2016 Studio Album
Frank Ocean
The album “Blonde” is a musical masterpiece created by Frank Ocean that uses a blend of nostalgic sounds, harmonizing vocals, and lyrics with deep meaning to spark emotion. The album features a dual meaning in the title, the masculine spelling “blond” on the cover and the feminine spelling “blonde” on digital platforms. This symbolizes gender
fluidity, coming of age nostalgia, and carefree innocence as a child. Every song in the album represents Frank Ocean looking back at different versions of himself; the kid experiencing love for the first time or the person trying to understand heartbreak. Another special feature of the album is the way it’s split perfectly in two. The beat drop that occurs in the song “Nights”, exactly 30 minutes into the 1 hour album, divides the album by day and night. The day half of the album is more upbeat, while the night half of the album is more depressing and somber. This also reflects Frank Ocean’s life, the first half of his life, his childhood, being more happy and upbeat, while the second half of his life, adult hood, is more sad and mellow. The album also includes a variety of song types. Some songs are more upbeat with a rap type of flow like “Pink + White”, other songs have a sadder sound to them with a more calm flow like “White Ferarri”, and there’s a few that are a mix of both like “Skyline To”. My Favorite song off the album, “Ivy”, is another song with a mix of beats and moods. This song immediately starts off with the heart touching lyrics “I thought that I was dreaming, when you said you love me.” These lyrics resonate deep within listeners when thinking about a time in their life when they were in love. This album is so special because of how the songs connect to the listeners. Everyone has moments where they wish they could return to a certain time with a certain person, or a certain version of themselves. All this is what makes this album such a beautiful work of musical art. –Ella Waugh
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