Guest blogger: Courtney S2

Known most for his popular song, “Thinking About You,” Frank Ocean has risen to one of the most talked about artists. His style could best be described as an R&B feel with a hip hop undertone and electronic funk. The critic from Rolling Stone also described him as “hippie-ish “ and that seems to fit accurately. He’s collaborated with many different people from the pop artist, John Meyer to the rapper, Jay-Z. Frank Ocean has talent for writing songs; he’s written songs for John Legend and even Justin Bieber. His mix tape Nostalgia, Ultra became quite popular from songs such as the “Eighties-inflected” “Novacane” and “Swim Good.” There is 64 songs on the Lonny Breaux Collection mix tape. Some of my favorite songs on the mix tape are, “Miss You So,” “If I’m in Love,” and “Can’t Be the Last Time.” They have more of a romantic R&B ambience. His newest album, Channel Orange came out on July 10th of 2012. As a fan myself, I could say it didn’t disappoint. However, I was expecting something a bit different from him. A popular song on the album is “Cleopatra.” The song references a woman, who is most likely a stripper as Cleopatra. An example of this would be the clever line, “tonight, she’s working at the pyramid.” In another song off the album, “Bad Religion,” the lyrics are “I could never make him love me.” There was a bit of controversy after the artist came out to the public. It was slightly a big deal to come out in the hip hop community, but Frank Ocean has appeared to have been given more respect for it. Some people say Frank Ocean is similar to The Weeknd, Drake, Big Sean, and Childish Gambino. I see similarities, but all of those artists are definitely different from one another. When comparing these artists directly to Frank Ocean, Drake is more hip hop, while The Weeknd is more of a sleazy type of R&B. All in all, Frank Ocean has a unique sound just like most talented artists do. I agree with the critic “Each song, each detail, can mean so much, but it's really an album that, like a human being, is best viewed as a whole.” His album is best viewed as a whole because in away, that’s how it tells a story of Channel Orange. I highly recommend checking out his album.