Frank Ocean released his debut studio album in July of 2012, to showcase his American R&B style music. This album has proved to be revolutionary and impactful for many of his fans, and his music goes much deeper than the basic melodies.
What is Frank Ocean’s musical style?
“The general music genre of Frank Ocean can be categorized as Alternative R&B. In fact, he is considered to be one of the pioneers in this genre who has made it more mainstream and popular. “Frank Ocean’s songs are soulful, often contain unconventional melodies, and prominently feature the electronic keyboard. He has received numerous accolades for his music, including two Grammy Awards,” writes Roll The Record Blog.
Frank Ocean has mainstreamed alternative R&B, with pieces of jazz, hip-hop, and soul. He creates songs that portray many messages throughout each piece. His songs are introspective and have melodies that you can focus on alone. Or, you can play in the background of anything. His music never gets old, as there is always something new to listen to in each song.
What do the lyric choices in this album say about the music?
“He also speaks on addiction, life after natural disasters, relationships, and occasionally religion (or lack thereof). A lot of Ocean’s work is reminiscent of former relationships and earlier phases of life,” Medium.com discusses.
Frank’s songs touch on lots of earlier parts of his life in this album. Songs such as Sweet Life and Super Rich Kids reflect back on a time when he was growing up and experimenting. Frank looks back on his time as a teenager with a lot of money.
What is the best song on the album?
According to Spotify, the top song on the album “Lost”, comes in with 889,896,744 streams on that platform. That averages out to 658,527 streams daily on Spotify alone.
The real best song on the album is Pyramids. The song is 9:53 minutes long, and every part of it is perfect. The song splits into two halves, with the first half being the melody, and the second half taking it further. The song is a reference to Cleopatra. She brought dishonor to her country by becoming a mistress for Mark Antony, a conqueror who wanted Egypt as Roman territory. In Pyramids, Ocean narrates a similar happening with him and a woman. She leaves him and he sees her not as an entity and something to honor anymore but as a dishonor. The song reflects back to the historical story of Cleopatra to his experience in his own life.
How has this album affected listeners?
“‘Channel Orange’ makes a listener recoil, for a moment, and think about how pop works, and what it is capable of,” Frere-Jones wrote nearly a decade ago. It makes many listeners realize that mainstream pop doesn’t always fit into a certain box, describing exactly how it should sound.
Frank Ocean has not only influenced his fans but other musical artists as well. He has created an idea for other artists that you don’t always need to conform to the conventional. He says that you can step out of your comfort zone and try something new.
