frank ocean

Magna Carta Holy Shit.

No, I’m not calling Jay-Z’s newest album shit. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

I have never been so hyped about a new hip-hop/rap album. Kanye’s recent Yeezus got me excited, but I’m calling it right now, Magna Carta Holy Grail will be rap album of the year. J Cole’s Born Sinner is of the same caliber, with great music as well, but MCHG… Damn.

Seen all those Samsung commercials promoting it? Heard the background music? Those teasers do not do this album justice. Of course, you get a glimpse of the production process. But once you hear the album, you’ll be blown away. I know I was.

Here’s the tracklisting for you.

  1. Holy Grail (feat. Justin Timberlake)
  2. Picasso Baby
  3. Tom Ford
  4. F*ckwithmeyouknowigotit (feat. Rick Ross)
  5. Oceans (feat. Frank Ocean)
  6. F.U.T.W.
  7. Somewhereinamerica
  8. Crown
  9. Heaven
  10. Versus
  11. Part II (On The Run) (Feat. Beyonce)
  12. Beach Is Better
  13. BBC
  14. Jay Z Blue
  15. La Familia
  16. Nickels and Dimes

Here’s my advice. Don’t hesitate to download this album. This is going to go down in history as one of the best rap albums of all time. Jay never disappoints.

 

Top 30 Favorite Songs of All Time: #5 “Lost” by Frank Ocean

Here we are, at #5. You know how I told you that none of the songs would actually be placed in order? Well, I lied. I actually do have a set top 5, and you’ll get the songs as my brain saw fit. In order from 5 to 1.

Number 5 is Lost, off of Frank Ocean’s Grammy Award-winning debut album, Channel Orange.

There’s no explanation coming for this one. It’s just fantastic to me.

Top 30 Favorite Songs of All Time: #14 “We All Try” by Frank Ocean

Another one of my favorite artists, as you may know, is Frank Ocean.

Also, as you may know, I love songs with meaning. Songs that make you question your values and the wiring of your brain.

This fantastic acoustic is off Frank’s free EP, nostalgia,ULTRA. I really do recommend this album if you need a change of pace from your typical music.

As usual, have a listen. This is a music video, however I don’t think it is official. Maybe another fan made. But it’s well done.

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/36423502″>Frank Ocean – We All Try</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/high5collective”>High5Collective</a&gt; on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

Top 30 Favorite Songs of All Time: #21 “Analog” by Tyler, the Creator

The song that got me into Odd Future. A soft electronic beat and solid rapping will get me.

Tyler and the rest of Wolf Gang have risen to fame in recent years, and I have always been open to new music. They’re incomparable to any group prior, but many relate them to D12 and Wu-Tang. I’d say they’re more like Wu-Tang, but no group will ever be like Wu-Tang, let’s face it.

Here’s the song. It’s not as racy as the other songs he’s put out.

Earworm: “Eyes Like Sky” by Frank Ocean

Ah, an unreleased song. Songs that artists maybe intended to place on a prior EP or LP and are/were maybe holding it off till the next album… I love them. I also love being one of the first of the inevitable hundreds of thousands or millions to listen to it.

I follow a blog all about Frank Ocean on tumblr, and late this weekend, I happened to have been scrolling through my dash and stumbled onto this unreleased gem. I downloaded the song, and went to sleep. Little had I known that I’d even heard it before Billboard had heard it! When I woke up, Billboard hadn’t posted anything about the leaked song, and about an hour after I’d awoken, Billboard posted about it.

Anyway, the song. I love it. It reminds me of a lot of his older work (The Lonny Breaux Collection, a conglomerate of songs with a rather unique sound), I wouldn’t be surprised if this were one of the songs that shouldn’t have been a part of the collection but never made it. Maybe it was even a snub from Channel Orange; you never know, because unless you’re the artist or the producer, you truly never know.

Actually, it makes more sense for the song to be a snub from Channel Orange that was actually a part of his Channel Orange Sessions. Most people tend to believe that, actually.

