Frank Ocean
BLONDE
Frank Ocean released his second studio album in 2016, titled Blonde. For years Frank was silent in the music scene with rumours that he would never return. However, Frank had a reason for this as he was in a dispute with his music label to win the rights to his own music, in which is often reffered to as a 7 year chess match. Eventually Blonde was released and can only be described as hauntingly beautiful.Christopher Edwin Cooksey was born on the 28th of October 1987, in Long Beach, California. Frank started off his music career as a ghostwriter, then in 2009 managed to secure himself a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Just months after the release of Franks debut album, he was already tossing around the idea of retiring from music as he was feeling isolated, uninspired and increasingly wary of major label mechanics. So in 2013, Frank fled to London to begin recording on the Chanel Orange follow up. He replaced his entire business team and began what he called a 7 year chess game to buy himself and control of his original recordings (Video). For the next few years, Ocean kept an impressivley low profile as he didnt release any music other than appearing for a few features. Finally in August the 19th 2016, Endless officially premiered and it seemed fans had finally recieved to follow album they had been awaiting. That is just until one day later when Franks true studio album follow up Blonde hit the internet.
The album is 17 tracks long, with only a few sublty feautres and minimal production on the songs. The cover art features the spelling 'Blond', whereas the album is titled 'Blonde'. The reason for the Blond/Blonde, is due to the album being split into 2 sections. The album is exactly 1 hour long and in the transtion in the song "Nights" is the 30 minute mark of the album. It is belived the first half of the album is tied in with the theme of day time, sunshine and Frank being young and innocent. The second half of the album is tied in with the theme of night time, darkness and Frank growing up and coming to realisation about issues. A coversation with an old New Orleans friend, inspired Frank to dig deeper into his past, making it deeply personal and painting the landscape of Franks memories. Musically Blonde felt akin to Brian Eno and The Beach Boys as Frank subtly embedded his inspirations into the songs themselves. Some of my favourite songs from this masterpeice project include; "Nikes", "Pink + White", "Nights", "White Ferrari" and "Seigfried".
Nikes
This track is the lead single for the album, as Frank memorialises the lives of three heroes; A$AP Yams, Pimp C and Travyon Martin (Audio). The song is a critique of the trappings of materialistic hedonism. The first verse uses high pitched vocals which represents a younger version of himself as he features materialistic characters of questionable morals and discusses the artifial things such as Nike trainers, partying, checks. In the second verse the high pitch vocals are gone and Frank's real voice comes in representing his current mentality. This shift to the real voice from the artificially altered one mirrors a shift that occurs in the lyrics as this verse is more emotional and lyrically complex of the two. Frank has explained this in an interview with the New York Times (Interview), as he said he uses different vocal pitches to sing a different version of himself. One of my favourtie lyrics from this song is "We'll let you guys prophesy, we gon' see the future first". This relating to all the journalists and fans predicting when Frank would release his music, when ultimately Frank has the power to release it when he wants.
Nights
This is my favourite Frank Ocean track and it marks the half way poiny of the album (Audio). The production in this song along with the lyrisms is incredible, however its the beat switch exactly half way through the album signifying the shift to night time is what makes this song so special. In the first part of the song, Frank is reminiscing on a former relationship featuring a simulated telephone call. The second part is about Franks struggle with cocaine addiction and poverty while living in Houston after being relocated from New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. One of my favourite lyrics from the album is "rolling marijuana that's a cheap vacation". This suggesting when smoking you reach cloud 9 and become stress free, so won't need to buy a plane ticket. This is also a play on the slang word 'trippin' for being high. Since weed is one of the least expensive drugs, it's literally a cheap trip.
Seigfried
This is the 15th track on the album and it features a beautiful yet minimal production (Audio). There's something so nostalgic about the instrumentation and how it sounds like it's playing far off in the foggy distance, in a way captures the peacefulness and innocence of childhood. The title of the track is a spelling varation of the German hero Siegfried, which is composed of the roots sig meaning victory, and frithu meaning peace. In the first verse Frank addresses a lover in a failed relationship, and goes to reflect on his own life. These reflections move from wondering about his life choices to thoughts about the nature of his own mind and god. The song then moves back into a consideration of lost love and ends with a declaration. One of my favourite lyrics from the track is "One solar flare, we're consumed, so why not spend this flammable paper on the film that's my life?". This line refers to how fragile life is as it could be took away at any moment from an event such as the solar flare in 2012 which just missed the earth. The following line gives perspective on the money we value so much as the 'flammable paper' we have should be used to make your life as cinematic as the film can be.
Blonde stands as a classic of this generation being a pretty much flawless album. Through Franks 7 year plan to get out his record label deal , he managed to finese Def Jam Records out of 20 million as well as gaining rights to his original records. In the days following the release of Blonde, fans began to notice that where Endless was listed as a Def Jam release, Blonde listed Oceans indapendant label, Boys Don't Cry. Frank had finally fufilled his contract by releasing Endless, the last move in his chess game. With Blonde he was finally free.
Videos
Frank Ocean - Blonde Tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5WWyyYG018&t=24s
Frank Ocean's Blonde is an instant classic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFYQpHTsbMk
Every Sample From Frank Ocean's Blonde - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG0l8PcLg88
Extremely enduring!
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