Music and their videos matter

A famous artist that has now disappeared from the music world, left a mark on various genres of the industry. Frank Ocean to many changed the game for every upcoming artist and touched peoples lives deepily. I will dive into the making of the visual album Endless.

Fig.1- Frank Ocean discography collage.

Frank was born in the late 80s and became a singer-songwriter and rapper. His work fits into alternative R&B , hip-hop, psychedelic soul and avant-soul. With an extensive portfolio came accolades— one Brit Award and two Grammys.

Endless released on August 19 2016 was one of the last albums he released. It's only available in visual form on Apple Music.

Fig. 2- Endless album cover.

Rushes is a track that standouts. It's about love and being emotionally vulnerable with memories of a past relationship. He reflects on a relationships that although felt powerful it didn't last and it also captures how emotions can come and go quickly. It carries a soft, introspective and fragile tone. It gives the impression of a confession or memory replay. A sense of longing mixed with acceptance is exuded. Different from the dramatic mainstream R&B its quiet and personal.

The lyrics themselves are vague but emotionally loaded, non-linear in a good way. I felt like he often refers to intimate moments not only on this track but others too. Frank also references regret and reflection which is something people often feel over a relationship that has ended unexpectedely. He often also mentions the difficulty of holding onto something meaningful which in comparison to a decade ago it has become more aparent in society. The ambiguity of the track allows listeners to obviously relate to the experiences.

After talking about the lyrics, I think we should talk about the visual and artistic component of the album. At first the instrumental seemed overall minimallistic. The echoing vocals on layered harmonies give off that sense of emotional depth that I mentioned before is a recurring thing in Frank's songs. The bass and piano ambient create a dreamlike sound. The theme of production gives a sense of drifting through memories. The album doesn't contain heavy drums or instruments that don't keep it introspective.

Fig. 3- Frank overlooking the staircase.

How do the visuals connect to the songs you may ask? In Endless, you can see in the first 20 seconds two versions of Frank. One who is sitting on top of music equipment in deep thought while another Drank walks by exuding confidence. Later on, it shows him building a staircase in a warehouse. It also shows a slow continuous progression. It mirrored "Rushes" with the emotional build and reflection. It felt like I was in his mind gang back in time and returning to the now.

Fig. 4- Final touches of the staircase in the project

Overall, the 45 minutes of this project felt like the performance art and music on it are different from standard albums. To me this album matters because I relate with it through the lyrics. The visuals are actually fascinating, the whole black and white theme at first seem to evoke negative emotions but are actually intended to take you back in time, a time full of deep memories and emotions. It redefined alternative R&B, while showing that music can be abstract, visual and emotion-first instead of structure-first. It captures Frank Ocean in a way never seen before and with his ability to say a lot with very little.