Francis Christopher Ocean, otherwise known as Frank Ocean, is a recording artist who rose to popularity with the release of his debut album “Channel ORANGE” in 2012. Formerly a member of the hip-hop collective Odd Future, Ocean has a unique sound and approach to modern R&B. This was especially apparent when “Channel ORANGE” won a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album, an honor that seemed to be created solely for the purpose of awarding it to “Channel ORANGE.” Since the release of Frank's debut, fans anxiously waited for the release of his next project. They, unfortunately, had to wait 4 long years, a wait that has become a running joke in the music community.
Before I even continue, I have a disclaimer: I do not like Frank Ocean. THERE I SAID IT. I don’t particularly like his style of music, including both his vocals and production style. There are a few songs that I did enjoy on “Channel ORANGE”: his most popular single “Thinkin’ Bout You,” “Super Rich Kids” and “Lost”. I know that disliking Frank is pretty much blasphemous to anyone who is a fan of music, especially a fan of R&B like me, but I just don’t vibe with it. That being said, I was still very excited for the release of his new album. It is probably one of the most highly anticipated albums of the decade, and Frank is such a prominent figure in both Hip-Hop and R&B I basically had no choice but to look forward to his new release. I was also curious as to whether my mind would be changed about Frank Ocean since he had so much time to work on this new follow-up album.
Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” definitely bought into the whole nuanced experimental sound that is becoming more popular these days. When I first gave this album a listen, I had no idea what to make of it. The album seemed all over the place, and I didn’t always understand a certain song's lyrics in relation to another song. However, after giving it several more listens (which this album definitely needs), I started to enjoy it more and more. Frank’s heartfelt and emotional lyrics are masterful and full of meaning. He explores many themes throughout this album including young love, being alone, summer time, failed relationships and his own sexuality, the latter of which he talks about in the song “Seigfried.” He sings the lyrics: “I’ll do anything for you (in the dark),” which I interpreted as an allusion to him being in a relationship with another man but having to keep it a secret. I thought that this was a very important subject for Frank to tackle as a bisexual black male since homophobia is especially prominent in the black community.
Frank’s voice, which is one of the main critiques I had of his music, sounded beautiful and, at times, heartbreaking on “Blonde.” This was most apparent on the tracks “Solo” and “Self-Control.” “Solo” highlights Ocean’s voice as he rifts and sings about his ex being in a new relationship with someone else and him being alone, as well as becoming depressed and the need to get high, hence the double entendre “Solo” and “So low.” “Self-Control” is a sad but lovely song, where the stripped down instrumentation highlighted the slight crescendo of strings toward the end of the song and Frank singing about leaving his ex and knowing he can’t stay with them anymore.
And speaking of “Solo,” do I even need to mention Andre 3000’s verse on “Solo (Reprise)”? He KILLED it. He covered so many themes in a track that was barely a minute long with an insane flow. 3 Stacks, can you please just bless us with an album already?
Even though I love “Solo (Reprise),” my favorite track on the album hands down is “Pink + White.” It’s just a smooth, soulful song, again highlighting Frank’s vocal abilities, with beautiful backup vocals from Queen B herself. It was no surprise when I discovered that the genius Pharrell Williams produced this track. Though it’s one of the more conventional R&B sounding songs on this album, I think that’s what makes it great.
This however, leads me to my main critique about this album: it’s crowded when it doesn’t need to be. One of the first things I noticed about this album was that almost every song lacked percussion or simple drum beats, and coming to this conclusion was a little odd for me. But after listening to this album over a half a dozen times, I’ve noticed that if Frank and his producers laid back on the intricacies and little additions to the music, tracks would have sounded much cleaner. I would like to say that Ocean came out of the gate strong with this album, but the two first tracks were a testament to this problem. Though I liked both of these songs lyrically, I thought that sonically they could have been better. A heavily auto-tuned Frank lasted a little too long on “Nikes,” and, even though “Ivy” seems to be a standout favorite on the project, the screaming at the end made the track unbearable to listen to all the way through. “Blonde” also ended on a low note, with the mess of a track “Futura Free.” The track seemed to be confused about what it wanted to be both sonically and lyrically, and the interview at the end didn’t exactly clear things up. “Pretty Sweet” was also reminiscent of Kanye West’s “All Day,” both tracks that I think try a little too hard to be raw and intense.
“Nights” I think could have benefited the most from being simplified with its production. There are parts in the song that I think paid off from Frank experimenting, especially the last minute or so when his voice is pitched up. However, there are just little moments in the song where vocal edits are made and artificial instrumentation is added that doesn’t need to be there. This is the case with almost every song on this album, which is why I think that Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” could have been better. Ocean obviously has the support and connections to include the best singers and producers to help him on his projects, as well asvhis own writing and producing abilities. What I think he should do now is to put his vocals (and other supporting vocals) at the forefront of his music with mostly live instrumentation. He should avoid falling into the trap of what many artists like Kanye West are doing right now, which is buying into their production and taking risks that don’t need to be taken. In my opinion, less is definitely more with Frank Ocean.
