frank ocean
Frank Ocean’s ‘Nostalgia, Ultra.’ to Be Released by Def Jam
When Odd Future‘s Frank Ocean released his debut album Nostalgia, Ultra. earlier this year as a free download, he took the world by storm, surprising even his own record label, Def Jam. The record label reportedly was planning on releasing Ocean’s debut album this year, but passed on it, which led to the singer to release the album on Tumblr like the other Odd Future releases.
Now, Def Jam have agreed to commercially release the album, announcing a release date of July 26th. The first single will be “Novacane”, which will be released on May 31st. We reviewed “Novacane” back in March, giving it a score of a 9/10.
Track: Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
Track: “Novacane”
Artist: Frank Ocean
Release Date: February 18, 2011
Label: Self-released
Contrary to what you may have heard, hip-hop collective OFWGKTA are an incredibly diverse group of musicians. The debut release from Odd Future’s Frank Ocean, titled Nostalgia, Ultra., makes this point undeniable; Frank Ocean’s music centers on his smooth, groovy vocals instead of rapping like the rest of the crew. “Novacane”, a standout from the incredibly ambitious self-released record, features Frank Ocean wearing his heart on his sleeve, spinning a tale of his confusion and frustration with a woman aspiring to become a dentist; hence the title of the song and chorus lines “Novacane, numb the pain.” Pitchfork compares his loverboy, R&B persona to that of Drake – Frank Ocean is raw, honest, and can sing his heart out. Stripped down to the core, the youthful spirit and self-confident “swag” of Frank Ocean embody everything that Odd Future represents, even if the music is noticeably different.
“Novacane” is from Nostalgia, Ultra. out now. You can download it for free here.
Rating: 9/10
Odd Future (OFWGKTA) Perform on Fallon and More
This week has been huge for the OFWGKTA crew; if you aren’t yet familar with this exciting young rap collective, make some time to check them out. Just a few days ago, leader Tyler, The Creator and Hodgy Beats made their television debuts on Jimmy Fallon, enthralling and scaring Fallon and his audience with their performance of “Sandwitches” backed by The Roots. Swag? Mos Def certainly agrees: “SWAAAAG!” Watch Tyler and Hodgy tear it up, as well as more Odd Future news below.
On Monday, Tyler announced his signing with XL Recordings, where he will be releasing his upcoming albumGoblin. The eerie, black-and-white music video for first single “Yonkers” was also released this week.
Mellowhype, the collaborative group of Hodgy Beats and Left Brain, have announced that their next album will be titled Numbers.
That’s not all though. Odd Future’s resident R&B man Frank Ocean has released his new album Nostalgia for free download here. The album highlights the incredible diversity of Odd Future. The album is unbelievably smooth and even features a Coldplay sample.
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