Frank Ocean has finally released his highly anticipated album Blonde exclusively via Apple Music. The 14-track offering consists of guest appearances from Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000, Kim Burrell and more. The album comes a day after Ocean shared his visual album, Endless.
“I had the time of my life making all of this,” Ocean wrote in a Tumblr post. “Thank you all. Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of ya’ll. Haha. Love you.”
Ocean’s new album release also came with pop-up shops in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London. The shops included free copies of Ocean’s publication, Boys Don’t Cry. The 360-page glossy magazine consists of interviews, poems, essays, photos and more.
Ocean also shared a music video for the album’s leading track titled “Nikes.” The video was directed by London filmmaker Tyrone Lebon. “I interpreted the song as a stream of Frank’s consciousness — rich with snippets of stories, emotions and ideas,” Lebon told Fader. “The visuals came immediately when I first heard the song — they all follow from the music and Frank’s lyrics.”
Blonde is the follow-up to Ocean’s 2012 debut album, Channel ORANGE, which earned him a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2013.
Stream Frank Ocean’s album Blonde below.
