New Orleans-born singer-songwriter Frank Ocean has finally ended his 4-year hiatus by dropping his new full-length album, “Blonde”!
The long-awaited sophomore album consists of 17 tracks with an impressive line-up of contributors such as Pharrell Williams, Beyoncé, the late David Bowie, Kanye West, André 3000, and Kendrick Lamar.
Frank Ocean on 'Blonde': "I had the time of my life making all of this."
Read his message: https://t.co/6ARMzJnrCM pic.twitter.com/QlivDhXCBh
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) August 21, 2016
“Blonde”, stylised as “blond”, was released 2 days after Ocean’s 45-minute-long visual album, “Endless”, made its debut. Both albums were released exclusively through Apple Music.
Besides that, the “Thinkin Bout You” singer dropped a video for his title single “Nikes” and a 360-page glossy oversized art magazine, titled “Boys Don’t Cry” (Ocean’s supposed album title), which includes a CD version of “Blonde”, for his epic comeback.
To quote NY Times‘ Jon Caramanica, “‘Blonde’ is dewy, radiant and easeful, with an approach to incantatory soul that evolves moment to moment. It’s feverish but unhurried, a slowly smouldering set that’s emphatic about loneliness”.
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When asked about his title track “Nikes”, the Grammy-winning singer said that the number pays tribute to Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old shot by George Zimmerman. Though we have yet to watch the music video (also exclusive to Apple), The Guardian described the clip as “a torrent of surreal imagery” that features a rapping chihuahua, a man dressed as Satan, and glittered backsides.
Best known for his frankness, Ocean took to Tumblr to share his thoughts about making “Blonde”.
The artiste wrote:
“I had the time of my life making all of this. Thank you all. Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of y’all. Haha. Love you”.
Frank Ocean, real name Christopher Edwin Breaux, started his music career as a ghostwriter, and in 2010 he became a member of hip hop collective Odd Future, which is short for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGK†Δ), alongside Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, and Mike G. His critically-acclaimed debut album, “Channel Orange” (2012), won “Best Urban Contemporary Album” at the 2012 Grammy Awards.
“Blonde” is available exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music.
Sources: The Guardian, NY Times, CNN.
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