So, before I talk about the fact that, after years of anticipation and broken promises, we finally got some new music from Frank Ocean. And not only did we get new music, we got a Visual album called Endless, an Audio EP called Blond, AND a music video for his song “Nikes” off of Blond. I know exactly what Frank was doing but I’ll get to that…
Frank Ocean… The Beginning
I first want to admit that when Frank first came out and dropped Channel Orange, I wasn’t all that into him. I was in love with his song “Thinkin’ Bout You” but that was about it. I had listened to the album but just couldn’t get into it, couldn’t connect with it at all. Everyone else was like “What? How? It’s the best album ever!” and I respected their opinion but at the time, it just wasn’t my vibe. Now, don’t get me wrong, I knew and respected him as an artist, and I liked songs he was featured on from them to now. But I guess I just didn’t get it then.
And also, it may have been another one of those situations where people hyped it up so much that by the time I had listened to it, I was a bit disappointed. I don’t like to follow everyone else, especially when it comes to music. I like to be the one to put people on to new music and artists when possible. And I do like when people put me on too but something that EVERYONE and their mom has been talking about non-stop like it’s the only thing out there. But that’s just me.
I Finally Came Around (LOL)
Years later after being exposed to different music, my taste kind of broadened, and I listened to Channel Orange again. I feel in love with it, crazy, right?! So of course after constantly hearing that he was going to release some new music, I was actually excited and anxious, especially since I had a feeling it would be pretty different from Channel Orange.
Fans were getting upset because we kept being told we were getting new music but we’d get nothing. Frank had been M.I.A. for the most part. And I actually read a pretty dope article by Complex explaining how Frank really doesn’t owe us anything. And I completely agree with that. I believe that statement goes for him and all of our other favorites. They don’t really owe us anything other than whatever music they decided to put out and share with us.
We should be happy when they put time, effort, heart, and soul into projects before putting them out. I hate rushed albums. I had to deal with that with one of my favorite artists. I would buy every album this artist had come out with without even having to listen to snippets. I just knew it would be dope. He had ONE out of maybe 6 records that wasn’t as good. So when this last album dropped I was sure it would be great. I was so wrong and regret buying it. It was rushed and you can tell that it was.
Anyway, let’s get back to Frank shall we?
Blond… My Review (Part 1 of 2)
I listened to Blond first and overall, I really like the entire album. It’s always nice to not really have to skip through the album. I will say this, though, once I got to “Self Control”, the rest of the songs after that pretty much became my favorites. It’s almost like the vibe shifted a little bit. It’s still as calm and mellow as the first 6 songs but I just got a different feeling from the last several songs.
And Frank reminds me of a lot of my favorite artists who are out right now. I’m sure they respect him and have taken notes over the years but they just all give me the same vibe. I would LOVE a Frank Ocean/ Zayn collab though. They’re voices and lyrical content are so unique to me and have this rawness to them. I believe that they could make amazing music together. Zayn has and still is working with one of Frank’s producers Malay (look him up). I would love to see that creative process. It’s kind of dream of mine to sit in on a recording session with one of my favorite artists. I’ve just always wanted to see their creative process.
I wanted to post the video for “Nikes” for you guys but since it’s an Apple Music exclusive, I can’t really do that. But if I am able to at some point then I will. But if you want to know what I think about that video and his visual album Endless then come back tomorrow for that review 🙂
Until then, thanks so much for reading and I will be back soon!
