The realization is as stark as the track is but reverberates heavily in its minimalism. The track itself reads as an ode to all that we’ve lost to police brutality as Ocean sings, “R.I.P Trayvon/ that nigga look just like me”. The production is less bare boned than the rest of the album, with crisp snares, ambient synths and satisfying drum kicks. “Nikes”, the sole single from the album, distorts and changes the frequency of Ocean’s vocals to the point of non-recognition. Nonetheless, Endless left many feeling unsastisfied- until Boys Don’t Cry re-birthed as Blonde dropped two days later.īlond is something that we’ve never really heard before. Was this supposed to be the album? Would we get more? Where was Ocean going with this? The visuals were undoubtedly entrancing and captivatingly artistic and his vocals were as on point as ever.
There was a flurry of happiness and then confusion. The internet went into a frenzy when Ocean first dropped the visual album, Endless. But with a release date that was pushed back numerous times to the disappointment and growing anticipation of fans, Boys Don’t Cry quickly became a shadowy myth, encapsulated by clever tweets and memes asking the question- would we ever hear more from Frank Ocean? I remember when Channel Orange dropped- it was a whirlwind of soft falsettos, heavy drum kicks that left us in an aural orgasmic haze that undoubtedly made waiting for his second project more bearable.
The music world has been salivating over the release of what would be Frank Ocean’s second studio album for years now.