A Guide To Understanding The Songs On Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' Album
Here's a closer look at each song featured on Frank's long awaited LP.
Frank Ocean’s album release event deserves much more than a hot take. Two weeks after dropping his proper sophomore album Blonde, the follow-up to 2012’s Channel Orange (and middle finger to Def Jam if you will), unpacking all the nuances and double meanings on the project still prove difficult.
LINK: Frank Ocean's Blond Album Is Available on iTunes
Much like the poetic license Ocean took on Orange, it may take a lifetime to understand the deeply personal 17-track offering. Here, the artist formerly known as Lonny Breaux is an auditory Michelangelo again, painting visuals that sometimes fly over folks’ heads. It’s not so much a flaw as it is his greatest strength. Where his vocals falter, he makes up with the pen game of a dreamer; a guy whose seclusion allows him the distraction-less creative space to make sense of his world.
READ: Frank Ocean’s Long Awaited ‘Blonde’ Set For No. 1 Debut On Billboard 200
On his insufferably long-awaited LP, the famously reclusive star allows us to peer into what we’ve missed. Peeling back more layers of his romantic life (both unrequited and uninhibited), drug-induced adventures and dizzying trips of nostalgia, Ocean leaves everything on wax (which begs if he’s going on another long hiatus).
Let’s face it: The major key to understanding Ocean is to realize you won’t always know what the f*ck he’s talking about but loving when and where you can relate. As with any art, especially his, it can be interpreted in many ways.
Here’s what we took away from the collection of songs on Ocean’s Blonde.
“Nikes”
The lead single from Ocean’s Blonde finds the R&B singer musing about gold-digging women looking for a come-up and shouting out ASAP Rocky, Pimp C and Trayvon Martin. Along the woozy production, Ocean’s sped-up vocals pour out with a stream of consciousness cadence. Later, he spits about love––an ever-present theme throughout the album––over a sparkling echo.
“Ivy”
Ocean reminisces on a love that materialized “from nothing” but later faces the reality of its expiration (“We’ll never be those kids again). While love can morph into hate, Ocean seems suspended in the grey area of walking away but still loving deep down. But is it all a dream? As he brings the track to a shrieking, clunky halt, “Ivy” proves it could easily be a nostalgia, ultra bonus cut.
“Pink + White”
Driven by Pharrell's production, this record is arguably the brightest spot on the album. Ocean colorfully pays homage to the person who showed him true love, if not his greatest adoration. It’s uncertain whether Ocean’s “glory from above” is a lover, friend or some other entity, but this summery, feel-good cut (“Cannonball off the porch side/Older kids trying off the roof”) feels complete with Beyoncé’s ethereal runs.
“Be Yourself”
Ocean inserts one of his mom Katonya Breaux’s voicemails onto this album. No doubt she drops advice most loving mothers leave on v-mails after you press ignore while hungover. However, the most mom-like thing she does it state “This is mom” not once but twice.
“Solo”
Ocean follows up his mom’s D.A.R.E.-esque advice with “tabs of that acid.” Equipped with whistles and soft organ, Ocean sings about being both a loner and heartbroken. Here, “solo” doubles as “so low” as Ocean emphasizes that being single is hell but inhaling vapors turns his personal Hades into heaven.
“Skyline To”
Lightly accented by Kendrick Lamar interjections (“Smoke!”), this wispy record details his weed-filled day from a picture-perfect sunrise to sunset.
“Solo (Reprise)”
Ocean finds another recluse to shine light on his sophomore studio project. The great wordsmith better known as Andre 3000 continues the solo/so low theme with masterful skill with bars like, “So low that I can see under the skirt of an ant.” Regardless if you care about the rumored Drake jabs or nah, if ever Andre 3000 was appreciated, it’s here.
“Pretty Sweet”
The proof of Prince’s influence on Ocean lives in this two-minute cut. With a futuristic, rock feel, the electrifying production is best fit for the score of a space film and, sadly, will most likely become one of his most slept-on gems.
“Facebook Story”
True story: A Parisian man explains that his girlfriend of three years broke up with him because he would not accept her friend request on Facebook.
“Close To You”
As Ocean stretches and warbles his voice across this slow-burning Vegyn-Produced beat, he details that a breakup isn’t always devastating. Translation? Shit happens.
“White Ferrari”
Ocean is a master of double meanings, especially on this James Blake-assisted record. While the Blond author consistently weaves the significance of cars throughout the tales of his love, here, he may be referring to cocaine as he open with talks of drug use (“Your dilated eyes watch the clouds float”). Later, he expresses lingering deep emotions for a past relationship then slips into ideas about free thinking (“It’s just a skull, least that’s what they call it”).
“Seigfried”
Taking the similar poetic license as Orange’s “Monks,” Frank spews storytelling that seemingly has no relevance. But a deeper look shows Ocean possibly grappling with his sexuality at a young age, settling for “two kids and a swimming pool,” but ultimately not conforming to conventional love or thought.
“Godspeed”
To whomever Ocean is singing––his younger self or a past lover––he says a prayer and professes to always love them. As Bey did on “Pink + White,” Kim Burrell thickens the track with soul towards the end. Unfortunately, this cut feels criminally short but definitely not a throwaway.
“Futura Free”
Ocean brings back his steam of consciousness flow to finish the much-anticipated LP with a defiant attitude (“I’ma stick around/I’ma let my nuts hang”) accentuated by effected vocals. For close to 10 minutes, listeners are slammed with Tupac’s whereabouts, the details of Ocean’s sexuality (“I don’t cut bitches no more”) and his musical beginnings (“Tyler slept on my sofa, yeah/N*ggas go back that far). Simply, it’s dope to hear Frank open up but it feels like a throwaway, which Ocean even admits (“You can change this track now/Coulda changed the bitch a long time ago”).
