Pretentious Geek

 The Aphex Effect

Half way across the world from the jazzy filled streets of Frank Ocean’s hometown of New Orleans, is the small town of Cornwall, United Kingdom, home to Richard D. James better known as Aphex Twin. An electronic artist who would go on to leave a massive trail in the music scene, often regarded as the greatest electronic producer of all time. Richard would synthesize his vision and ear for melodies, resulting in some of the most abstract, bizarre and otherworldly pieces of music to date. 

(track titles are underlined & will take you to the track being spoken about)

Decades later, Richard’s influence can be seen peppered throughout Frank Ocean’s career. From wearing his merchandise, mimicking drum patterns to literal shoutouts, here’s a look at the Aphex effect on Frank Ocean.

Frank wearing an Aphex Twin “Come to Daddy” shirt, New York, 2015

                                         The Use of Birds

Listed among the 360 paged “Boys Don’t Cry” magazine are some of Frank’s favourite songs, one of them being “Aisatsana” by Aphex Twin. A serene, melodic piano piece with sounds of nature and bird chirpings blended in the back. The use of birds have become a mini-staple within Richard’s music and can be traced back much further than 2015′s Syro.

In 1992, Richard released an EP titled “Digeridoo”. The first track “Digeridoo” featured a swift drum line, heavy bass syntheziers using a Roland TB-303 which gets tied by the constant twittering of birds.

In May, 1992, Richard debuted an untitled track on BBC Radio 1 during the John Peel session. In 2015, he released a cleaned up version and dubbed it “Slo Bird Whistle[peel Sesh]”. It begins with a high pitch bird chriping which continues throughout. 

 In 1994, Richard released his fourth EP, titled “Analogue Bubblebath 4″ under the alias AFX. The project features a track called “Cuckoo”, an almost arcadey-esque track with slapping percussions, rapid drum patterns and naturist sounds. The use of grasshoppers and owl’s smoothly intermix with the sonic environment resulting in a totally discrete sound. 

In 2017, Richard released his “London 03.06.17″ under the alias AFX. Track 5, “em2500 M253X” has a vintage soft piano melody littered with bird chirpings evoking a relaxing sonic atmosphere.

Richard’s use of birds and animals are often used as a source that provide a layer of tranquility. They’re present in both of his electronic based and relaxing tunes. In tracks like “Aisatsana” and “em2500″, the use of birds transport the listener and paint an image of serenity. 

Frank Ocean’s summery tales of his first love told in 2012′s “channel ORANGE” introduced a fresh wave of lucious and silky production paired with creative and cinematic songwriting.

On track 8, “Pilot Jones”, a bass heavy tale about the effects of drug use on his relationship, Frank sings: 

“In the sky up above, the birds, I saw the sky like I never seen before”

The production here transitions from the darkside of drugs into a different realm, one with sunny skies and birds chirping. Frank also changes up his cadence here, choosing to sing the verse softly. Much like Richard, the birds are used as a drop of calmness. 

In 2016′s “Blonde”, Frank Ocean had the vision to rebrand the entire blueprint and foundation of how an urban contemporary album should sound. Forming a super-team of producers, the critically acclaimed album housed inspiration from all aspects of art. The production was innovative, avant-garde and idiosyncratic with tracks like “White Ferrari” and “Seigfried” pushing the boundaries of normality. 

Birds have a minimal yet major role on Blonde. Just as in Aphex Twin’s music, they’re used as a film of peace in the atmosphere. On Blonde, they’re also used to demonstrate the important day and night split (discussed in-depth here). They can be heard during the “day” half, on the “Pink + White”, “Be Yourself”, “Skyline To” and “Self Control”. 

On “Pink + White” they’re heard throughout all throughout the track, most notable as the quick strings commence at the beginning of the track. They’re also isolated at the very end of the track.

The birds from “Pink + White” are smoothly transitioned into “Be Yourself” and can be heard until 8 seconds.  

