After fits and starts, rumors and innuendo, Frank Ocean finally released his sophomore album Saturday night.
Five years after Channel Orange, Blonde was released via Apple Music and through pop-up shops in New York, London, Los Angeles and Chicago. The album is called Blonde on Apple Music but titled Blond on the physical album. There also seems to be slight differences in terms of track listings on the physical and digital copies.
The Guardian reports that at the pop-up shop, the album came packaged with a 360-page magazine titled Boys Don’t Cry. The glossy features photographs taken by Ocean, an interview with his mother, horoscopes and the lyrics of a rap called “The MacDonalds Man” by Kanye West.
Described as a moody and introspective soul album in which Ocean’s voice is often distorted, Blonde’s list of collaborators includes Andre 3000, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, Arca, Fish, Gang of Four, David Bowie and the Beatles.
On his Tumblr, Ocean confirms that he knew that folks were getting weary of waiting: “I had the time of my life making all of this. Thank you all. Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of y’all. Haha. Love you.”
His first single, “Nikes,” is a visual smorgasbord paying homage to Trayvon Martin, who, Ocean sings, “looks like me.”
Watch “Nikes” below:
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