- [Narrator] Just months
after releasing his first
official album to what felt
like unanimous acclaim,
Frank Ocean was already tossing around
the idea of retiring from music.
Living in Los Angeles, the
New Orleans raised artist
had begun to feel isolated, uninspired,
and increasingly wary of
major label mechanics.
So in 2013, Ocean filled a duffle bag
with hard drives of
music and fled to London.
where he'd hole up in
the Abbey Road Studios
to begin recording Channel
Orange's follow up.
He also replaced his entire business team
and began what he called
a seven year chess game
to buy himself and control
of his original recordings
out of the Def Jam deal
he'd signed in 2009.
For the next few years, Ocean kept
an impressively low profile.
Though he'd occasionally
pop-up for features,
he released little more that
rough demo entitled Memories,
uploaded impulsively to Tumblr in 2014.
Alleged release dates came and went.
In early 2015, Ocean announced
that he'd be releasing an album in July
along with an accompanying publication.
Both titled Boys Don't Cry
but yet another year passed.
Finally on August 1, 2016, a
mysterious live video stream
appeared on Ocean's website.
In the following weeks,
Ocean would appear on camera
building what would ultimately become
a towering spiral staircase
as new songs played in the background.
These songs would comprise Endless,
a 45 minute video album
in which multiple Franks
slowly complete the stairway edited down
from 140 hours of streaming footage.
When Endless officially
premiered on August 19th,
it seemed that fans had finally received
the follow-up album they'd been awaiting.
That is until just one day later,
when Ocean's true sophomore studio
lp Blonde hit the internet.
A conversation with an
old New Orleans friend
had inspired Ocean to dig deeper
into his past on his new compositions.
- [Boy 1] What's your first memory?
- [Boy 2] The first word I learned to say.
- [Narrator] Blonde was deeply personal
yet resistant to linear narratives.
Painting the landscape of Ocean's memory
in impressionistic detail.
Musically, where Channel
Orange felt inspired
by warm seventies soul,
Blonde felt more akin
to Brian Eno or The Beach Boys.
With arrangements and
instrumentation from the likes of
John Brian, James Blake, and
Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.
Ocean subtly embedded his inspriations
into the songs themselves.
Sigfried cited lyrics from
Elliot Smith's A Fond Farewell
And on White Ferrari, Ocean
sampled the familiar melody
from The Beatles Here,
There, and Everywhere.
And on lead single Nikes, he memorializes
the lives of three heroes,
Asap Yams, Pimp C, and Trayvon Martin.
Ocean even notes his physical similarity
to the 17 year old Martin somberly holding
his photograph in the
Tyrone Lebon directed video.
Unexpected guests popped up unannounced.
On minimalist gospel number Godspeed,
Ocean combined vocals from
Swedish rapper Yung Lean,
and Houston gospel singer Kim Burrell.
Ivy, and indie-rock reverie on lost love,
features guitar arrangements
from Rostam Batmanglij
formerly of Vampire Weekend.
Ocean lured the reclusive Andre 3000
for a standout verse on Solo Reprise.
And even got Beyonce to
contribute uncredited
backup vocals to Pink and White.
When the physical release revealed
the albums full liner notes months later,
Kanye West emerged as a co
writer on White Ferrari.
In the days following Blonde,
fans began to notice that where Endless
was listed as a Def Jam release,
Blonde listed Ocean's independent
label, Boys Don't Cry.
Ocean had finally fulfilled his contract
by releasing Endless, the
last move in his chess game.
With Blonde, he was finally free.
