Odd Future are tearing up the entire planet right now, it seems. What with the release of Tyler’s debut album ‘Goblin’ to comic book store riots, the now infamous LA group have done much to secure the biggest hype in the hiphop community in a very long time.
However, in and amongst all the controversy and hi-octane live shows, there is a voice that you may have missed. Frank Ocean is an affiliate of the group and while he may not be the most well known, he is arguably already more successful having written songs for RnB heavyweights John Legend, Beyonce and, er, Justin Bieber. But we won’t hold that against him.
A native of New Orleans, Frank Ocean moved to LA following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, staying on afterwards to pursue a musical career. While OF’s (and by OF’s I mean Tyler’s) output of late has been pretty much defined by its unsavoury content, Ocean’s debut release ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ exhibits a warm, almost sun-bleached beauty that one rarely gets in RnB music these days, although Ocean himself refers to his style as bluegrass.
Its songs remind you of half-remembered summer days enveloped in the naivety and innocence of youth, all the while reminding the listener of the nostalgia of its namesake; the production is at times soft, analog and luscious (see ‘Strawberry Swing’ and ‘Songs For Women’), and at others crisp, mature and sexy (see ‘Novocaine’ and ‘Lovecrimes’).
Don’t let this fool you into thinking that the entire album is all happiness and joy though – the aforementioned ‘Novocaine’ talks of smoking the dentist’s anaesthetic with a girl he met at the Coachella festival, while at the beginning of ‘Swim Good’ Frank dumps a car in the sea with bodies in the trunk.
While ‘Goblin’ has at once been described as immature, vile, homophobic and misogynistic, taking up all the column inches with it, ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ cannot be described as anything other than grown-up, stylish and soulful black music. Fingers crossed we will hear more from this very promising artist; OF’s seemingly vertical fame trajectory will surely bring him somewhat into the public eye and thankfully his talent is more than enough to take it from there.
Download Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
James
[...] Great video from one of the best singers around at the moment. Check our look at Frank’s debut mixtape ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ here. [...]