Blonde is Frank Ocean’s second studio album, released independently on August 20, 2016 — the day after the visual album Endless — fulfilling his contractual obligations with Def Jam. It arrived alongside the 'Nikes' music video and the Boys Don't Cry magazine.
Channel Orange is Frank Ocean’s 2012 debut studio album, written in two weeks with producer Malay and recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. It abandons sampling in favour of live instrumentation — keyboards, guitars, layered vocals, ambient noise and film dialogue — and draws on soul, funk, jazz and electronic music. Its songs tell specific stories about unrequited love, class, drugs and identity, anchored by precise sonic choices: falsetto, room tone, abrupt silences, and unconventional structures. It won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 55th Grammys and was named best album of 2012 in HMV’s Poll of Polls.