Wiki
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Release Date
20 August 2016
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Length
17 tracks
Blonde is the second studio album by American singer Frank Ocean. It was released on August 20, 2016, exclusively on the iTunes Store and Apple Music along with a CD from the Boys Don't Cry Magazine which features an extra verse on "Nikes" by KOHH.
Blonde features an abstract and experimental sound in comparison to Ocean's previous releases, encompassing styles such as R&B, pop, soul, avant-garde, indie rock, electronica, psychedelia, and hip-hop. Ocean also notably makes use of pitch shifted vocals. The Beach Boys' de facto leader Brian Wilson is recognized as a strong influence on the album's lush arrangements and layered vocal harmonies, while the guitar and keyboard rhythms on the album are considered as languid and minimal. The album's themes surrounds Ocean dealing with his masculinity and emotions, inspired by sexual experiences, heartbreak, loss and trauma. The album also features guest vocals from André 3000, Beyoncé, and Kim Burrell, among others. Production was handled by Ocean himself, alongside a variety of high-profile record producers, including Malay and Om'Mas Keith, who collaborated with Ocean on Channel Orange, as well as James Blake, Jon Brion, Buddy Ross, Pharrell Williams, and Rostam Batmanglij, among others.
In 2013, Ocean confirmed that his follow up to Channel Orange would be another concept album. In April 2014, Ocean stated that his second album was nearly finished. In June 2014, Billboard reported that the singer was working with a string of artists such as Happy Perez (whom he worked with on nostalgia, ULTRA., Charlie Gambetta and Kevin Ristro, while producers Hit-Boy, Rodney Jerkins and Danger Mouse were also said to be on board. Initially known as Boys Don't Cry and teased for a July 2015 release, the album suffered several delays and was the subject of widespread media anticipation leading up to its release. Beginning in 2013 and ending in 2016, recording for the album took place at New York's Electric Lady Studios and, after a period of writer's block, in London at Abbey Road Studios and in Los Angeles' Henson Recording Studios. Its physical release was accompanied by a magazine entitled Boys Don't Cry.
Rather than going on a typical promotional tour playing radio festivals and appearing on television shows, Ocean spent a month after the release of Blonde, traveling to countries such as China, Japan and France. He also chose not to submit Blonde for consideration at the Grammy Awards, stating: "That institution certainly has nostalgic importance… It just doesn't seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down."
Blonde received widespread acclaim, with critics praising Ocean's introspective lyrics and the album's unconventional and progressive sounds. Critics also complimented the album for challenging the conventions of R&B and pop music. Supported by its lead single Nikes, the album debuted at number one in several countries, including the United States. It earned first week sales of 275,000 with album-equivalent units in the US, with 232,000 being pure sales, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Among other publications, Time named it the best album of 2016. Metacritic named it one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year by music publications. In 2020, Pitchfork named it the best album of the 2010s and Rolling Stone ranked it at number #79 on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The songs on the album were collectively streamed more than 65.4 million times, second behind only the streams for Views by Drake during that week. Forbes estimated that Blonde earned Ocean nearly one million in profits after one week of availability, attributing this to him releasing the album independently and as a limited exclusive release on iTunes and Apple Music. Blonde has generated 404 million on-demand audio streams for its songs in the US through February 9, 2017, according to Nielsen Music. The album has earned 620,000 album-equivalent units, 348,000 of which were copies sold. On July 9, 2018, Blonde was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
– Frank Ocean, 2016
"Boys do cry, but I don't think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years. It's surprisingly my favorite part of life so far. Surprising, to me, because the current phase is what I was asking the cosmos for when I was a kid."
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