This music column, a new recurring segment, will biograph a prevalent artist and review one of their albums, song by song, providing recommendations throughout. For this issue, I will be discussing Frank Ocean, and his first album, Channel Orange.
Frank Ocean (Christopher Franics Ocean), was born on October 28th, 1987, and is known to be one of the best alternative R&B artists of our generation. His music influences artists like Drake, Playboi Carti, Omar Apollo, Steve Lacy, and Clario, and he writes songs for people like Beyoncé. His artist name is taken from combining the name Frank Sinatra with the film Frank Sinatra starred in, Ocean’s Eleven. He first wrote songs under the name Lonny Breaux as a tribute to his grandpa. Frank Ocean is a creator we all know, and some of us love him a little bit too much. Sadly, he has taken a break from music and hasn’t released any music since 2016. It has been 8 years of no music. This is because Ocean wanted to be an artist instead of an entertainer. Letting his art reverberate his opinions and feelings, letting his radio silence speak volume and power, this is telling his listeners that they do not have any jurisdiction over the art (his music) that he makes because he simply doesn’t care but wants to release music that he loves and when he really wants to.
Frank Ocean is the creator of one of the most iconic and notable albums of all time, Channel Orange, Blonde, Nostalgia Ultra and singles such as “Novacane,” “Moon River,” “Chanel, Swim Good,” “Lens,” “In My Room,” “Biking,” “Skyline To,” “Cayendo,” and more. Some of us may know Frank Ocean by his songs that “blew up” on the platform TikTok, but there is more to him and his music.
Let’s do a deep dive into Frank Ocean’s most popular and first full-length album, Channel Orange, and how it launched his career. So, why the name Channel Orange? Ocean decided to name this album Channel Orange, because of the neurological disorder synesthesia, the phenomenon where you associate sound with color. In his words, “really trying to make a photograph out of something you can never see.”
The album starts off with “Thinkin Bout You,” a melancholy song that explains the pain of thinking about someone all the time and liking someone but knowing they may not reciprocate that same feeling and effort. Successfully following that song is “Fertilizer,” where the protagonist in the story is reflecting on past mistakes he or she has made in their relationship. This reflection helps the protagonist grow, develop, and use these mistakes and the constant reminder of them (we know this because of the repetition in the song) as fuel, or fertilizer, to grow like a plant and become a better version of themselves (hence the name).
The song “Sierra Leone” reveals Ocean’s viewpoint on his longing for freedom and authenticity while the fifth track, “Sweet Life,” reflects Ocean’s opinion that wealthy people have a “sweet life” due to their wealth and use their wealth to numb themselves to the problems of the outside world. In “Not Just Money,” the following song, Ocean describes having the conflict of if money is just money or if it creates happiness. On the track Ocean’s friend’s mother scolds him for the fact that he fails to grasp that money is more than itself: it’s the difference between being happy and sad. Similarly themed, in “Super Rich Kids,” Ocean sings about how even wealthy people, with all they have, can never feel fulfilled the way happiness and love that you give and receive can fulfill someone.
The next song, “Pilot Jones,” discusses the topic of first love and compares it with a drug by using the metaphor Pilot Jones and “Crack Rock,” the ninth track, is about the struggles with addiction that his grandfather faced. “For a song like ‘Crack Rock,’ my grandfather, who had struggled to be a father for my mom and my uncle… his second chance at fatherhood was me. In his early 20s, he had a host of problems with addiction and substance abuse,” Ocean said. “When I knew him, he was a mentor for the NA and the AA groups. I used to go to the meetings and hear these stories from the addicts—heroin, crack, and alcohol. So stories like that influence a song like that.”
Where the tenth track on Channel Orange is “Pyramids,” which is about modern love and the routine of getting ready as women in the modern world, “Lost” (also a single) is about how drugs and love get lost in between, and it’s hard to differentiate between them. The lines “mush” together with loving someone and loving someone because of the drugs and the lavish gifts they get from that money.
“White” by Frank Ocean explains the disorientation and detachment from reality and questions existence as he wonders if everything in his life will turn out okay, and “Monk” stresses the importance of breaking free from social expectations, finding one’s true self, and embracing one’s true identity. As for “Bad Religion,” Ocean is on his knees asking for forgiveness or how being who he is a bad religion, emphasizing the messiness of self-love and faith. “Pink Matter ft Andre 3000” is a song most of us are familiar with, and this song showcases the struggles women go through, Ocean’s deep respect for women, and the idea of pleasure over matter. In “Forrest Gump,” obviously a tribute to the movie released in 1994, Ocean relates this song to the love of running that Forrest had and someone running through Ocean’s mind. This song has the same theme of thinking about someone all the time who may not reciprocate the same feeling and thought. “End” is the last song on the Channel Orange album on streaming services, and it touches themes of love, loss, and the bittersweetness of our journey that we all share.
“Golden Girl” ft. Tyler, the Creator, is the last song on the physical album, the second part to the end. It describes someone who brings warmth, happiness, and love, even in bad times. Tyler, the Creator’s verse in that song counteracts the positive message that Ocean delivers. Talking about the possible negatives of the protagonist’s relationship with this “Golden Girl.”
As you can see, the complexity in these songs is deep and thought out. Through his lyrics and themes, Ocean tackles a variety of difficult and deeply personal issues, never shying away from controversial issues or modern struggles.
Frank Ocean’s first album, Channel Orange launched his entire career and let Frank Ocean quit his job at various fast food restaurants. This gave him the opportunity to pursue a blossoming career in music, which is still ongoing, but so far Ocean has 2 Grammys, rightfully so, for his art.
My final recommendation – from this impeccable album, I would suggest everyone listens to “Thinkin Bout You,” which connects with all of us, no matter what. We have all felt a feeling of love for someone, but we are afraid they may not feel the same. Ocean executes this feeling perfectly, making a real connection with all of us through the melancholy feeling of love.