On 10 Nostalgic Years of Frank Ocean

Despite debuting a year earlier, the first time I heard Frank Ocean croon was summer 2012, after the release of his phenomenal first studio album, channel Orange. It was a moment in time I'll never forget for as long as I live. And then again two years later when I discovered his mixtape, nostalgia, ULTRA. It was nothing short of life-changing and anyone that knows me (or follows me on Twitter) knows just how important Frank's music is to me. There's no artist on the planet whose craft and skill I respect more, past or present. That being said, I'll try to keep the Frank articles to a minimum.

    Nostalgia, ULTRA was released months before Frank received a co-sign from hip-hop legends Kanye West and Jay-Z on the duo's collaborative album Watch the Throne and made next to no splash in the music world. Frank was struggling to step out as an artist of his own following years of ghostwriting for the likes of John Legend and Justin Bieber, and his label was refusing to release any solo material he gave to them. It was his executive decision to self-release ULTRA via the mixtape sharing service, Datpiff, with no promotion from Def Jam (unfortunately, this was only the beginning of Frank's label struggles) in February 2011. "Songs for Women" details a brief insight into these struggles, one of the only times Frank speaks on his early lack of notoriety.

    Ten years removed from Frank's debut, the artist is as much of a mystery as he was in his first years, maybe even more so. The mixtape gave fans a foundation for Frank's obsessions: cars, Stanley Kubrick, video games, unrequited love, drugs. But what small bits of personal history and insights Frank provides us over the tape's 42 minutes are never revelatory, which we've come to learn is just how he likes it. In an interview following ULTRA's release, Frank went on to say, "...nobody gets upset with a director when a director's film isn't about his life. People think that with a recording artist that shit has to be like a fucking play by play of their whole life, but it's not. It's imagery, and a little bit of satire."

    There's much to laud in Frank's first material, which ten years later hardly feels dated. But what makes the mixtape truly unique is its ability to effortlessly tap into a shared nostalgia for each listener with little to no mention of childhood innocence or identical upbringings. Perhaps the selection of instrumentals (Coldplay and MGMT classics) help create this sentimental aura, or maybe just that the silky, melancholic gruff of Frank's voice tunes listeners into his yearning. 

    Whatever it is, ULTRA is marked by tragedy and disaster, inspired by Frank's move from New Orleans following Katrina. The mixtape's opener acknowledges this dark disaster with its apocalyptic content about atomic bombs falling on lawns. Later, we're allowed glimpses into Frank's struggle with sexuality on "We All Try." And "Swim Good" follows an unparalleled murder-suicide plot after its narrator suffers an unexpected heartbreak. Ocean fans would grow familiar with these concepts in later years, not without evolution in complexity. However, it would be a long wait following Frank's impactful two years as a solo artist, and many wondered if his fame would survive the wait.

    Yet Frank knew he was here to stay not long after the success of his debut. After Don Henley and the Eagles called Frank "talentless" then threatened legal action over the "Hotel California" sample in ULTRA's penultimate track, "American Wedding," Frank responded via Tumblr: 

    "They asked that I release a statement expressing my admiration for Mr. Henley, along with my assistance pulling it off the web as much as possible. Shit's weird. Ain't this guy rich as fuck? Why sue the new guy? I didn't make a dime off that song."

Unabashed bravado such as this is a staple of Frank (see his publicly aired grievances with Grammy's producers in 2017). Frank's long-lasting talent, enigmatic personality, and charisma have made him a cultural icon and public fixation. Not to mention the special gift of his to twist a nostalgic knife into listeners. Henley's short-sightedness was put to rest when Frank broke sales records with follow-up albums channel, Orange and Blonde (2016).

    In the end, Def Jam was quick to try and capitalize on ULTRA's success, making plans with Frank to rerelease the project as an EP -- sans an Eagles sample. After re-recording "Swim Good" and "Novacane" for radio play, the rerelease never came to fruition, and ULTRA forever lives on Datpiff and many an ancient iPod Classic. 

    Will 2021 see new Frank Ocean material? Probably not, but here's to ten more years of crying along with "There Will Be Tears".

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What are your favorite tracks off of nostalgia, ULTRA? Let us know in the comments below!

- Ritter