Frank Ocean builds a bridge over troubled R&B waters

When the hungry blog-o-bellies all decide to feast on the same prey, you get what music experts would diagnose a “media overdose”. Look to recent cases in point James Blake, The Weeknd and Lana Del Rey for proof that the range extends from ultra talented to cleverly gimmicky. The common thread to them all is a salacious music-world hook: a critical consensus that the artist in question is shattering some melodic mold, pushing some “revolutionary” agenda.

In trailblazing R&B crooner Frank Ocean’s case, it was his simple, poetic online avowal of same-sex love on Independence Day that stunned the hip-hop world into silence. Given that he's the only R&B performer of his stature to have explicitly sung come-ons to a male paramour, it was indeed quite the milestone, and the resulting outpour of public support from prominent players in the hip-hop community proved just how far the genre had come in addressing its latent (and not-so-latent) homophobia.

Then, on July 10^th, the rising star and Odd Future singer, who’s collaborated with the likes of Kanye and Jay-Z as well as penned songs for John Legend and Brandy, released his debut album channel ORANGE. (Read our review) With it, he reminded the world that he wasn’t a one-hit-news-cycle-wonder, and that his album was a genre-bending gem not for its racy queer content, but rather because of its compelling songwriting, its darkly cinematic beats and most of all, the soulful melancholy that glues all those honest tales together.

Now everyone and their Mary J. Blige-loving grandmother are tipping their hat off to this 24-year-old New Orleans native for confirming that R&B’s death had been greatly exaggerated. So it should come as no surprise that his Club Soda gig this Sunday is sold-out. Here’s hoping Frank Ocean’s career outlives the unruly hype, and that his next Montreal stopover will mark his promotion from much-hyped flavour of the month to undeniable musical talent.

Frank Ocean
July 29 | Club Soda
1225, St. Laurent
frankocean.com