were also opened for a limited time, playing songs from the album and serving as distribution centers for the aforementioned magazine. The music video for " Nikes," which ended up serving as the album's sole single, was released on the same day as well.
Posts of a project titled Boys Don't Cry led many to believe the album would be called such, but that ended up being assigned to the magazine that came with Endless and particularly Blonde's release.įrank's third project (and only video album as of 2022) Endless was released on August 19, 2016, just one day before the release of Blonde on Apple Music as a temporary exclusive. Though he made appearances on projects by artists including Tyler, the Creator, Beyoncé, and Earl Sweatshirt among others, the only release that he is described as the main artist of is the lesser-known track " Hero" ( 2013).įrank's disappearance from the public eye contributed to increasing calls and hype for a new Frank release. He released two songs on his Tumblr account, them being " Memrise" ( 2014) and " You Are Luhh" ( 2015) ("You Are Luhh" made it onto Endless). īetween the years 20, Frank's music releases were sparse. Contributors to the album have also commented on the mysterious nature of the recording process some people, such as Wolfgang Tilmans (" Device Control" from Endless) and SebastiAn (" Facebook Story" from Blonde) were not made aware of their involvement until after release. After the albums' releases, Frank would go on to tote that by this period, Frank was living in hotel rooms. Recording began in New York's Electric Lady Studios, but grew to include Abbey Road Studios in London, as well as many other studios. On release day, Frank also shared that an image of a young blonde girl in the back seat of a car (shot by The Collaborationist) served as a source of inspiration for the album. This inspired him to make both Endless and Blonde more autobiographical in nature. He would eventually get into a period of writer's block, which was resolved when he met with a childhood friend who was struggling at the time. Įarly into the recording process, in 2013, Frank revealed that he was working with Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell Williams, and Danger Mouse on his next record. įrank did not submit the album for consideration at the 2017 Grammys out of his own decision.įrank Ocean's critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated debut album Channel Orange released in July 2012, roughly 49 months prior to the release of Blonde. It also earned placements on numerous publications' end-of-the-year and end-of-the-decade top music lists. It earned first-week sales of 275,000 with album-equivalent units in the U.S., with 232,000 being pure sales, and was certified platinum by the Recording Association of America. The only track to be released as a single and have a music video released for it was the album opener " Nikes." īlonde has received widespread acclaim, with critics praising Ocean's introspective lyrics and the album's unconventional and progressive sounds. The title Boys Don't Cry was thrown around as the name of the second Frank Ocean album, although that ended up being the name of the magazine that came with the album and was distributed at select pop-ups across the U.S. īlonde came in the midst of a four-year album drought that followed the release of his 2012 success Channel Orange. It has a runtime of 60 minutes and eight seconds, with the famous transition on " Nights" serving as a halfway point for the album. Blonde also features production from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Tyler, The Creator, SebastiAn, Jon Brion, James Blake, and more. The album features unlisted guest vocals from artists including André 3000 and Beyoncé, among others.
It was released on August 20, 2016, as a timed exclusive on the iTunes Store and Apple Music, just one day after the release of the video album Endless. It is a work in progress, and is missing some links.īlonde (alternatively titled blond) is the second studio album by Frank Ocean.