Frank ocean blonde4/3/2023 On the closing track “Futura Free,” Ocean includes a sample of an interview with his brother (who recently passed away in August 2020), with the poor quality of the recording making it seem like a childhood memory. On “Ivy,” Ocean laments, “We didn’t give a fuck back then / I ain’t a kid no more / We’ll never be those kids again.” On each song, Ocean finds a way to create this sense of nostalgia and the music almost encourages the listener to connect this with their own lives. Lyrics such as, “Wish I was there, wish we’d grown up on the same advice / And our time was right,” on “Self Control” show a sense of yearning for the past, or the ability to change things that have long passed. This isn’t the first time that Ocean has explored the idea of nostalgia (given that his first mixtape was named “nostalgia, ULTRA”). On “Blonde,” Ocean somehow managed to capture the sound of nostalgia. This experimentation with alternative and lo-fi genres was something that Ocean had introduced on his visual album “Endless” on tracks such as “Wither” and “Higgs.” This sort of sonic blending of styles is further highlighted in the production and writing credits of “Blonde,” featuring writing credits to hip-hop staples such as Kanye West, Tyler, the Creator and Pharrell Williams writing credits to one of indie music’s pioneering figures, Elliott Smith and production credits to a giant of alternative music, James Blake. ![]() “Blonde” serves as the sonic meshing of the two styles found on “Channel Orange” and “Endless.” The mainstream R&B that Ocean produced on “Channel Orange” is replaced by a sound more akin to what is now termed alternative R&B. Now an urban legend within hip-hop head communities, Ocean had at one point been famously signed with Def Jam Recordings and legally bound to produce one more album after his debut record “channel ORANGE.” A cryptic livestream-like video of Ocean constructing a performance set precluded the release of his visual album, “Endless.” The album was released exclusively on Apple Music and fulfilled his contractual obligations to Def Jam, such that Ocean freely dropped “Blonde” on the following day - Aug. Picturesīrandon Shaw is a bearded, coffee-drinking, blogging, freelance musician in the Los Angeles area.Ocean released “Blonde” with a similar attitude of boundary breaking as the album itself. Oh, by the way, have you heard about Frank Ocean’s new “movie album” coming out? It’s the logical next step. All I know is, Frank Ocean managed to pull off the heist of the year. Is Apple Music the new record label? Will artists cut out the middle man and start leaving traditional labels for greener pastures? We’ll have to wait and see. Biggest loser: Def Jam, for missing out on Ocean’s real album, and instead getting what basically amounts to a really long Home Depot commercial (albeit with a dope soundtrack). Losing: Spotify, for being a sore loser and claiming that exclusives are “ bad for artists, bad for consumers, and bad for the whole industry.” Please. People will sign up just to stream Blonde and Endless. ![]() Still winning: Apple Music, for locking down yet another exclusive. Also winning: Frank Ocean, for being sneaky and releasing his new album independently as an Apple Music exclusive (and presumably making much more money). ![]() Most winningest: Frank Ocean fans, for getting a double dose of new music after years of teasing.
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