2. Frank Ocean - “Nikes”
Frank Ocean is a master of curation with a prophetic vision. He’s an artist that can feel vibes before they even exist – sensing what could be and then actualizing it into existence. He’s a man of the future, always one step ahead of the whatever the current trend is, somehow finding a way to create music that is simultaneously fresh and intoxicating. It of course doesn’t hurt that he has a voice as smooth as silken honey, but such is the degree of his artistic talent that the possession of such voice isn’t even his greatest quality. The voice is the icing on the cake – the pretty exterior. However, it’s the underlying talent and creativity that bolsters and supports the pretty exterior that makes his art so enticing.
This jam in particular is a journey. It begins in the most unconventional of fashions (at least for an artist of Frank’s caliber), and yet somehow he makes the pained falsetto of his auto-tuned voice completely and utterly entrancing. It grabs the attention of the listener and then keeps it, almost as if its dragging you along by the thinnest of threads. It’s delicate and raw, precariously floating into your ears, and yet it commands stillness. It makes you feel as if even the slightest of disturbances might knock it off kilter and destroy the magnitude of everything it’s somehow managing to carry.
However, right when you feel as if your focus might crack and destroy the spell he emerges upon the other side. Frank sheds the brittle outer shell of uncertainty to shine in full force. His voice doesn’t soar, but resonate. It suddenly feels fuller than it should – more bold and secure then it otherwise would have had it not been so low. He’s back. He’s navigated the trough of depression and anxiety to phase back into the confidence and assurance of a healthy mind. He’s found his footing – his swagger, and he’s going to do his best to hold onto it as long as he can. It shows the beauty that lies within vulnerability, and it’s one of the reasons that this album – and Frank’s artistry in general, are so utterly compelling.