Apologies in advance if you take a listen and the song won’t play; UMG has gone on a copyright tear and actually has taken down several of the videos that had the song. Oh well. This is a good, unaltered version for you all:

Earworm: “Lost” by Frank Ocean

Sorry. Nearly two weeks without a post from me. Being sick, being bombarded with Spanish tests (thanks a mountain, Ms. E), and in general just not having enough time, my posting has dipped. It’s midterm week starting tomorrow, and I’m not stressing so much as I am just happy the school year is flying by.

I guess, with all the schoolwork, you could say I’m lost in the heat of it all.

Frank Ocean will start my Earworms off right, as it ended the past season of Earworm fairly well.

This song, Lost, is the 11th song off of his debut album, Channel Orange.

Surely Frank will be nominated for Grammy’s this year, and hopefully he wins some (even though, in my mind, awards for doing what you love doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy).

Anyway, enjoy the song.

End: 2012.

Guys, we did it.

We survived 2012, and we get to live the rest of our lives.

I think I’ll take the time to actually run through a list of things I accomplished this year. Trust me, it’ll be a short list.

  • Watched the Doctor Who revamp in completion and am up to date with the show at Series 7 part 2
  • Watched both series of the miniseries BBC Masterpiece: Sherlock and am actually not confused but awaiting the next series
  • Opened my ears to more musical genres
  • Hit 6 ft in height
  • Made the decision to strive for art as a career
  • Live without the past.

I can’t stress enough that 2012 may have been the most unexciting year in my life, but it really is the year that I felt most human. Most vulnerable and curious and obviously the year I felt most mature.

I’m glad to have been able to share my musical tastes with you, our audience. I hope to continue to update you of my Earworms and just things I find interesting.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Earworm: “Novacane” by Frank Ocean

Ah, the last Earworm of 2012. I’ve featured Frank Ocean on our Earworm category once before, and I definitely have to feature the sensational artist once more. His music changed my ears forever.

Because of Frank, I was able to remind myself that listening to music is not limited to one genre.

All kinds of music are supposed to be enjoyed. It’s entertainment.

Novacane is one of the Odd Future member’s biggest hits, and it came off of his nostalgia,ULTRA. EP.

I’ve loved this song for the longest time, it’s cracked my top 10 list of favorite songs (and if you think that’s a hint to me posting an Earworm Top 10, you’re a genius. Unless you realized as soon as I said it).

Nevertheless, here, I present to you all, the last Earworm of 2012. Novacane by Frank Ocean.

Earworm: “Pyramids” by Frank Ocean

If you’ve been following my Earworm posts, I have an array of musical tastes. Impossible to decide what my favorite genre is, endless possibilities as to what I’ll listen to next. I’ve been following Frank Ocean and the rest of Odd Future for a little bit now, and Frank just performed on SNL.

He recently took a ride on the fame train and skyrocketed to fame as a solo artist with the release of his debut album, Channel Orange (and the ridiculous controversy that surrounded it. Who cares about his sexual orientation. He’s still a human). He was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2012 MTV VMA’s, but was snubbed by British boy band One Direction. Where was Kanye when you needed him?!

I never though I’d truly get into the whole R&B, rap, hip-hop, smooth type music again, but I’m finding bits and pieces to be really good. I don’t regret anything.

What I’m getting at here is that you never know what you might like listening to. My ears enjoy a lot of different sounds! And this song is one of the best songs out there, in my opinion. One of the best songs off of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, in fact.

(WARNING: NSFW. SKIP THIS ONE AND LISTEN TO THE SECOND EMBEDDED VIDEO ON THIS PAGE IF YOU ARE IN A WORK OR SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT!)

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/49497576″>frank ocean [pyramids]</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/frankocean”>christopher francis ocean</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

(Lyric video, SFW, but better to not have the lyrics showing. Just listen to it with headphones, too.)