Branches Book

BRANCHES

Genevieve Dunning

A CRITIQUE OF FRANK OCEAN’S ALBUMS: CHANNEL ORANGE AND BLONDE

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean, a story-teller through music, has transformed his work over the years by creating a vision for all to imagine through the narratives he tells in his album Channel Orange . He then becomes the story himself in his later album, Blonde . Born in Long Beach, CA, but raised in New Orleans, Ocean was exposed to the jazz scene and R&B music. He moved back to Los Angeles when Hurricane Katrina was the driving force that pushed Ocean to follow his dreams and move to Los Angeles to pursue his music career. Ocean is an avatar that embodies the world’s modern and progressive ideals. He began using his own experiences to show the truth in the world that life can be horrifying and beautiful, but in the end they are so true and important to recognize. Through his two albums, Channel Orange and Blonde , Ocean has transformed the platform for artists, particularly black artists, to experiment on. He changed the norm of what R&B/rap singers write about. Opening Up After releasing his album, Channel Orange , Ocean came out about his sexuality through a letter he wrote about himself over Tumblr. He writes about his first love, a 19-year-old boy, “Back then, my mind would wander to the women I had been with. The ones I cared for and thought I was in love with. I reminisced about the sentimental songs I enjoyed when I was a teenager… the ones I played when I experienced a girlfriend for the first time. I realized they were written in a language I did not speak. I realized too much, too quickly.” Through this letter he shares his most intense, intimate thoughts with the world, a message that is later seen in many of the songs on his album, such as “Forrest Gump,” “Bad Religion,” and “Thinkin Bout You.” Whether he’s being sarcastic or vulnerable, his songwriting speaks to the humanity in us all. Everyone gets confused in life; everyone feels uncomfortable and lost and copes with these feelings in their own way. However, there are shared feelings everyone grows to understand and can relate to. Even though everyone experiences life differently through different understandings of the world around them, the fight for love, the fear of change, and the struggle to do better are essentially relatable. That’s why Ocean opened his letter with,

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