Why Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” Is Still So Good Ten years Later
It’s not easy for any artist to follow up a monumental album like Channel Orange. The hardest question they are faced with when writing the next one: do I continue to build on what is a winning formula, or should I do something different? Thankfully with Blonde, Frank Ocean chose the latter.
Musically, it is unconventional and tasteful.
Ten years ago, Blonde was released, and listeners were treated to music that was much more avant-garde than its groovy predecessor. The production is sparse, airy, and often lacks a beat, with multiple tracks lacking even a hint of a drum kit. But that’s alright because it truly doesn’t need it. Ocean’s vocals are consistently the main instrument on display, driving the songs with perfectly layered effects and harmonies.
“Godspeed” is a great example of this, where the entire song is just his vocals accompanied by an organ, more vocals, and a keyboard towards the end. “Ivy” is another one which features Ocean’s vocals floating above a mellow guitar and bass line without any drums. Despite this, both songs were released as singles and did very well commercially. He did put out more conventional singles in the form of “Pink + White” and “Nights”, both of which are extremely catchy and sound like they should be on A-list movie soundtracks.
What About The Lyrics?
Lyrically is where Blonde truly steps into its own. It’s not as if Frank went in a completely different direction compared to Channel Orange. In fact, he kept many of the same themes: love, sex, yearning, self-discovery, and self-reflection. With Blonde, he simply dives deeper. Significantly deeper.
Along with it being such a vocal heavy album, there is not a whole lot of repetition going on lyrically. Many of these songs aren’t following a traditional verse-chorus structure and his vocals often feel like a brilliant stream of consciousness without patterns or repeated lines.
“White Ferrari” is a perfect example of how sprawling and novel his lyrics are on this record. Again, there is none of the repetitive structure we see in a standard pop song. He says the phrase ‘White Ferrari’ multiple times, but each one is in a different lyrical context. And all the lyrical contexts are beautiful. Here are the last four lines of the song as an example:
Primal and naked
You dream of walls that hold us in prison
It’s just a skull, least that’s what they call it
And we’re free to roam
Why Is It Still So Relevant After A Decade?
These four bars above are just a small sliver of the poetic power in Frank Ocean’s words, and the lyrics throughout Blonde are the main reason for its staying power. As great as the music is, the realness of his lyrics is what keeps this album streaming.
There’s no cliches, tropes, or cookie cutter wordplay, all of it comes straight from the heart and brain of an artist that is so aloof he only shares himself with the public through his lyrics and melodies. Each line feels so intentional and hand-crafted that listening to it makes you feel like you’re eating a fine meal that took hours to make compared with the fast-food lyrics that pop music is currently rife with.
In recent years Frank Ocean has given people reasons to be annoyed with him, and these reasons are valid: lack of music releases, flakey live concert appearances, general distance from his fans, etc. But with that said, if you ever need to escape for an hour into a world of pure artistry, do yourself a favor and listen to Blonde.