Written by Krish Gondhi

On August 20, 2016, a day after releasing the visual album Endless (a result of a mysterious 19-day long live stream), critically acclaimed alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean released his second studio album, Blonde. While Endless and Blonde were both heavily enjoyed by Ocean’s fanbase, it was the latter that truly and rightfully caught everyone’s attention. Blonde saw Frank Ocean presenting himself on an entirely new musical palette, catching everyone by surprise. This album was nothing like his debut studio album, Channel Orange; most of the production is incredibly stripped back, creating an entirely unique musical atmosphere. Strangely enough, these distinctions let the album make an incredible, long-lasting first impression on listeners. From the lush, reverbed organ keys on the euphoric opening track “Nikes” to the warped guitar strings on the atmospheric track, “Seigfried,” Frank made sure that each track on the album (interludes and skits included), carried a lot of emotional weight and significance. 

On top of Blonde’s mesmerizing and distinct instrumentals, the various themes and lyrics scattered throughout the album are what really hit the emotional bull’s-eye for listeners. While not forming any kind of cohesive narrative, Frank Ocean is able to tell stories about love, heartbreak, loss, nostalgia, and moving on throughout each of the 17 songs on the album. The stories are relevant to the youth of today and emotionally captivating, thanks to Frank’s soothing voice and emotionally effective delivery, letting the youth relate to and take comfort in the subject matter Frank offers. Regardless, offering it was most likely no easy task, and that’s easy to understand when realizing how deep the subject matter goes. Frank is currently an adult, but the stories he sings about are ones of his youth, and as one might figure, looking back isn’t always pretty. For example, the standout track “Ivy” finds Frank reminiscing about an old relationship that eventually ended up falling apart and displays his frustration from his built-up heartache. “Pink + White” on the other hand, is a more light-hearted, yet self-reflective track that compares Frank’s youthful love to a drug: no matter how high he gets from it, “it’s all downhill from here”. However, no track delivers an emotional blow like “White Ferrari”; the raw nostalgia and heartbreak Frank expresses on this track is very well enough to make the listener end up with tears streaming down their face. 

With an album as emotionally provoking, carefully crafted, and artistically unique as Blonde, it’s no surprise that Frank cemented himself as a true master of his own craft. Multiple songs from Blonde are streamed to this day, which is a real testament to the timelessness of the album’s music, messages, and most of all, its art.