Album: channel ORANGE
Artist: Frank Ocean
Born: New Orleans, Louisiana
Released: July 2012
Genre: Hip Hop
I found it almost impossible to choose between Frank Ocean's debut album, self-released mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA and Channel Orange, his first "legal" release, which often gets most of the plaudits. You could argue that nostalgia, ULTRA is a more sonically interesting record, mainly thanks to its inspired use of uncleared samples from the likes of Coldplay, MGMT, Radiohead and The Eagles. One of the tracks, American Wedding, uses an extensive sample of Eagles song Hotel California, thus prompting Don Henley to threaten legal action if it was ever played live. Like Danger Mouse's legendary Grey Album, it's unlikely that nostalgia, ULTRA will ever get an official release (but it's freely available on the internet). The album produced two brilliant singles, Novacane and Swim Good, the first a hugely original take on the trappings of fame that's influenced by alternative hip hop groups like The Pharcyde and the second featuring vocals from Tyler, The Creator, one of Ocean's fellow rappers in hip hop collective Odd Future. Many see Novacane as a way of Ocean expressing his bisexuality, in the way it explores the numbness he feels in the presence of a female porn star. It also reveals a highly idiosyncratic, non-macho take on hip hop, a trait Ocean shares with a new generation of artists, including Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
Like 2012's other great hip hop album, good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar, channel ORANGE mixes soul, funk and psychedelia, while also creating the same dreamy atmospherics that Drake specialises in. Ocean stands out from the crowd though thanks to the quality of his songwriting and singing, which varies from baritone to falsetto and tenor. Thinkin Bout You is an undeniable highlight, an R&B ballad that explores age old feelings of regret and heartbreak but written in a thoroughly modern vernacular. Though Ocean spent most of his young life in New Orleans, this album paints a vivid picture of his adopted home of LA, with an eye for detail and a sense of humour not seen since Randy Newman. The album's centrepiece is Pyramids, the album version of which clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, crossing time from the ancient Egyptians to LA strip bars, telling the story of black women in history ("Our skin like bronze and our hair like cashmere / as we march to rhythm on the palace floor"), set against a backdrop of Pink Floyd-style guitars. Other highlights are Sweet Life, exploring the lives of LA's spoilt rich kids, and Crack Rock, one of several songs about the city's drug dealers that has a Prince-inspired funk sound. As well as creating astoundingly original music, Ocean is like a painter depicting with precision the world around him.
I found it almost impossible to choose between Frank Ocean's debut album, self-released mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA and Channel Orange, his first "legal" release, which often gets most of the plaudits. You could argue that nostalgia, ULTRA is a more sonically interesting record, mainly thanks to its inspired use of uncleared samples from the likes of Coldplay, MGMT, Radiohead and The Eagles. One of the tracks, American Wedding, uses an extensive sample of Eagles song Hotel California, thus prompting Don Henley to threaten legal action if it was ever played live. Like Danger Mouse's legendary Grey Album, it's unlikely that nostalgia, ULTRA will ever get an official release (but it's freely available on the internet). The album produced two brilliant singles, Novacane and Swim Good, the first a hugely original take on the trappings of fame that's influenced by alternative hip hop groups like The Pharcyde and the second featuring vocals from Tyler, The Creator, one of Ocean's fellow rappers in hip hop collective Odd Future. Many see Novacane as a way of Ocean expressing his bisexuality, in the way it explores the numbness he feels in the presence of a female porn star. It also reveals a highly idiosyncratic, non-macho take on hip hop, a trait Ocean shares with a new generation of artists, including Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
Like 2012's other great hip hop album, good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar, channel ORANGE mixes soul, funk and psychedelia, while also creating the same dreamy atmospherics that Drake specialises in. Ocean stands out from the crowd though thanks to the quality of his songwriting and singing, which varies from baritone to falsetto and tenor. Thinkin Bout You is an undeniable highlight, an R&B ballad that explores age old feelings of regret and heartbreak but written in a thoroughly modern vernacular. Though Ocean spent most of his young life in New Orleans, this album paints a vivid picture of his adopted home of LA, with an eye for detail and a sense of humour not seen since Randy Newman. The album's centrepiece is Pyramids, the album version of which clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, crossing time from the ancient Egyptians to LA strip bars, telling the story of black women in history ("Our skin like bronze and our hair like cashmere / as we march to rhythm on the palace floor"), set against a backdrop of Pink Floyd-style guitars. Other highlights are Sweet Life, exploring the lives of LA's spoilt rich kids, and Crack Rock, one of several songs about the city's drug dealers that has a Prince-inspired funk sound. As well as creating astoundingly original music, Ocean is like a painter depicting with precision the world around him.
Comments