Everyone has and will continue to write about Frank Ocean’s sexuality and it’s affect on Urban Music and his record sales.
None of which I really care about that much. I mean, I care, and I’m really proud of Frank. And watching his Jimmy Fallon performance (below) had a much greater emotional context when you know the back story.
But, before his letter, I was intrigued by the album title.
Then I read up on his listening session a couple weeks ago, in which Frank explained he had Synesthesia (seeing colors in music to the laymen). The way critics explained the album during this listening session filled me with a lot of nervous energy: Here is a major, amazingly talented artist who was running through some similar concepts as my upcoming set of EPs (“Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement”, followed by Blue & Red).
Plus he had 3000 on the record.
But that nervous energy was replaced pretty quickly by excitement for an artist who I could tell was concerned mainly with making a cohesive album. A work or art more than a collection of songs. And in 2012, I’m so grateful to find artists like this that I could care less about some “sound/color” shit.
This album sets a great example for what Synesthesia does for a music artist. To explain it to someone who doesn’t understand: I imagine “Channel Orange” feels different than most records. Records like these ‘feel’ more visual. Like, if you could paint music, this it was it would look & sound like.
Not that Frank Ocean needs me to sell his vision, but, for anyone who’s interested in my upcoming releases, it follows a similar thought process: Cohesive movements of music that feel like a huge painting in sound. Same with the eventual live show.
So make a “Color” Playlist on your iTunes. And enjoy “Channel Orange”. It’s dope as hell.
And “Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement” will be out in a couple months for you guys to vibe out to as well.
BONUS: Read an interview w/ Frank’s co-writer & producer HERE
