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Originally Posted by guest
that's my thing, there's this conception among people whose opinions I largely respect that he's a grand visionary who's been met with commercial success along the lines of aaliyah, d'angelo, janet jackson et al where he's making artfully-curated pop r&b, but I don't feel he approaches these artists on any level unfortunately. the first record felt like a competent throwback and this one at least approaches things interestingly (admirable but not necessarily a grand accomplishment) but it's not at the calibre of any of them. not saying he's bad but he is in no way befitting of that legend status people are unfairly ascribing to him.
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I actually agree.
I mean, I quite like everything he's released, but I don't think there's anything new or trailblazing about any of it. I just think it's good crooner R&B/soul-inflected hip hop. Plain and simple. I think Channel Orange is great, but not earth shattering (which is an adjective I would certainly attach to everything D'angelo has released, as well as Aaliyah, and the best Erykah Badu and Roots records). It's just good old fashioned pop music to me. Kind of reminds me of an "urban" (god I hope that doesn't sound racially charged... I'm using the term in reference to common radio-based music categorizations) version of Sinatra.
Not to dig myself even deeper into a hole for knee jerk liberals to shit into, but I think that a fair amount of Frank's "OMG" value is a direct result of his being an openly gay hip hop artist. I think his music was applauded when he came out, when in reality his music carries absolutely no queer or LGBT elements. Frank Ocean the
person should have been lauded for that particular display of bravery, but his music benefitted, which is kind of sad. Even though it's solid music, it's been attributed as "revolutionary" by some (mostly fickle millennials who don't know their ass from their mouth), and that's almost offensive in some ways.
That said, I think one of the most impressive things about Frank Ocean is that he came from OFWGKTA stock. In that context, he really does seem almost like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of juvenile absurdity. Earl has made similar leaps, but the great Odd Future experiment as a whole turned out to be kind of embarrassing once it was given time to marinate. So seeing Frank make solid, soulful pop music that isn't based on schtick is in itself impressive.
Still, though, as much as I like the guy, I don't think he's a savior. He makes some good music, and that is all. I quite hate it when artists are pegged as "geniuses" so early in their careers. It skews the whole goddamn process of absorbing their music. And the word "genius" is thrown around far too liberally these days. And yes, I realize that's a ridiculous thing for a Kanye West fan to say, but I wish Time had never called him the "smartest man in pop" (or whatever the title was), because it just set him up for the very public melodrama for which he's now known. The guy can't say a thing without having it measured against his alleged "genius" status. Yeah, I think he's great, but I could have done without all the media cocksucking. It turned me off of Kanye for YEARS.
But yeah, Frank Ocean. Shrug.