“Skyline To”, a dreamy ballad of long drives and forbidden sex features quietly chirping birds under the melancholic production. The birds complement the laid-back vibe as Frank recalls his most memorable summers.  There’s also a high pitch sound stretched out at the back end of the track that is similar to what Aphex Twin had used throughout in his track “Slo Bird”. It also sounds similar to a Termenvox, an instrument Frank learned how to play very early in his career however it is not listed in credits.

On “Self Control”, birds can be heard in the opening seconds of the track. It is the last time birds are heard on the album as the focus heads into the night half. 

On 2016′s “Endless”, Frank channelled Richard’s use of drum and beat programming. He mainly took the 1996′s “Richard D. James Album” and 2015′s “Syro” focusing on swift drum patterns, abbrasive percussion and quick rythyms. 

                             Drum & Beat Programming

On the 6th track of “Syro” titled “CIRCLONT6A”, Richard implenets a glitched/warped technique throughout the song making it sound as if it’s being split very quickly. The same technique is used on “Sideways”. 

On “Rushes To”, Frank replicates a similar yet slower percussion and drum pattern heard on Aphex Twin’s “Girl/Boy Song “

The final track on “Endless” titled “Mitsubishi Sony” ends off in an epic electronic instrumental that sounds alike to “Carn Marth” off of the “Richard D. James Album”

                                                Shoutouts 

On “Provider”, Frank sings “stiff smile just like I’m Aphex Twin (yeah come to daddy)

Synonymous with the Aphex Twin image is the smile seen plastered across some of his biggest albums. Frank’s suppressed adlib of “yeah come to daddy” is a nod to one of Aphex Twin’s most popular tracks titled “Come To Daddy” off of his 1997 EP of the same name. 

Among the 50 tracks Frank listed as his favourite, Richard’s music is listed twice. One is the previously mentioned “Aisatsana” and the other is “The Garden Of Linmiri” by Caustic Window, an experimental acid house track produced under a different alias.

In an interview with John Doran on BBC Radio, Vegyn shares a brief story about listening to “Alberto Balsalm” in the studio with Frank.

Frank also added “IZ-US” from the 1997 album “Come to Daddy” on “blonded Los Santos 97.8 FM”

Inside Frank Ocean’s Vault

In today’s age of social obsession, Frank Ocean has managed to deconstruct the complex structure that powers the music industry. He has glided his way through on his terms whilst maintaining a rarity of pop mystery. Frank’s elusiveness has made him one of the most secretive artists in modern music and an enigma whose next step is unpredictable yet most notably calculated. Amongst the minimal output he’s officially released, there’s even more content locked away in his personal vault. Here’s everything we know regarding the unreleased content:

July 26, 2011: nostalgia, LITE

After releasing his debut project ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ to critical and commercial success, Def Jam set their sights on young Frank Ocean and decided to re-release a refined version of the mixtape as a full-fledged extended play titled ‘nostalgia, LITE’. The EP was announced by Frank in May 2011 but on July 26th, he confirmed that the plan was officially scrapped. 

The EP was slated to have seven tracks. Sampled songs like Strawberry Swing’ ‘American Wedding’ and ‘Nature Feels’ were to be replaced by ‘Acura Integurl’ and ‘Whip Appeal’ due to clearance issues.

In-a-now deleted post, Frank doubled down on his statement a year later and released ‘Whip Appeal’ on March 17th, 2012. 

November 12, 2011: “Disillusioned”

Frank debuted a funky and hypnotic song titled “Disillusioned” to a London crowd. The CDQ has never been released.

November 16th, 2011: “Acura Integurl” (Extended)

In mid-November, Frank debuted an extended version of ‘Acura Integurl’ in Los Angeles, featuring an extra verse. The original ‘Acura Integurl’ was still in setlists during his 2013 European tour but didn’t make the cut during the Blonded tour. Frank was asked if he’d ever finish the song to which he replied “I don’t know, I try not to force it, if that’s how it turned out, that’s how it turned out”

May 21st, 2012: “Summer Remains”

With just months away from his highly anticipated album, Frank shared a video on his Tumblr of him playing “Summer Remains”, a soft melodic track detailing a memorable summer fling and what it left in him. It was expected to be on ‘Channel Orange’ but was ended up being cut. However, the song was occasionally performed throughout the ‘Channel Orange’ tour.

