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During this time, prominent Black entertainers delivered clear-cut calls of empowerment in the face of overt racist violence. In 2014, Killer Mike sent up police shootings on Run the Jewels’ brutal “ RTJ2.” Lamar assured us we’d be “Alright” on 2015’s “ To Pimp a Butterfly.” And Beyoncé…well, you already know about “ Lemonade.” And, personally, I can’t stop listening to the organ-and-voice minimalism on “Godspeed,” which echoes the same desire for absolution as “ Bad Religion.” Clearly, fans agree with critics ’ enthusiastic assessment of “blond”: According to Billboard, it’s the third-largest debut of 2016.īut the landscape has changed during Ocean’s four years of false starts. Ocean’s talent for mixing ethereal soundscapes with R&B fundamentals shines throughout “blond.” The singer/songwriter repurposes the musical themes of Beyoncé (“Pink + White”), Kendrick Lamar (“Skyline To”) and even The Beatles (“White Ferrari” and “Sigfried”) with a soft paintbrush rather than a paintball gun. The discernible song snippets on the 45-minute visual album, “ Endless,” are as lush as any of the transitions on 2011’s “Nostalgia, Ultra” and 2012’s “Channel Orange.” And minus its $1,000 print magazine accompaniment, “blond” is as evocative as Ocean’s previous offerings. To be clear, the two albums, released exclusively on Apple Music, stand on their own and together as remarkable music. Yet I also couldn’t help but think about the subtext to Stone’s possibly stoned proclamation-that Black entertainers need only show how great they are to the world-while absorbing Frank Ocean’s new albums, “blond” and “ Endless.” Both works ultimately left me wondering, “…cool, but that’s what we waited four years for? I can’t ignore or reduce the impact of those Black entertainers most exalted by White neoliberal institutions-athletes, musicians, actors, comedians whoever-who use their platforms to stand against the forces hurting their communities.
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“The only think we can do for brothers is to do what we’re doing: be examples, and to be ‘hee-hee-hee’ happy, and to be intelligent, like you are and like you always say,” said Stone after interrupting Ali’s comments about Black entertainers smiling and “clowning” for American audiences. Of course, it's safe to assume that The Beatles, Gang of Four, and the late Elliott Smith were sampled.Back in 1974 when they appeared together on “The Mike Douglas Show,” Muhammad Ali and a seemingly intoxicated Sly Stone added an interesting chapter to the still-ongoing debate about how and when celebrities of color, especially Black ones, should use their platform to take critical aim at America’s vitriolic racism. As of now, none of the names are attached to particular tracks, and it's unclear which of the artists actually assisted in the recording of the album and which have been given sample credits.
#Art credit for frank ocean blonde album full
A CD copy of Blonde was included inside the "Boys Don't Cry" mag, as was a list of the artists who contributed to the album.Ī photo of the full list of Blonde's credits was taken and shared by journalist Steven Horowitz. The magazine appeared at four different pop-up shops in four different cities. However, Ocean did put out a magazine called "Boys Don't Cry" in coordination with the release of Blonde. His new album, which appeared on Apple Music in surprise fashion, is entitled Blonde and not Boys Don't Cry, which had been the rumored title for over a year. Check out the star-studded list of credits for Frank Ocean's new album, "Blonde."įrank Ocean just dropped, and everything seems to be in its right place again.