Four years, one month, and ten days after his highly successful soulful R&B album, Channel Orange, was released in 2012, Frank Ocean dropped his new and second album, Blonde, on Aug. 20. With just one single on the entire 17 song album, Ocean decided to change his R&B style from slow soul songs, like his most popular one “Thinkin Bout You”, to a more upbeat and dynamic. Hitting number one on Billboard’s top R&B/Hip Hop-Rap Albums and Billboard’s 200 itself, fans still wonder whether the four year wait was worth it. Yes and no is the simplest possible answer.

Blonde is definitely a high quality album, with more than a few irresistible songs. His second track on the album “Ivy” reminds all fans of his undeniable talent. Somehow managing to make fans hopeful and happy with the soft, serene beat, he still adds a dash of blues with his somber lyrics. “Ivy” was a nostalgic song for fans, reminding them of Channel Orange songs like “Forrest Gump” and “Lost”. “Solo” is another song in which Ocean shows fans just how cool he is. With rap like his single “Novacane” from his mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA, it has a certain swagger to it with fresh lyrics and a silky beat. Though these two songs outshine the rest, there is still some quality in “Nikes”, an interesting song with a high pitched distorted voice, “Pink+White”, a laid back song, and “White Ferrari”, one of the more emotional songs on the album.

However, it is hard to make any album perfect, the only ones coming to mind in recent years in the hip-hop or R&B genres are J-Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book, or Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Sadly Ocean’s Blonde doesn’t make the cut. Though it is an album with immense quality, there are also some songs that lack great depth or emotion. Long songs like “Seigfried” and “Futura Free” aren’t worth the combined 14:58 minutes. These songs get repetitive and lack Ocean’s profound and wise lyrics.

So yes, fans should like this album, but there is no great reason to love it. After waiting four years this should’ve easily been one of the best albums of the past few years, but it wasn’t. Though it is still one of the best albums this year in music – still has Ocean’s natural emotional intelligence blended with some remarkable lyrics – it just doesn’t have a song comparable to either of his giants, “Thinkin Bout You” or the sleek “Novacane.”

Hopefully Frank Ocean will be seen again in less than four years, otherwise his next album better be perfect.

Final rating:

4 stars out of 5

⭐⭐⭐⭐∙

Blonde is currently available for album purchase on iTunes and is available through Apple Music.