July 4th, 2012: “No Such Thing as White Jesus” (feat. Nas)

Frank first met producer Hit-Boy in 2006 with Miguel and Dom Kennedy and built a working relationship with him from there. After the success of ‘Niggas in Paris’, Frank met up with Hit-Boy and laid down the chorus for “No Such Thing as White Jesus”. Nas loved the track and asked for it to be on his forthcoming album, ‘Life is Good’. Unfortunately, the hard-drive was misplaced but was recovered two years later. Hit-Boy then posted a short snippet of the track before losing the hard-drive once again. The producer has slashed any hope of the track ever being released due to the original vocals and sessions being lost. In a red carpet interview before the release of his album, Nas said he’d love to work with Frank again.

February 21st, 2013: “Solo” Demo by Depeche Mode

Frank Ocean, Martin Gore and Christoffer Berg in Jungle City Studios, New York City

Frank began working on his sophomore album right after the 55th annual Grammy’s had concluded. As he worked with Alicia Keys, he got word that Depeche Mode was also recording in the same studio in the floor below. At the end of his session, he went and asked their engineer if he could come in and play some music to which they happily agreed to. Frank played them a track and asked if Martin Gore could add some electronics and modular synthesizers. Martin spent the day working on the track which turned out to be “Solo” although the band are not credited. It is presumed they worked on a demo version of Solo which was eventually vaulted. Frank is known for making multiple versions of tracks.

June 25th, 2013: “Feel California”

On May 30th, 2013, Frank announced the date for his highly anticipated European tour titled “You’re Not Dead”. 

On June 25th, 2013, at the Auditorium der BMW Welt in Munich, Germany, Frank debuted a new solo track for the first time in a year. It was titled “Feel California” and remained the tour’s opening track for the remainder of its run. Backed with thumping drums and tropical vibes, Frank praised the waviness of the sunny state, it’s kaleidoscopic drugs and hinted at his future hiatus from social media. 

“I’m signing off the network now, hope you’re down to try too”

Unlike the two new tracks (’Seigfried’ and ‘Ivy’) that were performed, ‘Feel California’ ended up in Frank’s vault. 

July 11th, 2013: “Hotel” Music Video Directed by Francis Soriano

Frank had completed writing and recording “Hotel” and listed upon his long-time friend and trusted director, Francis Soriano to shoot the single, “Hotel”. The track and video remain unreleased to this day.

March 24th, 2014: “Pure Imagination”

Frank was scheduled to release a remake of “Pure Imagination” for a Chipotle commercial but backed out once he saw the Chipotle logo at the end of the commercial. He was eventually sued for $212,500 and the destiny of the song remains a mystery. It is not known whether or not Frank recorded the song. 

September 23rd, 2014: Maiham Media Video

Frank was spotted in Tokyo having dinner with RWB founder Akira Nakai and Luke Huxam of Maiham Media

Frank borrowed some cars from Akira Nakai when he was in Tokyo during the writing phase of Blonde. Luke Huxham, founder of Maiham Media specializes in car commercials and has directed videos for Bugatti, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche & Subaru. As an individual deep within Japanese car culture, Frank hired Luke as a tour guide who took him to the best car spots in Japan. They went to the Tsukuba circuit with old school BMW’s and drove, visited deserted stores in Shimotsuma and discussed RWB. Frank searched the shelves of abandoned stores trying to find old clothes or stickers and souvenirs he could bring back with him. He then visited Ebisu circuit with his cousin in Nihonmatsu where he Luke taught him how to drift. Frank’s personal media crew filmed the entire spectacle although the content has never been released

April 14th, 2015: Nikes Vinyl

Finished in April 2015, ‘Nikes’ was intended to be a stand-alone track that was not connected to Blonde. It would’ve been accompanied by a vinyl and a music video in the summer of 2015. However, Frank changed his mind and shelved the video for another year but sadly, never decided to release the vinyl. 

