![]() “Sweet Life” and “Super Rich Kids” both emerge from the shadow of Bret Easton Ellis’s “Less Than Zero,” recounting tales of young Angelenos strung out on their own privilege. Listen carefully and the plot will unfold on your eyelids. That’s why “Channel Orange” is an album best experienced with your eyes closed. Each song on this album tells a story in high-definition detail, some tales more cryptic than others. Reimagining the melodic sensibilities of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and the evaporated song structures of D’Angelo, Maxwell and Erykah Badu, he’s forging his own brand of neo-neo-soul.Īnd he’s an incredibly gifted narrator. He released a lovely digital album last year, “ Nostalgia, Ultra” he’s helped pen songs for Justin Bieber, John Legend and Beyonce he sang the most exquisite hook on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s 2011 collaboration album “ Watch the Throne” and he’s made standout contributions as a member of the rowdy Los Angeles rap collective Odd Future.īut with “Channel Orange,” it’s Ocean’s poise as a lyricist, vocalist and producer that feels so arresting. But his songwriting chops shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been following this guy’s young career. After a few listens, it feels as if it landed years ahead of time.Īt 24, Ocean shows a sure-footed confidence that took many of his forebears years to summon. Then on Tuesday, another surprise - the Los Angeles singer’s major-label debut album “Channel Orange” would be available on iTunes a week before it was scheduled to land in stores. Suddenly, Ocean had become the first mainstream R&B artist to go public about a romance that previous generations would have fiercely fought to conceal.īut the urban music community - not always known for its gay-friendly attitudes - has largely rallied around Ocean this week while detractors ducked into social media’s digital bathroom stalls to scrawl their ugliness.īut overall, Ocean’s announcement has been greeted with a support that’s beginning to feel emblematic of the country’s changing attitudes about homosexuality. ![]() For decades, no other genre of American pop music has chronicled heterosexual love in greater detail. ![]() “Time would glide,” the R&B singer wrote, eloquently transporting us a few summers back to when he met his first love - a man. When Frank Ocean addressed speculation about his sexuality last week, the declaration on his Tumblr page felt lyrical.
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