Sold Date: February 1, 2019
Start Date: January 24, 2019
Final Price: $45.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 4778
Buyer Feedback: 105

Four years after the landmark Channel Orange, two new releases from Frank Ocean find him writing richly emotional songs for a quieter, more meditative space. t first, Frank Ocean was simply a great storyteller. Then he became the story—an avatar for all of our fluid modern ideals. He could be the dynamic human of the future, exploding age-old binaries with an eloquent note, melting racial divisions with a devastating turn of phrase or quick flit to falsetto. He breathed hope. Then he went away.
Years clicked by. It was easy to worry. There are precedents for this sort of thing, for disappearances, for the self-implosion of black genius. Lauryn Hill. Dave Chappelle. “Black stardom is rough,” Chris Rock once said. “You represent the race, and you have responsibilities that go beyond your art. How dare you just be excellent?” The Rock quote is from a 2012 profile of the reclusive D’Angelo, who felt compelled to release his first album in 14 years following the shooting of Michael Brown; the moment spurred him on.
Faced with a hellish loop of police brutality, other musical leaders like Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé came forth with brilliant righteousness as well. But not Frank. Though he posted several elegant messages online, reacting to horrors in Ferguson and Orlando, his relative silence only grew louder as tensions outside continued to rise. The stoic empathy he beamed throughout Channel Orange was missed. There was a yearning for his perspective—how he could soothe without losing sight of what’s important. How he allowed us to escape within his carefully drawn characters while never letting us off the hook. How his voice was allergic to nonsense, how it could shatter a heart into dust.
CONDITION: NEW. Not sealed. Green and Yellow Vinyl.  Promotional printed on front cover and center label.
TRACK LISTING: A1Nikes A2Ivy A3Pink + White A4Be Yourself A5Solo B1Skyline T B2Self Control B3Good Guy B4Nights B5Solo (Reprise) C1Pretty Sweet C2Facebook Story C3Close To You C4White Ferrari C5Seigfried D1Godspeed D2Futura Free
JPHBX27-FRANKOCEANBLONDVINYL