In the second page of the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ magazine, a folder titled ‘nikesvinyl’ can be seen on the top right of Frank’s desktop.

July 1st, 2015: Merchandise

On the newly created site “boysdontcry.co”, an image was found in the source code of unreleased merchandise. 

Frank was seen wearing the hoodie and t-shirt throughout his hiatus. The sk8-hi Vans were listed as a collaboration with Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto but considering their listed price of $50, it was most likely an error.

August 20th, 2015: Photoshoot in London

Frank was photographed in London at a photoshoot for the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ magazine. He is seen wearing unreleased merch, a longsleeve with the text “N1″, the same text and logo that appears on the silver wrap cover of the magazine.

September 11th, 2015: Playboi Carti Feature 

Ian Connor was the first to report on the Carti and Frank meeting. Carti was also present when ‘Nights’ was being made, in New York. As an artist whose notorious for having his music leaked, the track with Frank has yet to be made public.

October 30th, 2015: “Jealous Guy” 

Frank was recorded by longtime friend Alycia Bellamy singing a cover of ‘Jelous Guy’ by The Beatles in the studio. Frank has been vocal about his love for the band and stated they were the reason he got out of writers block. The cover has yet to see the light of day. 

November 10th, 2015: Kushi Sessions

Frank worked with electronic producer Kushi in London. Kushi was not credited on either Blonde or Endless and their work has yet to be released.

December 9th, 2015: Hudson Mohawk Leaked Beats

Hudson Mohawk had made some beats for Frank which happened to get leaked online. They surfaced on Reddit in a file called “frank o0000oocean”. Eventually, Hudson later used these in elsewhere.

The tracklist that was intended to be for Frank Ocean

December 11th, 2015: “Drive In”

In December, a new track appeared on a producer’s resume with the title “Drive In”. It was directed by Frank himself and was produced by Somesuch & Co, a video production company run by Tyrone Lebon, the director of “Nikes”.

Possible behind the scenes pictures were included in the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ magazine as the location matches up with the title of the track.

January 7th, 2016: Rich The Kid Session

Rich the Kidd posted a screenshot of a FaceTime conversation with Frank in early January. He also said the two linked up at a studio to make some music.

“I reached out to him. I called him on FaceTime and I was like “Where you at?” and he was like, “I’m in L.A. at the studio and it’s time to cook.”

Rich has hinted at the song being released multiple times on his debut project however it has never flourished. It is highly unlikely that the track will ever be released and if so, Frank would be the one making that decision.

January 30th, 2016: Vocals on ”Glory” by Hodgy

Hodgy posted a video of what seemed like Frank harmonizing over a track. It was eventually added onto his debut solo album “Fireplace:TheNotTheOtherSide” although Frank’s vocals were removed.

April 4th, 2016: Arena Homme+ Cover Story

Frank was due to be the cover story for the Arena Homme SS 16 edition which was being released on April 14th, 2016. 

Designer Rhuigi Villaseñor posted this picture on his story suggesting a music video to go along with the cover story.

Shortly after, a model had posted an email from Frank’s stylist:

The video is most likely being reffered to ‘Endless’ which was eventually released in August 2016, however, the Arena Homme+ story has yet to be publically revealed.

July 9th, 2016: Frank’s Novel 

When Frank was announced as a new face of Calvin Klein for its fall collections, a special 30-second commercial directed by Tyrone Lebon marked his return to the public eye. A message found in Calvin Klein’s source code on Frank’s page suggested a multi-media release.

"Frank Ocean is one of the most artistic and enigmatic musicians working today. Though it has been more than four years since he released his debut studio album, Channel Orange, interest in Ocean hasn’t waned. Instead, it’s increased.

