Frank Ocean-Blonde

Amanda Thattanakham, Business Manager

“Highly anticipated” is an understatement when referring to Frank Ocean’s latest album, Blonde. The long awaited sophomore album was released exclusively on Apple Music on August 20th. The four year wait for the album was over when the New Orleans raised artist streamed a 45 minute visual album titled “Endless”, which features Frank Ocean building a staircase to a soundtrack full of demos and German falsettos. Frank Ocean also released “Boys Don’t Cry”, a glossy magazine filled with contributions including a poem by Kanye West. “Boys Don’t Cry” was available in four pop up shops throughout the world: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and London. The sophomore album was then released within 48 hours of the streaming of “Endless”. Needless to say, the four years was well worth the wait.

“Blonde” consists of 17 tracks featuring familiar sounds from the coveted debut album, Channel Orange. Frank Ocean invites well known names, such as Beyoncé, James Blake, Yung Lean, and Kendrick Lamar onto Blonde. Ocean includes Beyoncé’s vocals on “Pink+White” in the background rather than a full feature.

Ocean discusses sexuality, nostalgia, and romance on Blonde. While Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” makes overt political statements, Frank Ocean is more subtle. He mentions Trayvon Martin in his opening track, “Nikes”. Although “Nikes” served as the lead single, a fan favorite has been the heart aching “Ivy”.  “Solo (Reprised)” is the only track with a major feature by Andre 3000, who made an appearance on Channel Orange as well. A personal of mine is the bluesy ballad, “Self Control” featuring Yung Lean who sings about an old lover and and his regrets for leaving.

The second album is more mature compared to Channel Orange. The instruments on Blonde are scaled back; most of tracks on the album do not even contain drums. The minimal amount of instruments and abrupt transitions within the tracks make Blonde seem more like a collection of demos rather than a completed album.

“Blonde” is subtle. “Blonde” is brilliant. The sophomore album has matured from Channel Orange. It is not necessarily for better or worse, Blonde conveys emotion in a different way and style than in Channel Orange. It is evident that Frank Ocean is able to evoke emotions well through structured pop and R&B tracks as well as in more minimal, demo-esque tracks and continues to thrive as a storyteller and as a musician.