Ten Years With Nostalgia, ULTRA
Revisiting Frank Ocean’s transcendent mixtape.
The amazing thing about Nostalgia, ULTRA to me is that I haven’t even heard all of it. The download I have, likely off the Odd Future website or something, cuts off in the middle of the last song, a riff on MGMT’s “Electric Feel” called “Nature Feels.” Listening to the mixtape now, it’s incredible seeing now how direct some of Frank Ocean’s ideas were even this early in his career. Barely into his twenties, it’s hard to think of artists that sound this confident on their debut mixtape other than the brightest stars of today. Even today, it’s without a doubt one of my favorite mixtapes.
The first full song off the tape, “Strawberry Swing,” is an immediate highlight. Coldplay has never sounded this good. No disrespect to Chris Martin or the the band, this rendition just adds so much more drama to the mix, and by the end with the alarm clock waking Frank out of his ethereal dream, we too mourn his loss. (Though, granted, Christ Martin is good for the outro here.) It’s a loss of childhood and those halcyon years, and such a start is a really bold statement for your first official artistic work.
The middle part of the album is where Frank dives more into pop stylings. Working as a ghostwrite for a long time before this mixtape, it’s clear he knows how to write a hit or make a catchy chorus. But on Nostalgia, ULTRA and on songs like “Songs for Women” and “Lovecrimes” he truly cements these songs as his, putting his stamp out there as a songwriter for his own voice. And with “There Will Be Tears,” sharing a name with a Mr Hudson song, Frank Ocean uses the structure to lament on the loss of his main father figure, his grandfather. It’s striking how mature these topics are for a debut project.
Above all, these songs show the strength of Frank’s pen. Though he can pull of a good cover/reinterpretation a la “Strawberry Swing,” he was always destined for something more than being a ghostwriter. There’s an honesty to all of these songs that is very rare to find in early work from similar artists.
Even before the genre-bending masterpiece that was Blonde, Frank Ocean was already a chameleon in his own right- as I mentioned him being an accomplished pop songwriter, but on the same mixtape sampling Radiohead’s Kid A or namedropping J-Zay. On creating that song, “Novacane,” he also mentioned being inspired by The Pharcyde.
Nostalgia, ULTRA’s second single is quietly one of my favorite Frank Ocean songs. Although the first single “Novacane” is legendary in how it tells a mature story of debauchery and hedonism, “Swim Good” is very bluntly about death and confronting feelings that may be difficult to process. Of course Frank’s voice is great here, but it’s delivery of the imagery that truly shows the mind of an artist beyond his own years.
Unfortunately, one of the things this mixtape will always be tied with is the controversy surrounding Eagles and Frank’s sampling of “Hotel California” on “American Wedding.” The song itself is such a great meditation on a relationship and how it can fall apart when the people just don’t see eye to eye. Focusing on this controversy is a detriment to the song itself. It’s amazing what Frank pulls off here, such a long-winded story that’s pulled off so coolly and eluding to his mastery of writing that would be further illuminated in tracks like “Pyramids.” Don Henley of Eagles clearly misunderstood Frank’s appreciation in using the core of “Hotel California.”
Above all though, Nostalgia, ULTRA was a resounding success. While being in the famous rap collective Odd Future, he had managed to form his own niche and cement himself as one of the key talents of the group.
The reception of Nostalgia, ULTRA also led him to famously featuring on Kanye and Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne within the same year. Frank’s rise through the industry is truly incredible and seeing flashes of his brilliance on Nostalgia, ULTRA is a deeply interesting perspective on how an artist grows in their career. With cosigns from Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Beyoncé, and so many more, this mixtape is truly proof that quality and genuine music will always rise to the top.
It’s easy to call Nostalgia, ULTRA underappreciated given 10 years of hindsight, but there’s no time like the present to give it a listen. Especially since Frank is remaining quiet for now.
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