He is known for being a perfectionist, and a pursuant of creativity in all forms. He resists pressure and follows his own vision. He has published a magazine and worked on a novel while continuing to perfect his highly anticipated second album.

Ocean shuns interviews and social media, and prefers instead to speak through his work. He has said that when it comes to understanding music, the most important thing is to just press play.

Ocean is a powerful storyteller, using his own openness and honesty to create an emotionally intimate world in each of his songs. With his craft, his aim is not money, power, or fame, but to grow, progress, evolve and eventually be the absolute best.

So while he continues to work on that, we’ll continue to wait, as long as it takes, because when Frank Ocean does something, he does it right. The wait will be worth it.”

Frank first spoke about a novel back in 2012 on his Tumblr stating: 

I wanna write a novel about twins, some type of nature versus nurture tale..

August 8th, 2016: Digital Version of ‘Boys Don’t Cry’

A Tumblr user by the name of “urbantapwater” leaked pages from the magazines weeks before it’s initial release.  It was revealed in the format of GIF’s leading fans to believe the magazine would also be availible digitally. 

Whether or not a digital and functional copy of the magazine exists is known by those who’ve worked on it, and if it’ll ever be released remains to be seen. All the above images were included in the final spread. 

August 20th, 2016: “Easy”

With the release of the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ magazine, an in-depth look at what Frank had been up to during his time away could be seen. From dirt biking, visiting Tokyo and living in London amongst others. One notable piece was in the lyrics section for Blonde. An unreleased track “Easy” had been listed with the lyrics: 

“I saw you, Chinese birthday With a strawberry icee Channeling Morrissey Were we at the rave, dancing horribly Pulse went through my face and my clear backpack Sonic sound you made me I know you’re in here somewhere You came with someone There’s something you need Hope you don’t think I’m easy What starts inside these hallways Always comes and goes I come from nothing Like you come from nothing Light like a laser cut from the navel”

Blonde was originally going to be 12 tracks with Easy being track #6.

September 9th, 2016: “Booty Club”

After weeks of teasing, Malay sent out a tweet officially announcing ‘Booty Club’, taking fans to a website allowing them to insert digits resulting in a video, a snippet of instrumental for the song and a voicemail by an eldry Asian women saying “Hello..booty club? No booty club!”.

Once the right digits were entered, a video played backed by an instrumental and ended with the assumed released date.

October 28th is Frank’s birthday which led many fans to believe he’d be featured. As the date loomed and went, there were no updates nor a release until November 8th, 2016, when Malay played a snippet of the track. It was indeed a feature with Frank and had a gorgeous 80′s baseline with silky synths. 

This artwork was posted on Malay’s instagram with the caption “BOOT CLUB FEAT. FRANK OCEAN”

Malay continued to post snippets of the track on social media but has stopped. According to an interview with Pitchfork Magazine, Malay was set to release his debut project in early 2017 but has yet to update fans. Both, ‘Booty Club’ and Malay’s debut project have yet to be released.

August 13, 2018: Blonded Summer Tour Video

As Frank exited his last ‘Blonded World Tour’ in Helsinki, Finland, questions arose about whether or not the visuals directed by Spike Jonze would ever be released.

Spike shared his vision behind the visuals saying:

“The main idea was to turn huge festival shows into intimate concerts, where everything was done by hand.”

It’s possible the intention was to never release the visuals but rather use them solely as a tool to enhance the overall experience, nothing more or less.

April 1st, 2017: Music Video in Paris

Very little is known about this video. A trusted source who leaked information about ‘Nikes’, before public knowledge - shared that a music video was going to be shot in Paris in the coming weeks although they were not sure which song it’d be on at the time. It can be inferred that it was a ‘Chanel’ video as the song had just been released several weeks prior. 

August 17th, 2017: Break Down

Music Mafia teased a 25-second snippet on what seemed like a very old Frank demo. The full version has yet to be released.

