orange in 2012, named the best album of the year by numerous publications including The Guardian and Rolling Stone, and which he won a Grammy with for Best Urban Contemporary Album, the bar was set incredibly high for Frank Ocean's idiosyncratic musical career. This Def Jam release was met with great acclaim and celebrated "for its confessional storytelling and disregard for the trends scoring radio play," setting Ocean aside from all other Grammy-winning artists in his genre. Shortly after, however, Frank Ocean essentially fell off the face of the planet. Besides a few curiosity-inducing photos of him in the studio with other artists, rumors of collaborations and another album in the works, Ocean was basically off the radar for over three years, rightfully earning his reputation as "one of the most mysterious artists," as said by The New York Times.
Since 2015, several announcements of Ocean's second release were made, each of them met with disappointment when his album never dropped. All the while, Ocean would sporadically come out from hiding via his Tumblr social media account, making comments on social justice issues or simply posting through stream of consciousness. "I know, I know..Quit asking dumb ass questions to the internet and drop your album," he wrote.
With the highly-anticipated release of Blonde, Ocean earns his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the third-largest debut of 2016, just behind Drake's Views and Beyoncé's Lemonade, despite the criticism from many stating that "it sounds like demos" or "it's too 'art'" (Hot New Hip Hop). Similar comments were made when Kanye West, songwriter and record producer, released his album The Life of Pablo earlier in the year, which was nominated for the BET Hip Hop Award for Best Album of the Year (BET).
Blonde's credits include many A-listers and legends including Pharrell Williams and the Beatles (Billboard). Furthermore, Kendrick Lamar provided a few ad-libs, André 3000 contributed an entire track, and Beyoncé made probably her first wordless appearance ever in "Pink + White." Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono even gave their approval for Ocean to use just six words from "Here, There, And Everywhere" (Hot New Hip Hop).
In opposition to channel ORANGE, where Ocean's point of view varied from a rich kid, to a druggie, to a college lover, this 17-track album gives us insight into Frank Ocean's heart and mind - his past, his dating history, and even his family - all through a nostalgic collection of minimalistic genius. His pain, learning, lost-ness, and experiences are presented through stripped-down poetic, "self-revealing lyrics, powerful vocal performances and an abundance of ideas in their complex arrangements." "Beats" aren't a focus, there are abrupt transitions as soon as you begin to recognize a melody, along with little-to-no concern for hooks, verses or choruses. Ocean breaks all the "rules" of mainstream pop and R&B music, disregarding all structure and stigmas. And yet, he's still topping charts:
Although off the radar for some time, Frank Ocean came back to the spotlight with a message. While giving us a look into his consciousness, the album includes some of Ocean's subtly blatant points of views and ideas about the current situation of the world outside his own. In "Nike's," the artist reinforces his concern and regard for social injustice to people of color - a recurring theme on his Tumblr account - as he woefully and soulfully sings "RIP Trayvon, that n***a look just like me," suggesting that "you can still be murdered if...you look just like Trayvon Martin" (Rolling Stone). Ocean also makes a statement on the overt reliance and unhealthy dependence on social media and the Internet that millennials are guilty of. Ocean included the track "Facebook Story," which is audio of contributing French electro-house producer, Sebastian, telling a silly little tale about how not accepting the friend request of his significant other on Facebook caused their relationship to end, even though, in reality, he was doing nothing wrong. Furthermore, the track "Be Yourself" on the album features a voicemail from, seemingly, Ocean's mother, cautioning the listener about the perils of trying to fit in. The voicemail reinforces the idea of self-love and self-reliance. "Don't try to be someone else," the voicemail states. "Be yourself and know that that's good enough. Don't try to be like someone else, don't try to act like someone else, be yourself. Be secure with yourself."
Blonde, Frank Ocean's first album as an individual artist is a representation of just that: his creativity and self-expression are exhibited unhinged, free from unsaid rules and stigmas created by labels and a money-focused industry. Blonde is ambiguous, soulful, nostalgic, and revolutionary. It's open-ended, raw, and messy, yet perfectly put together. It's seemingly incomplete in the most conspicuous way, leaving you yearning for more yet simultaneously satisfied.
"I had the time of my life making all of this," Ocean wrote on his Tumblraccount, "Thank you all."
