blond(e):
/blɒnd/
Noun:
An artist opposed to labels e.g Frank Ocean.
Three months have passed since Frank Ocean released his, highly anticipated, third studio album; “blond”.
And, Frank has succeeded in creating a timeless work of art yet again. This album sets out to do more than any album has ever done. And, it just might succeed.
The beautiful thing about this album is that; before you even press play, it starts to accomplish what it set out to do . And, it does this by obscuring its title. What is the title of this album? On the cover it reads “blond”, but once it’s played, you’ll see that it’s digitally encoded as “Blonde”. (Plus, the photo on the cover art shows that Frank has dyed his hair green.)
But, if you focus your attention on trivialities — such as the album title — you’ll miss the very message Frank is trying to pass on.
Which is…act on experience and emotion as opposed to labels and the prejudices that accompany them.
Take the first song; “Nikes”, twenty eight seconds into the song we hear Frank’s voice for the first time in close to two years and it sounds nothing like him. His voice is disfigured by auto-tune and his language is tainted by the second word that comes out of his mouth.
“These bitches want Nikes,
not the real ones.
They looking for a check,
tell ’em it aint likely.”
Here, he uses wordplay to compare the Nike logo to a check (paycheck) and highlight how people may be mislead by labels (literally a sneaker label, in this case) in their search for fulfillment. He then goes on to; emphasize how people (real ones) are what make up a fulfilled life, then he mentioned some real ones that, sadly, are no longer with us.
“R.I.P. A$AP…”
The fourth track; “Be Yourself”, is an interlude featuring his mother. But, really it functions more as a disclaimer.
As you make your way through the album you’ll find Frank pill popping and smoking. But as much as Frank hopes to; turn society on its head, tear down its constructs and erase its labels…he doesn’t wish to erase your individuality in the process. And this track is how he tries to ensure that doesn’t happen.
“Self Control”, the sixth track, is the the second most ironic song title in the album (first being “Nikes”).
Why?
Because, the track sets out to strip you of your self control — the first phase of Frank’s little anarchist plot — just as his self control was stripped away from him by (1:55).
At the start of the song, we are welcomed by the disfigured shrivel once again.
“ I’ll be the boyfriend,
In your wet dreams tonight.”
The words above are chanted so mesmerisingly, over the reassuring guitar chords, that its almost impossible not to sing along, despite its underlying homoerotic declaration (only boys get wet dreams).
“Facebook Story”, the twelfth track, and second interlude, is the last track I’ll attempt to decipher in this entry.
The interlude is delivered by a French guy and during the course of the track he narrates how his girlfriend broke up with him because he refused to accept her request on Facebook. The theme of the album is simply resounded in this track; the girlfriend, in this story, broke up with a faithful boyfriend (real one) because he refused to attach a virtual label.
“These bitches want Nikes,
not the real ones.
They looking for a check,
tell ’em it aint likely.”
If you listen closely to the entire album, you’ll notice a disconnect after this track. As though, the remaining tracks belong to a separate album. The ethereal feel delivered by the remaining tracks are reminiscent of songs like “Wither” present in the sister album; Endless.
With the exception of “Futura Free”, in this track he accepts that what he set out to do in this album is god-like (or tech-company-like) and in the end, he’s just a guy.
“I’m just a guy,
I’m not a god.”
Personally, after four years of waiting for another Frank Ocean album, I would have been content if he simply recorded all his farts (between 2012 and 2016), assigned each one a track name and cried in the interludes (I feel like he cries at least twice a year; that’s eight interludes).
Rating: 😀 😁 🙃
