Frank Ocean has finally released his long-awaited second studio album, “Blonde.” It has received nothing but praise, scoring at least four stars on many notable music review websites including The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, Spin and Rolling Stone.
“I haven’t been able to listen to the new album,” Amanda Sandfield, an international relations major, said. “But he’s a talented artist.”
Ocean broke into the mainstream music scene in 2012 with his first studio album, “Channel Orange.” As both a member of the LGBT community and a black R&B artist, Ocean is part of a very small group of musicians. In his music, he writes about romantic and sexual situations using he/him pronouns, making it obvious that he does not intend to hide his sexuality in order to win fans.
“I really like his creativity and that he sticks to who he is,” said Anthony Morris, a music education major. “He’s one of the only artists that, after big success, they are the same person as in the beginning. I just love his music — it has a cool, chill vibe that I just love.”
“Channel Orange” reached universal critical acclaim, and it looks like “Blonde” will do the same. “Blonde” is number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and according to Billboard, the album’s release was the third largest of 2016.
