It finally happened. After what seemed to be years, I think it was two or three total, Frank Ocean finally released his follow up to the wonderful "Channel Orange". I was scouring Twitter the other night, and I saw that some of the people I follow were posting pictures and talking about the new Frank Ocean record. I immediately went to iTunes, in hopes that it would be available for purchase, and not only listenable to through Apple Music, and much to my pleasure, it was right there, the first record in fact, available to buy and download immediately. I did just that, and listened to it the moment it finished downloading. What I heard for the next hour was exceptional. Frank Ocean is a very, very good musician and very much a perfectionist. The album is called "Blonde", and it is so, so good.

"Blonde" was well worth the wait. I was growing frustrated, hearing stories from many different outlets that his second album was going to come out any day. I started to dismiss pretty much everything I heard. I thought Frank Ocean might have been a one album guy. I figured he would go out on a very high note. But, he did not do that. He delivered an excellent record that, I feel, everyone who likes music needs to buy. It is so different and is perfectly Frank Ocean.

What I liked about "Channel Orange" was expanded on so much on "Blonde". Ocean is like a throw back R&B singer who mixes modern hip hop with his music. He does that so well on "Blonde". I have heard some people say that it sounds a bit "disorganized", or "unfinished", but I say to them, go listen to "Channel Orange", it is the same thing. Ocean does things like changing the beat mid song, or cutting a song without a real outro, or throwing in short little songs or segues that some people may not like, or dismiss as not real music. I couldn't disagree more. This is what modern music has become, and when you can make it very good and commercial, you must be doing something right.

The album starts off great, the middle is weird, but awesome, and the last three tracks are epic. I love the opener to the record, "Nikes". The song finds Ocean using a very high voice and singing some great lyrics. He also transitions into a bit of hip hop during the song with equal accomplishment. The chorus, and intro, are very singable. I adore this song. "Pink and White" is another great early track song. He gets very high, and the instrumentation is epic. There is loud squealing from both Ocean and his guitar at the end, and it is great. The interlude that comes next is a great message, possibly from Ocean's mother, that is poignant and important. He then goes into "Solo" which is a great song. It is about being alone and lonely and it is incredible. Later, near the middle of the record, we get a "Solo (reprise)" song, and it features Andre 3000. His verse is absolutely phenomenal. It is reminiscent of something off of "The Love Below". And only someone like Frank Ocean could call up Andre 3000 and get him to do a verse on his new record. They are both similar type of musicians, but 3000 has been more focused on acting lately. He proves on this track that he still has it. "White Ferrari" and "Siegfried" are great songs near the end of the record. "White Ferrari" is a perfect hip hop/R&B song. It sounds like if R Kelly was a legit artist. Ocean is so much better than R Kelly. "Siegfried" is a good song, with some very important lyrics. The song tells a story, and it is a very good and very important story. The closer to the whole record, "Futura Free", is my favorite song on the whole album. It is excellent. Ocean does a bit more rapping, which I really like, on this song. The beat is excellent, the groove is wonderful, Ocean is fantastic and it is a very good way to close out the album. The song is over 9 minutes long, but the last 3 minutes are people answering random questions. The 5 or 6 minutes of "Futura Free" that are an actual song is tremendous.

Look, I know we had to wait a very long time for this record. I know some people may be complaining about the "disorganization" of the record. I know some people may not get it. But, two or three years from now, everyone will look back at "Blonde" as being one of the best records of all of 2016. Compared to some of the crap that is on the radio, i.e., Meghan Trainor, Britney Spears, Flo Rida, I could go on and on and on, we should be thankful that a good, real musician is putting out very good, very real music. "Blonde" is excellent, and totally worth any music lovers time. Go buy it now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He listens to all of his music on an old school 160 GB iPod. Hear him talk all about it on the X Millennial Man. Make sure you also follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.