SPINNING OUT TOWARD

A DESIRE THAT WASN’T PURE

BORN BEFORE THE VIRUS WAS CURED

PITCH PERFECT

VIOLINS ON THE FLOOR

FAST FORWARD LININGS ON MY SKULL

TYPE OF DESIGN I COULD AFFORD

FAST FORWARD BANDS OUT

GOT THEY HANDS OUT

LIKE THEY’RE ACKNOWLEDGING THE FÜHRER

REWIND NAS TRACK 6

REWIND DANCE CRAZES

READ MY MIND

FREED MY MIND

FEED MY MIND

MAKES SENSE

JUST LIKE MIRRORS ON THE WALL

JUST LIKE SITTING ON ME

RAW IN MIRRORS SEEN IT ALL

COULD MAKE TWO

A PIECE OF MIND

FLICKING ASH

POURING A HALF

DONT POUR IN A GLASS

POUR IT IN FOAM

THAT’S WHITE LIKE EGGSHELLS IN MY OMELETTE

MY EARLOBES ARE YELLOW LIKE THE YOLK IS RUNNING

MY BRAINS ON DRUGS

I STILL HAVE NO PEACE OF MIND

FUCK

WOOF WOOF DOGS IN THE PLACE

LOOSE TOOTH LOST IN THE FRAY

ROOF LOST IN THE WRAITH

ROOF LOST ON THE WAY

FREEWAY

NO ROZAY

BRUTE FORCE

BRUT CHAMPAGNE

TELL THE FRONT DESK TO CUT NEW KEYS

RESERVED IN THE MERCER FOR TWO YEARS

IN TWO SUITES

TOOK OUT THE BED LIKE ITS FUCK SLEEP

ILL SMACK A BITCH LIKE ITS HOT HANDS

FIRED THE LABEL LIKE FUCK BRANDS

COMFORTABLE LOW NIGGA FUCK XANS

COMFORTABLE SLOW WHO THE FUCK RAN

NOTHING IS SWEET

NOTHING IN TANK SWEET

ITS JUST A TANK P

SALT ON A SLUG

SODA ON SLUGGED TEETH

CHEWING ON NOTHING

UR TWEAKING OR SOMETHING

UR SPEAKING SPEAK UP THEN

UR THINKING UR OVERTHINKING

ONE BLINK AND IM PRECUMMING

THAT COULD TURN EVERY NO ONE

Behind The Scenes of ‘Nikes’ 

The ‘Nikes’ video seemed like a phantom project within the music industry. From rumours to reality, Tyrone Lebon’s masterful vision finally came to frution byway of Frank greenlighting the release. Here are some behind-the-scenes pictures of the only ‘Blonde’ visual to date:

The first look at ‘Nikes’ came through this leaked image in April 2015.

This party in central London was primarily used in the final cut of the video

Frank spent a lot of time with the A$AP Mob during his stay in London. 

Frank & Rocky at the Boiler room in London, 2015

A$AP Ferg & Frank for Faces + Places, 2015

Frank had his customized BMW E30 imported from Los Angeles for the video

Amongst the cars includes the $16 Million McLaren F1 GTR and an Aston Martin DBR9

Frame by frame, the video trickles in the yearning of something, whether it’s a person, materialistic object or just acceptance.  

The yearning for another person and love

An exterior shot of a mermaid trapped in a box. A reference to ‘The Little Mermaid’ where the main character desires to be free and explore the land so she can meet her lover

A direct reference to the Heavens Gate cult. Cult members members feel included because they’re accepted into the group and finally desired. 

Frank wearing eyeliner while surrounding by million dollar cars is clever social commentary

Tyrone Lebon and Frank managed to visualize the vanity and need of lust in the modern world through ‘Nikes’. The video exposes the underbelly of the new age, of how society functions. From it’s obsession with consumerism, hedonism to its infirm stance on masculinity. 

“There’s fewer immune markers that are found in these men when they have the flu,” Sue told Newsweek. And this difference appeared to go hand-in-hand with male hormones. “It actually seems to be the case that the higher their testosterone levels, the worse that the men do. Whereas for women, the higher their estrogen level, the better they do.”