The Blog

[review by heroin tracks] We are in a time where the R&B genre has been mixed and tampered with. Not that it’s a bad thing, but artists like Usher, Chris Brown, and Ne-Yo have blended genres like dance, house, and dubstep. Sure this new evolved R&B brings in chart-topping hits, but it all sounds the same! R&B has lost that personal touch. You used to be able to feel the artist’s emotions on a record. Thankfully, it only takes one person to remind us all that R&B can be artistic and still have meaningful content. Who knew it would be the rebellious group Odd Future’s Frank Ocean to revive that nostalgic R&B with Channel ORANGE.

At only 24-years-old, Ocean has already worked with iconic artists like Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, and Kanye West. It’s Ocean’s songwriting that captivates not only his fellow peers but his fans as well. When Ocean released Nostalgia, Ultra, songs like ‘Novacane’ and ‘We Try’ showed that Ocean’s love songs were smart and honest while his voice was ever so soulful, yet casual. Ocean’s debut album Channel ORANGE takes everything up a notch. The one-of-a-kind production by Ocean and Malay, Channel ORANGE is a story of unrequited love, living life in Ladera Heights, religion, and even drugs. Ocean is this generations poet when it comes to songwriting and on Channel ORANGE, he take a brave step in expressing his true self. On the standout backseat taxicab confessions record ‘Bad Religion’, Ocean expresses over the gospel style production that he was once in love with a man but had to hide his feelings from the world. While on the upbeat ‘Monks’ (my personal favourite) Ocean makes us feel like we’re in Nepal running away with an Indian girl while defying the odds of love. The Jimi Hendrix inspired ‘Crack Rock’ puts us in the life of a crack addict, while the California summer tune ‘Super Rich Kids’ takes us through the rich neighbour of Ladera Heights. Channel ORANGE features a few musical legends. Pharrell adds his signature Neptunes sound on ‘Sweet Life’; John Mayer gives a necessary solo on ‘White’; André 3000 spits a verse on the funky ‘Pink Matter’ and goes in on the electric guitar.

Channel ORANGE is an amazing piece of work by Ocean. The album channels so many great artists like Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Prince, Marvin Gaye, and even Pharrell. From the being track ‘Think Bout You’ to the ending with ‘Forrest Gump’, Ocean’s melodies and ballads go fantastic with the old school R&B and the Neptunes inspired beats. With Ocean’s intelligent and detailed songwriting, he creates a very vivid picture on Channel ORANGE. Whether you’re in love, broke up, or lost in between, you’ll be pulled into Ocean’s storybook. Channel ORANGE is just the beginning for Ocean and we are all witnessing another legendary musician in the making.

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