{"id":71,"date":"2011-05-25T20:33:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T19:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassdress.wordpress.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2019-03-10T19:05:53","modified_gmt":"2019-03-10T19:05:53","slug":"frank-ocean-acura-integurl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassdress.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/25\/frank-ocean-acura-integurl\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Ocean "Acura Integurl""},"content":{"rendered":"

What the hell is this!?  How could something this cool almost pass under my radar!?  I’m told, via ghetto fashionista blog, HypeBeast<\/a> that Frank Ocean is an up coming MC, riding high on the success of his d\u00e9but mixtape “nostalgia, ULTRA”.<\/em>  If the quality of this track is anything to go by, “nostalgia, ULTRA”<\/em> must be one hell of a tape.<\/p>\n

I initially downloaded the track “Acura Integurl” because of it’s impossibly stupid and childish name. Sitting down for my first listen, I braced myself for some Kanye West vs. Little Wayne, pop bullshit that the HypeBeast crowd usually roll with.  Instead, I’m surprised to initially hear an innocent and romanticized, cascading acoustic piano loop.  No drums, no synths, just that piano sample looping, pinning down Frank Ocean’s shimmering autotuned vocals – creating something I’ve never really heard before.  Is it lounge hiphop?  Is it smooth R&B?<\/p>\n

\n
she's singing,\n\"bitch i'm paid, that's all i gotta say.\"\nI'm like who knew, who knew, who knew,\nthat after all the years\ni'd make a weezy fan out of you too, you too, you too.\nwhen i met you,\nyou were thom yorke, chris martin & u2, u2, u2.\nwhen you met me i was three6, pimp c, bun b, 8ball & mjg.\nhey but we're both a long way from home\nwe got the windows down, the radio's on\u2026 always\ni wrote a letter to the sky,\nsaying maybe one day you'll get to kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.\nmy girl found it in the car & said\n\"baby why you trying to diss me, diss me, diss me.\"\ncuz you know you're my baby, you know you're my baby\ni'm not just in it for the ride, in it for the ride.<\/pre>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The music is fairly basic, just a six second piano sample, poorly looped (you can almost hear a ‘click’ of misaligned samples at the beginning of ever bar) until the fade out. But there lies the genius!  The basic and fairly uninteresting backing track completely gives way to Ocean’s vocals, letting the listener give them their full attention.<\/p>\n
What makes this record is the fact that Frank Ocean manages to pull of the most convincing and emotional performance I’ve heard this year.  The dynamics of his voice can be appreciated, even beneath the layers of reverb, delay, EQ and compression.<\/p>\n
In one minute and fifty-seven seconds, and with only 147 words, Frank grabbed my attention, without ever demanding it.  There is an honestly in the delivery of the vocals that I just can’t get enough of.  In fact there’s so much emotion in the performance that it completely obscures everything else – I’m not even entirely sure what the song is about, and I can only make out about 70% of the words.  However, I’m pretty happy to interpret my meaning, and that’s just how I like it.<\/p>\n
Now, with crossed fingers, I’m off to see if I can pick up a legit copy of  “nostalgia, ULTRA”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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