JUL 02. 2015

AUG 07. 2015

FEB 12. 2016

JUN 03. 2016

On each of these dates, fans all over the country hung onto Frank Ocean’s Tumblr and website, refreshing each site every few minutes, hoping for a new release. Teasing his fans with seventeen possible album release dates for a year, Frank Ocean finally dropped his highly anticipated album, Blonde, this past August.

Various memes praising gods of every religion, joyous tears, and even a dancing cat swept through several social media sites for days as fans celebrated Ocean’s new album release. In fact, Blonde became so popular that Frank Ocean added five more debuts to Billboard’s illustrious Hot 100 song list in September alone.

But why has Blonde received so much praise? Is it merely because of the anticipation, or is there an underlying reason?

Some fans believe that several songs in Blonde center on police brutality, such as how Nikes pays respect to Trayvon Martin and his unjust passing. The album resonates with today’s progressive youth, aligning itself with their views and allowing Ocean to make a political statement.

Yet other listeners believe this analysis is too far-fetched and the draw of a political message is too abstract. As past fan Anup Dupaguntla ’17 declares, “[Frank Ocean] sings so badly; I hate his songs so much.” Any political message can simply be tuned out by listeners turned off by Ocean’s stylistic choices.

At first hearing, many frown upon Ocean’s avant-garde pieces with drawn out phrases of profanity and electric guitar riffs as Anna Peczak ’18 explains: “I was unsure of what to feel as I listened to the slurred deep voice and strange, high pitched voice harmonizing.” A psychedelic-pop and rhythm & blues artist, Frank Ocean creates an enigmatic, dark music that contrasts with many pop songs’ catchy and lighthearted tunes.

So the question remains: does Ocean really demonstrate emotional depth, or do his profanity and deafening instrumentals spoil his pieces?

You’ll have to listen to Blonde in order to find out.