When you listen to music what exactly generates in your mind?

Personally, a variety of things run my mind when I am listening to music, especially if it is music I enjoy. Production credits, lyrical content, sampled music and beats, inspirations from other sounds or art, album and track concept/direction, and then of course the artist themselves within the piece and if it resonates with me through feeling, emotion, and/or action.

That being said, when it comes to Frank Ocean I oftentimes think a little "extra" in regards to his music. Not only is he one of my favorite artists of all time, but I believe the music he creates has much depth that can certainly evoke ethereal thought when grasping the art as a whole.

Christopher Francis Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux on October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper.

Recently, Mr. Ocean released not one but two new albums. Both Endless and Blond(e) were highly anticipated albums that had all of media talking since his Grammy-won debut studio album Channel Orange released in 2012. Prior to that he had a mixtape that received tons of praise called Nostalgia, Ultra in 2011.

Other works credited to Ocean include his Lonny Breaux mixtape, the work he produced with alternative hip hop group Odd Future, his collaborations with Kanye West and Jay-Z, and the written works of artists like Beyoncé, John Legend, John Mayer, etc.

Music Mastermind ✔

Media Manipulator ?

Why do I think Frank Ocean is a "media manipulator" when I listen to his music?

I believe Ocean not only creates amazing art, but he does so in a way where he basically uses media as a conceptual form .

Let's start with his mixtape from 2011: Nostalgia, Ultra.

This mixtape was great because it set off his musical career. Profound tracks like "Novacane" and "Swim Good" leaked from our speakers and introduced to most of us the true soul of Frank Ocean. More importantly the overlooked idea that you will realize trending from Ocean is that in this initial mixtape he focused on a specific platform of media: cassettes and radio system .

Cassettes were often played on boombox radio systems before CDs existed and you can clearly hear Ocean using one during specific interludes throughout the entire production. This is why Nostalgia, Ultra was released as a mix tape .

His debut album Channel Orange was released a year later and became a worldwide commercial hit.

This studio album broke records and it brought Frank Ocean to his prime within the music industry. The album had the artistic concept of channeling "orange" which can be associated with words like "creativity", "success", and "freedom" and is parallel to his revealing of being bi-sexual. Once again, the media broke out globally when this album dropped and he came out to previously having a relationship with another man. But the overlooked idea was that this album focused on the media platform of television .

In the album during interludes and tracks you can hear Ocean flipping through different channels or stations on a TV set.

So we begin with a cassette on a radio system, to flipping through channels on a television set, what is next?

In August of 2016 Frank Ocean finally decided to give us new material. It took four years for a new album (really two new albums) but it was definitely worth the wait.

A cryptic live stream appeared on his website and all of his fans started talking on social media platforms like Twitter. "#FrankOcean" was top-trending multiple times whenever he would show up on this live stream. It displayed a warehouse where he was mysteriously building something. Eventually the Apple Music exclusive released this live stream of being the recording of his visual album, Endless.

Endless officially became a collection of live streams showing Frank Ocean building his handmade art piece of a spiral staircase. During the stream he is playing the music that makes up the album, resulting in a visually and musically entertaining form of art.

You come to realize that the concept of using a media platform is relevant here as well, since he utilized live streaming online .

Blond(e) was released instantly the day after his visual album dropped. With this studio album, he released it exclusively to Apple Music users for a certain amount of time but he also released an extremely exclusive magazine publication in four pop-up locations across the globe. Every magazine carried a CD containing a different album version compared to the Apple Music streaming version. Impressively, facts about the album coming together and what he was inspired by throughout can be read in the magazine.

This album too became a worldwide hit even though Ocean was inspired by a rather acquired and different taste in sound.

To bring it all together, Frank Ocean delivers his music inspired by a concept involving multiple platforms of media: cassettes on radio systems, channels on television, live streaming online, and eventually a self-produced magazine publication.

Therefore, Frank Ocean manipulated media to his advantage. He created great works of art for his audience to listen to, but from a perspective seen only at a big picture point of view.

Ironically, Frank Ocean avoids the media in real life. He tries to remain private about his whereabouts and likes to remain hidden rather than exploited on a global scale. But that is what makes his artistry great, he can manipulate media in ways unimagined throughout his music, yet hide from it(media) so he can try to live a regular human life.

Bravo Frank, you are truly inspiring and thank you for the outstanding works of art.

Happy 29th Birthday! -10/28/16

#FrankOcean #media #studentvoices