Since the release of his last Grammy award winning project in 2012, Channel Orange, Frank Ocean has become a bit of an urban legend. He had seemingly disappeared, which is almost impossible in the age of the internet and social media. The only glimmer of an existence was on his tumblr page, frankocean.com. He'd often give insight on current events that were happening throughout the world, like the Orlando massacre.
Early last year, a graphic was posted on his Tumblr page revealing that Boys Don't Cry would be released July of 2015.
He apparently had "two versions" and everything. Overnight, excitement grew throughout the world. Frank was back.
But, the date came and gone without any type of update from Mr. Ocean. Nothing. The silence stretched for a whole entire year.
Then, early summer of 2016, a library book slip was uploaded onto his Tumblr with a ton of random dates on it. Most of the dates had past, except for a date in July of 2016 and a date in November of 2016.
I think we all hoped that November wasn't THE date.
July came and went...without a Frank album. All hope seemed lost. Back Frank went into the world of endless social media memes and hashtags. People were taking him and his statements less and less seriously.
Until, the night of August 20th.
Now, 2 albums and a magazine later, Frank is back.
And, the wait may have been worth it.
If you go into Blond expecting Channel Orange, you're not going to be satisfied. That's what I went through from first listen. I was so anxious to listen, that I listed to Nostalgia, Ultra and Channel Orange back to back before listening to Blond. Blond isn't Channel Orange 2.
It's been four years since his last project came out. His sound was bound to morph and mature.
Blond is it's own entity; it's own vibe. It delivers a sort of muted melodies that still pack the same emotional projects that his past projects did.
A stable of quality on Frank Ocean projects is the writing. Blond is no different. Frank Ocean has always been an amazing story teller. The album doesn't deal with topics that aren't easily relatable. If you're really, truly listening you will see yourself in Frank's words. That's a promise.
Blond isn't for the average passive listener. It's not turn up music. It won't be coddled with some catchy random hook. This is real music. And, if you're paying attention, you are going to get something from this album.
Blond is a journey, an ocean of emotion. Do you choose to actively swim through it, or just aimlessly float. The right choice is obvious.
