Frank Ocean: Channel Orange

Channel Orange, possibly the most anticipated album of the year (at least for me at least) is finally here. First off I guess I’ll fill you in with a little background information in lead up to its release. As I’m sure a lot of you know by now, Frank Ocean recently came out publicly via his Tumblr of having relations with a man some five years ago. As one would expect, this came as a major blow to some of the traditional not particularly gay-friendly people involved in the hip-hop and R&B world. Frank Ocean is undoubtedly the highest profile artist in the genre to do so. How it all went down is what amazed me and also granted me that much more respect for Frank as an artist. Take a second, and never mind the publicity it created in the build up to the album’s release, and note the artistry in the way he went about doing it. His coming out letter wasn’t some huge gay rights proclamation or anything of the sort, it was a beautifully crafted composition that eloquently documented this seemingly unrequited love he had with a man and how he was crushed when it didn’t work out. You don’t have to like Frank Ocean, you don’t even have to know who he is to appreciate this letter and what it embodies. Like the letter and like any truly quality piece of art, Channel Orange captivates an audience and overtly transcends the boundaries we presently live in. There are two songs on the album that directly focus on that exact issue but there is much more to it than that. There’s a lot of people who are gonna focus in and scrutinize those songs and if that’s all you’re gonna do you’re missing the overall picture and a truly great album. As an artist I have the utmost respect for Frank Ocean and even more respect for him as a man and what he’s done and will continue to do. Being the poor college student I am, it takes a lot for me to actually purchase an album, but this one I felt was a must. After listening to it about 10 times over the past few days I can assure you it was worth every penny. I urge you to do the same.