Frank Ocean has revealed the secrets behind his new album ‘Blonde’.
The 28-year-old rapper – who dropped the long-awaited record at the weekend, just days after he released the 17-track visual LP ‘Endless’ – found the four years making new music "romantic" as he travelled the world.
He wrote on Tumblr: "I found it romantic, sometimes, editing this project. The whole time I felt as though I was in the presence of a $16m McLaren F1 armed with a disposable camera. My memories are in these pages, places closeby and long ass-numbing flights away.
"Recording in Tokyo, NYC, Miami, LA, London, Paris. Stopping in Berlin to witness Berghain for myself. Trading jewels and soaking in parables with the many-headed Brandon aka BasedGod in conversation."
While Frank recalled his "cliche" obsession with cars and how important they’ve been in his life, he admitted he no longer drives very much these days.
He added: "How much of my life has happened inside of a car? I wonder if the odds are that I’ll die in one…shouldn’t speak like that…I used to ride around in my sinewy crossover SUV, smoke and listen to rough mixes of my old sh*t before it came out, or whatever someone wanted to play when they hooked up their iPhone to the aux cord. A few years and few daily-drivers later I’m not driving much anymore."
For the record, Frank has teamed up with the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, James Blake, Jamie xx, Rick Rubin, and Tyler the Creator.
Despite not going into too much detail about his ‘Endless’/’Blonde’ songs, Frank revealed a track called ‘Godspeed’ is a reflection of his childhood.
He said: "I wrote a story in the middle – it’s called ‘Godspeed’ It’s basically a re-imagined part of my boyhood.
"Boys do cry, but I don’t think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years. It’s surprisingly my favourite part of life so far.
"Surprising, to me, because the current phase is what I was asking the cosmos for when I was a kid. Maybe that part had its rough stretches too, but in my rear view mirror it’s getting small enough to convince myself it was all good. And really though… It’s still all good."
In an additional Tumblr post, Frank thanked fans supporting him since his last album ‘channel ORANGE’ which was released in July 2012.
He added: "I had the time of my life making all of this. Thank you all. Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of ya’ll. Haha. Love you."
Frank Ocean opens up about the inspiration behind his new album
