Branches Book

BRANCHES

perhaps it was his first love that he wrote about. For a progressive and liberal culture that hip-hop and R&B stem from, it can be said that those two genres are more confined to traditional binaries when addressing sexuality because the language is sometimes degrading and misleading about the LGBTQ community or women. However, Frank Ocean is changing this platform by being the first publicly gay rapper. This could potentially inspire others to better understand themselves and their world, which is one of Channel Orange's finest legacies. Breaking from the typical R&B rap lyrics, his song “Bad Religion,” is a reference to how many belief systems are against same- sex love, or only have one “right” definition of it. ‘“He said ‘Allahu akbar’/ I told him don't curse me/ I can never make him love me/ Never make him love me.” These lyrics represent Ocean taking in what he hears from different religions, and how he responds to them. Allahu Akbar is an Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is the greatest.’ Frank’s response to this line represents his guilt for going against religion, but he believes it is a “bad religion” because he can’t help but fall in love with a guy. Ocean also addresses the young wealthy life in a different light than most rappers and R&B singers do. He negatively exposes the reality of the wealthy life’s finer pleasures, and how they can act as blinders to life's expansiveness: "You've had a landscaper and a housekeeper since you were born/ Why see the world/ When you've got the beach?" These lyrics from “Sweet Life” show how Frank Ocean does not glorify the rich life like others; instead he criticizes their closed offness from the world, opening his listener’s perspectives. "Sweet Life" is another reminder of how well he can structure a narrative in the musical realm. “Super Rich Kids” is another example of this type of message, however, it is about how the people in “Sweet Life” come to be so closed off, and how these rich kids are raised with the mindset that everything can be theirs.

“As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences.”

Blonde In the album, Blonde , Ocean transforms his storytelling format by making him the center of the narrative and relates his lyrics to parts of his life. The first track, “Nikes,” has many layers and references to wealth, greed, love, and inequality that Ocean intertwines. It’s a comment on consumerism, love, human nature, and the systematic failings of the justice system that leave the lives of too many young African-Americans at risk, all in five minutes. The

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