Blonde vs. Channel Orange
Credits: Frank Ocean/Def Jam Recordings
Four years. Four long years, waiting. Frank Ocean has officially dropped a new album called Blonde. It has finally happened. After having listened to 3 singles and 1 album non-stop, Ocean has released an album of new music. Ocean’s previous album, Channel Orange, was a huge success, reaching number 2 on Billboard 200. Blonde, on the other hand, has 17 completely new tracks that no one has ever heard before, and, as expected, when released it went straight to number 1 in the Billboard 200 with the third largest debut of 2016 behind Drake’s and Beyoncé’s new albums.
Frank Ocean, for those who don’t know, is an independent artist, which means that he owns his own music and isn’t signed to any record labels. He previously had a recording contract with the Universal Music Group, specifically Def Jam, but he somehow was able to escape the contract and drop his label. His last release with his recording contract was Endless, which was a video album that he released with Apple Music that would officially complete his contract. Consequently, he was able to release Blonde as an independent artist without having to compromise any of its merits.
If you haven’t heard the album yet or even heard of Frank Ocean to begin with, here are two perspectives of a junior, Jenny Lee, and a senior, Fernanda Sayão, who are both part of the Talon, to enlighten you.
Jenny Lee says: “I mean at first, I thought I would love it, but then when I heard it I didn’t. But then the more I heard it, it soon became mind-blowingly good. I feel like Channel Orange has more of these original vibes that transcends in time but maybe since Blonde just came out, it has potential to be as good as his last album. My favorite song from Blonde is White Ferrari, just from the beginning to the end. The song gives me these chill vibes and his voice is amazing and so are his lyrics even though I don’t really understand his meaning behind it.”
As one can see, Jenny showed a huge appreciation for the new album and even compared it to Ocean’s last album, saying that it has potential to be as good as Channel Orange. For the people still listening to the album, give it some time and it will grow on you.
On the other hand, Fernanda Sayão had a different opinion: “I liked this album, but I preferred his last album because of the songs like ‘Thinking About You’ and ‘Lost’ (two of his most famous songs) that are my favorites. But if I had to choose a song from Blonde that I liked the most, it would be ‘Be Yourself’.”
While Jenny liked Blonde just as much as Channel Orange, Fernanda had a different perspective, saying that songs on the last album were better.
Frank Ocean has such an alternative sound to him that it doesn’t surprise me that people have various opinions on the album. Each song attracts different people whether it’s “White Ferrari” or “Lost”.
Sources: Forbes & Billboard
As Julia's career at Graded comes to a close as a second year Talon writer but it being the final year, she is eager to get Graded students' opinions in...
