It’s time to talk about Frank Ocean and his latest release, a lock for my top ten list of 2012. I have three words for you: Stevie, Marvin, Maxwell. Yup, Channel Orange earns him a place in this top shelf company.
Let’s get some things out of the way. First, Ocean is a pro, an accomplished
songwriter long before this first release of his own and it’s the songwriting
that shines here. Second, this is
not the hooky pop stuff you get from Timberlake or Beyonce; it’s mining the
same vein but in a more restrained way.
Third, the “coming out” that accompanied the release of Channel Orange (Frank said his first
true love was a man) may lend it a zeitgeist-y air of right now, but it should not distract from the fact that this is richly romantic R&B.
Listen to “Sweet Life” and ask why Lauren Hill isn’t making music
like this (or why she doesn’t run right out and cover it):
“Super Rich Kids” is as hip-hoppy as it gets, but it wouldn’t
have sounded out of place on “What’s Going On”:
Finally, here’s “Crack Rock”. Somebody say “Stevie”.
