First Frank in Four Years

I’ve been MIA the past few weeks, but I don’t think there’s a better time to bring Tunesdays back to life. Why? Because over the weekend, Mr. Christopher Breaux (Frank Ocean) finally graced us with the much anticipated release of his first album(s) in four years. Some quick background - after a couple of mixtapes, he released his debut LP, Channel Orange, in 2012. It went on to receive seven Grammy nominations and two awards, including “Best Contemporary Urban Album.”

While die-hard fans (myself included) have been waiting for what seemed like forever for him to come out with new music, a couple weeks ago discussion began to circulate that his new album would drop. However, it wasn’t until last Thursday that we’d finally be blessed with new music. He started by premiering a 45-minute visual album called Endless - similar to Beyoncé’s Lemonade - which included 18 new tracks and a number of features, including James Blake and Sampha. It was soon rumored that he’d be officially releasing the album over the weekend.

I was beyond excited and thought this was the album, but the next day he released a new music video for song called “Nikes.” Listeners and viewers would later learn that this was the first song on his album, Blond, which premiered on Apple Music this past Saturday. Throughout this whole process, Frank kept mentioning that he had “two versions” of the album, so I thought Endless and Blond were the two. I later learned he set up pop-up shops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, London and Paris, where he gave away free copies of a 360-page magazine. The magazine is called Boys Don’t Cry, which is what the album was initially going to be called, and includes poetry and short stories he wrote. The magazine also includes works from high-profile artists (i.e. Kayne West). Additionally, the publication featured a hard copy of the album; however, this one was spelled Blonde and included two additional tracks that weren’t on the digital copy. Thus, the two versions.

I could easily write a five-page paper on this dude so I’m going to stop. But first, here’s a list of some other artists he’s written songs for to showcase just how talented he is:

• Jay Z

• Kayne West

• Beyoncé

• Brandy

• Justin Bieber

• Alicia Keys

• John Legend

• James Blake

• Tyler, the Creator

Long story short – it was well worth the long, four-year wait to get all these new tunes. Listen to Blond and watch/listen to Endless. Sorry, but the video version is only available via Apple Music. I still recommend starting a free trial so you can listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Keep jammin’