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Frank Ocean anyone checking for him?


kidfresh832

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Just started listening to Blonde

Frank Ocean Ends His Long Silence With a Variety of Works

In this time of relentlessness and ubiquity, there is no art more potent, or shocking, than the art of disappearance. Silence may not be Frank Ocean’s greatest gift, but it’s one the R&B singer has wielded effectively for most of the four years since his last album, “Channel Orange.” The reactions to his evaporation from public life have been most intriguing to watch — his denial has been seen as a necessary balm against the scrutiny of fame, and then, after a while, a sort of insult, and finally, in the run-up to his just-released projects, a possible sign of failure on the horizon.

Lest you mistake the silence of creative gestation for the silence of lethargy, Mr. Ocean has now swapped scarcity for abundance. Since Thursday, he has released, in effect, two new albums — “Blonde” and a “visual album” called “Endless,” both exclusive to Apple Music — a video for the song “Nikes,” and an oversize art magazine, Boys Don’t Cry, which includes a CD version of “Blonde” and was made available free at pop-up shops in four cities.

Though “Endless,” with its meaningfully slow 45-minute video of Mr. Ocean building a staircase, came first, the pairing of “Blonde” and Boys Don’t Cry captures the range of Mr. Ocean’s ambitions and gifts.

“Blonde” is dewy, radiant and easeful, with an approach to incantatory soul that evolves moment to moment. It’s feverish but unhurried, a slowly smoldering set that’s emphatic about loneliness. “I couldn’t gauge your fears/I can’t relate to my peers,” Mr. Ocean sings on “Seigfried.”

Photo
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The cover for Mr. Ocean’s new album.

Mr. Ocean writes impressionistically, and sings with a casual sternness, as if sauntering into the studio, smearing out an idea running through his head, then retreating. That’s reflected in the range of vocal approaches he takes on “Blonde”: heavy-sigh exhalation, digitally manipulated childlike singing, forceful spoken word, sleepy-eyed rapping, obscured conversation. Mr. Ocean’s previous projects — the 2011 mixtape “Nostalgia, Ultra” and the 2012 album “Channel Orange” — were products of an intuitive songwriter and a singer just getting comfortable with the outer boundaries of his power. “Blonde” and “Endless” show someone willing to forsake that progress in service of perfecting a mood.

He excels on the ecstatically relaxed “Pink + White” and the mildly doo-wop-influenced “Self Control.” On the puppyish “Solo,” he’s as close to content as he gets here; mostly, he labors over romantic scenarios that leave him vexed, or worse. So often on this album, he’s pleading for recognition: “I’ll sleep between y’all, it’s nothing” (“Self Control”), “I’m not him but I’ll mean something to you” (“Nikes”).

“Blonde” is also not precious about the sanctity of Mr. Ocean’s perspective. It includes a scolding voice mail from a mother (possibly Mr. Ocean’s) to a son; a story narrated by the French producer Sebastian about the paranoia of the digital age; and a kinetic, speed-racer verse from André 3000 on “Solo (Reprise)” that swallows all the air around it. Yet at the same time, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar are here, in largely ceremonial roles. (A list of album collaborators appears in the magazine, but full writing and production credits were not immediately made available.)

In 2016, the condition and circumstances of an album’s release are integral to its reception. For Beyoncé, the sudden drop of “Lemonade” underscored her militaristic precision; for Kanye West, the ever-changing album “The Life of Pablo” reflected his artistic restlessness; for Rihanna, the stumbled rollout of “Anti” matched her confident indifference.

From a distance, Mr. Ocean’s return came in fits and starts, with release plans hinted at, then abandoned. But what Mr. Ocean has achieved with the complexity of this rollout — as well as his ability to mold corporate motives to his benefit — is an almost complete reframing of his public narrative

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/arts/music/frank-ocean-blonde-endless-review.html?_r=0

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I have listened and I don't understand what people are so excited about. The songs were boring 

That's my impression also from listening to Endless so far honestly.  And a couple songs on Blond...

I mean hes gay and its nice that hes getting such hype and excitement behind his work but yeah

Edited by kidfresh832
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Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Third-Largest Debut of 2016

Frank Ocean earns his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the arrival of Blonde. The set, which was released on Aug. 20, bows atop the list with 276,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 25, according to Nielsen Music.

Blonde logs the third-largest debut of 2016, behind only the arrivals of Drake's Views and Beyonce's Lemonade.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Sept. 10-dated chart (where Blonde bows at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard's websites on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

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I know you're in there somewhere
Can't wait some, something you
Someone out there
Trying to love the one you're with tonight
Try to love the one you're with
Late at night sometimes it helps
You don't have to be all by yourself
In the morning light
This'll all be over with
I know you're in there somewhere
Can't outrun something you need
It's been so long

SLAY ME Jazmine
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  • 3 weeks later...

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