(By the way, a new, proper Outkast record is overdue!) To the delight of many listeners, Outkast’s Andre 3000 drops a verse on "Solo (Reprise.)" This is also ear-catching because he takes this opportunity to call out his peers who don’t pen their own flows. Throughout this record he momentarily references Burt Bacharach’s "Close To You," The Beatles "Here, There and Everywhere" and Elliott Smith’s "A Fond Farewell." These are momentary quotes and just serve as fitting, brief detours. At the same time, there is an argument that social media is like a drug with the peer-pressure-factor increased ten-fold. The notion of alienation from outside forces can be seen as a recurring theme. One is a lecture on the dangers of drugs, which is perhaps from Ocean’s mother, while the other is a story from a friend, reportedly French DJ, SebastiAn, about a girlfriend ending their relationship because he didn’t want to be her Facebook friend. Two of those tracks are spoken-word bits. Five of these 17 tracks clock in under two minutes. This is also an album full of smaller moments. His closest peer in that regard is the Weeknd, whose “Trilogy” albums set a similarly ground-breaking and genre-defying tone. It’s an approach more often associated with emo-minded rock than with R&B, but it is clear with this album and "Channel Orange," that Ocean is aiming to change the game. There’s a highly confessional quality in Frank Ocean’s work. At the same time, if you aren’t into edgy, unique music, this album could be quite polarizing from the pitch-shifted vocals on opener "Nikes" to the rambling, half-spoken ranting on closer, "Futura Free." He combines electro elements, old-school organs and authentic singing talent to make woozy sonic concoctions. In the same week that he dropped his visual album "Endless," this collection arrives, nearly equaling the impact of 2012’s "Channel Orange." There’s something unquestionably hypnotic about Ocean’s approach. "Blonde" is a perplexing and simultaneously lulling record that lives up to the hype.
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