Frank Ocean is a bastard.
Once upon a time, in the year 2015, a falsetto extraordinaire and singer who may or may not have made me cry — Frank Ocean — promised the world an album. This album, titled “Boys Don’t Cry,” did not come out in the promised month of July 2015. Nor did it come out in August. Nor September. Nor October. Nor the next nine months. Finally the album released in August 2016 under a different title, “Blonde.”
For over a year, the world waited to hear Frank Ocean sing again on a Frank Ocean album. He hid, crept away from the spotlight, waiting for the perfect moment.
The album was finally released Aug. 20, and the enthusiastic public attacked with the ravenousness of Bloomington students on 15-cent beer night. It was now time to hear Ocean stretch out his vocal chords once again.
And would you believe it? He started the album with auto-tune. It’s finally at the three minute mark of “Nikes” where you hear Ocean sing once again. Frank Ocean is a bastard.
This isn’t to say the auto-tune voice that lifts the song up until Ocean’s arrival isn’t good. It’s a welcoming intro to the album and sets the tone for every other song.
“We’ll let you guys prophesy/We gon’ see the future first.” Ocean begins his crooning with an essential middle finger to those impatiently awaiting his return. He has control of the music, and only he decides when the return will be sparked. The album is complicated and moody, thus this intro seems like a welcome return.
Unlike the rest of the songs on the record which seem more definite and concrete, “Nikes” feels more of a meandering with a Guernica painting type feel. Different emotions, thoughts and actions are sprawled across the canvas and it’s up to the listener to pick up on what they find appealing.
This isn’t an addition to “Channel Orange.” It seems more like a start to something new. Through auto-tune, a deft touch and a broadening introduction, “Nikes” begins “Blonde” with a new Frank Ocean sound. There may be more cohesive songs on the album, but there’s nothing that touches “Nikes” in terms of creating a feeling and building it up and up in a matter of minutes.
