Blonde - Frank Ocean

In contemporary R&B there’s no one who creates records with the same emotional depth as Frank Ocean, and his follow up to Channel Orange further pushes the notion that Ocean is one of the most interesting and enigmatic artists currently recording.

Frank Ocean dominated 2016 from behind the scenes. His influence could be seen on the works of Beyoncé, Kanye or Rihanna and his own album Blonde created waves in an already R&B dominated industry.

Channel Orange was a spectacular record, it was the perfect album for it’s genre, an odd comparison could be done by comparing it to Radiohead’s OK Computer, which was a perfect alternative rock album.

The record was released in August 2016 and included guests like Andre 3000 and Beyonce. 

Now, like Radiohead did with Kid A, Ocean has changed the game in a fell swoop of beeping sounds and emotional words, with significant undertones or politics and anthems for a maltreated young adult audience.

Songs like Ivy, Pink + White, Self Control, Nights, White Ferrari and Siegfried are all incredible. Ocean crafted this album better than any other album of 2016 had been crafter with the exception of Blackstar and Lemonade.

It’s hard to find fault with the album, there are moments where it seems to lose its catchiness or it fails to grapple between hooks, but overall the album is constant and good.

Blonde is the second studio album of the 29 year old star.

While the album may be good however there are no spectacular moments on the album that make your jaw drop and there are no lyrics which could have sprung from the pen of Shakespeare. It’s a good album, but its highs simply don’t reach the expected pinnacle.

As far as artists go Frank Ocean is one of the most interesting ones in the modern world. He has a unique viewpoint, he has the ability to song craft and he appears to have the ability to create greater albums.

Which Blonde isn’t. It isn’t great. But it is good.

This song isn't on the record, as you can't link to them, oh well.