Frank Ocean is truly one of the most sought out R&B producers out now. But there are a few things you should know about him. He’s a member of one of hip-hop’s hottest and most controversial collectives Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, also known as OFWGKTA or, more succinctly, Odd Future. He was featured on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed album Watch the Throne. He has written tracks for Justin Bieber, John Legend and Brandy under his given name of Christopher “Lonny” Breaux. He’s a poster child of the free music generation—he gave away his impressive debut mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, via his Tumblr after feeling ignored by his label, Island Def Jam. He is A bisexual male which might seem irrelevant except that he just came out on July 4, via his Tumblr, telling the world that his first love was a man. Afterward, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Russell Simmons all voiced their encouragement of the young star; even Tyler the Creator, the notoriously ersatz leader of Odd Future, gave his friend a tweet of support. In a hip-hop world that is not known for being particularly inclusive of homosexuality, this is big news.
Given that Ocean’s announcement came a week before
his new album dropped, it could be viewed as a publicity stunt. It may well be.
But by coming out, Ocean also gives Channel Orange a context in which his
heart-wrenching lyrics and despondent songs draw attention to his struggle with
identity, sexuality and encroaching fame. The lyrics elevate the album from
being just another above-average R&B record to a brilliant release sure to
top many “Best of” lists.
The highly anticipated new album features Ocean’s
emotionally rich, hook-filled tracks along with clever collaborations with Earl
Sweatshirt, John Mayer and André 3000, all topped off with his ten-minute
R&B opus “Pyramids.” On Channel Orange Ocean crafts pure R&B, firmly
distancing himself from the angry teenage hip-hop of Odd Future and even from
his work on Watch the Throne. While R&B artists such as Usher and Chris
Brown have started to incorporate the influence of electronic dance music into
their songs, Ocean remains resolute in his idiosyncratic style, while still
bringing to mind old Usher, The-Dream and even Maxwell. The tracks bounce
between sultry slow jams like “White,” with John Mayer and “Pink Matter” (which
puts André 3000 of OutKast fame to good use solidifying the chorus with his fast
rhyming) to the poignant hymn “Bad Religion” to the whistle-laden track “Forrest
Gump.” Ocean has a flair for crafting gripping songs and this album does not
lack melodrama, featuring haunting melodies paired with driving beats and
touching lyrics similar to the elusive brilliance of The-Dream’s Love
Hate.
The album’s first single, “Pyramids,” is in and of
itself a tour de force. The track is a ten-minute history of R&B, arcing
from club thumping beats to a sultry drawn out jam with Ocean’s voice veering
from a velvety croon to an endearingly creaky falsetto. The beats alternate
between spacey and sexy; driving and drawn out. Despite the length of the song,
the track easily holds your attention.
The album is a mature album, especially from one so
young. The fact that no two songs sound alike show a virtuoso on the rise. The
lyrics reveal a self-awareness that comes with maturity, but also show a young
man in flux. On “The Sweet Life,” Ocean seemingly shakes his head at those tied
to the fripperies of wealth, “Why see the world/ When you’ve got the beach?” he
asks rhetorically, expressing his dismay with people living intentionally
insulated lives. While the track was co-written with Pharrell Williams, it seems
deeply personal to Ocean, who grew up in New Orleans and now lives in Beverly
Hills, as the issue of the trappings of money and class disparities show up
again and again on the album. On the bluntly named track “Super Rich Kids,” he
sings, “Too many rich kids with nothing but fake friends,” exploring his
discomfort around the titular rich kids. The track, which is his joint effort
with his Odd Future bandmate Earl Sweatshirt, is a stand out, tying together the
album’s two themes of class and love. Ocean chides, “The maids come around too
much/
parents ain’t around enough” while the chorus pleads that he is “searching
for a real love,” which can’t be found in a world of wealth. Ocean structures
his narratives cleverly, tying together the album’s outros and intros with
samples of organs, waves and tape deck sounds along with spoken interludes that
focus on money and jobs. Ocean used a similar technique on Nostalgia, Ultra, but
he’s mastered it here.
Debating class, money and love on an R&B album
is heady stuff for a 24 year-old who is growing up in the spotlight and in the
generation of Internet oversharers who live their lives on Tumblr and Twitter.
The strain of finding fame and fortune at a young age seems to be taking a toll
on Ocean, as many of the tracks on the album are infused with a deep melancholy.
On “Bad Religion” Ocean sings, “Taxi driver
be my shrink for the hour/
leave the
meter running
/ it’s rush hour
so take the streets if you wanna/ just outrun the
demons could you.” In the context of Ocean’s recent statement about his
sexuality, it’s hard not to read the lyrics as a young man struggling to find
solace. Hopefully coming out about his sexuality and moving on, will free him.
But as Elton John says, sad songs say so much. When Ocean sings, “I can never
make them love me” it sounds like a challenge and it seems clear that he’s up to
it.
My Rating: 4 stars EXCELLENT
A MUST HAVE!
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