Back sides of the posters from the recent merch sale tell a narrative that’s as close to an album announcement as we’ll ever get from Frank.
In the summer of 2019, Blonded produced a photo series shot on Thursday, August 8, 2019 by photographer Michael Marcelle. The photo series follows the story of a fictitious Recording Artist as he navigates the radio system. In one scene the actor Jeremy Strong plays a Chairman of a major record label. On the walls: a clock, two framed records. The Chairman is flanked by another figure. Both are dressed in suits, wearing ties and are positioned behind a long boardroom table. They are opposite a shadowy figure in the foreground - the Recording Artist - whose subjectivity the viewer is to inhabit. The Recording Artist attempts to explain to the major music label the singles distribution model as opposed to the long-form album model. The Recording Artist believes the latter to be outdated, and that releasing singles is more suited to modern consumption habits where people curate their own playlists which are then shared within private circles. The meeting does not appear to be productive. The photo series coincided with the planning of three Blonded live radio events that year. They were held on three Thursday nights towards the end of 2019, in the basement of the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York. On October 19th, 24th and 31st, 2019, doors opened at 10PM. A custom nightclub with vintage lighting fixtures was installed for the duration of each party. On the first night, Bouffant Bouffant played at 10:15pm, followed by Justice at midnight, Sango at 1:15AM and Sherelle at 2:30AM. Leeon, Arca, Papa Juice, Shyboi, Joey LaBeija, Last Japan, and DJ Heather played sets on subsequent nights. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these events were intended to grow from small club events to larger raves across the world. The Recording Artist has since changed his mind about the singles model, and is again interested in more durational bodies of work. Text version
I know it’s not owed to us, but it’s nice to finally have some communication about where he’s been/some sort of disclosure explaining the last few years
Slight update/rumor — take it with a grain of salt obviously A guy on Instagram who owns a bunch of BMWs (@paypa_boy) has apparently been in contact with Frank's team for an album cover shoot + Coachella appearance of his M3. Decided to post about it for clout like an idiot. Deleted it shortly afterwards. Reddit thread with more info: https://www.reddit.com/r/FrankOcean...ndroidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Idk. Color doesn’t look exactly right for it to be Frank’s personal Orange E30. Rims look different too. Might be that Paypa Boy dude that’s been claiming he’s providing one for some promotional shoots (mentioned above).
No artists ever change their sets that drastically between weekends. Normally only a couple songs tops
Maybe the pandemic lead The Eagles’ to realize the fragility of life/they awakened from their self-important slumber and on top of becoming Frank fans/giving him rights to sample the song/have generously offered to accompany him on the Coachella main stage