'Blonde' takes heavy inspiration from themes of identity and Black existentialism, and many songs reveal how Ocean sees his life and identity from different viewpoints. Other featured artists include background vocals from Beyoncé and production from James Blake. André 3000’s verse on “Solo (Reprise)” is the most prominent feature, which stands as a testament to Ocean’s artistry. It is his album through and through and other artists help bring his body of work to life. The features on 'Blonde' all add to create a universe within itself, but none of the featured artists outshine Ocean on any track. This take on different identities ties into the themes of duality and masculinity present in his lyrics. The prominent use of autotune and pitch shifting on Ocean's voice differentiates between different characters within the album. The production on 'Blonde' is minimalistic and abstract: Many of the songs feature lush and atmospheric guitars and a focus on texture instead of percussion. Scattered throughout the album are countless examples of abandoning traditional tendencies of songwriting, and these deviations highlight Ocean's evolution as an artist as he takes the listener on this musical journey. On “Nights,” the song divides into three different sections and Ocean's voice deepens as the beat progresses. On “Nikes,” the introduction of the album, Ocean leads us through two verses with a sudden beat switch in the second half of the song. One of the most notable qualities about 'Blonde' is its unique and freeform song structure. 20 marked the fourth anniversary of his 2016 album 'Blonde,' and its impact on the music industry deserves a re-examination on how the album affected future music releases and popular culture.

That's the best I can do at understanding it! Clearly the Black Friday release adds new layers on blackness, consumerism and maybe the retrospective feel of the album (particularly interesting that he inverted the color of the frame to black), but I'm not so sure about that one.Frank Ocean is one of the most enigmatic and talented artists of our generation, and he has amassed a substantial fanbase ever since he debuted as a part of the hip-hop collective Odd Future in 2007. I'm mostly reminded of the lyric 'Poolside convo about your summer last night.' That is just the picture (which Wolfgang exhibited on its own at the Tate Museum this summer), but (I guess) Frank also added the very big white frame surrounding it with one of the titles of the album 'Blond / Blonde.' I guess this is play on 'framing' someone as a straight man or as a homosexual, when the double title alludes to a more fluid sexuality, something Frank has been clear about outside of his music (although the aggregate of its songs, songs about men, songs about women, songs about physically fighting with his partner and songs about feeling pretty, also shows this fluidity). These two possible explanations blend with a lot of topics dealt on the album, mostly intimacy and personal / fun experiences. But Frank is also very wet and probably at sunset, another reason why he could be covering his face. I agree with the openness vs closedness interpretation, we have a half naked Frank covering his face, which usually would be an inversion from what a public persona tries to selectively show. Wolfgang's photographs vary from still life to portraits and a lot of his pictures deal with variety, death and, probably most important for Frank, sexuality.

The picture on the cover was taken by Wolfgang Tillmans, a very famous contemporary photographer (who lately has also been releasing music, like Device Control, the song Frank uses at the beginning and ending of Endless).

Frank ocean blonde album cover meaning