Frank Ocean Drops New Single "DHL"

The Twitter-breaking moment came during the first blonded RADIO episode of the year.

The new season of Frank Ocean is upon us.

October has been a busy month for Ocean. During the 2019 premiere episode of the latest cycle of his popular Beat 1 show, the famously elusive visionary debuted his first solo track since 2017 called “DHL.” The song kicks off like a hazy dream and showcases Frank’s knack for malleating the confines of music by busting out an unusual rap flow.

In the following verses, Ocean swerves into the realm of braggadocio rap in the most Frank Ocean way possible. His flexes are self-assured and credible without coming off as belligerent. He doesn’t have to try too hard to emphasize his greatness, we are well aware, he’s just reinforcing an understood norm.

The timing of the assertion of dominance is not a coincidence, as nothing Ocean does publicly ever is. The track comes just days after the opening of his controversial queer NY nightclub PrEP+ (named after a a key drug in the prevention of HIV) where he previewed two additional songs “Dear April” and “Cayendo” remixed by DJs Justice and Sango, respectively. While currently unavailable for streaming they are up for purchase on vinyl via the official blonded website.

And just a little over a week before that, both of Ocean’s commercial LP’s were featured in the top 10 of Pitchfork’s compilation of the 200 best albums of the decade with his debut Channel Orange at 10th place and the iconic follow-up Blonde earning the top spot. It’s widely understood that while in terms of output Ocean’s discography may be compact in comparison to his contemporaries, it is arguably more immense in significance and influence.

More of a mood than having a direct structure, Frank acknowledges this perception of his art as important with the repeated notion of “coming soon” that he repeats throughout “DHL.” “Old files just turned two, yeah, flu, yeah/Still sound like it’s comin’ soon, comin’ soon yeah.” This line is in both ways a reference to his 2017 singles “Chanel,” “Provider,” “Biking,” “Biking (Solo)” and “Lens” as well as his grand musical output in general. But it is also a promise of great things to come. Like I said, Ocean doesn’t do anything without a focused vision in the periphery, and the release of this single and the resurgence his public presence could very well be the start of a new era of Frank Ocean to help facilitate us through the beginning of a new era in history.

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Stream “DHL” on Spotify and Apple Music and listen blonded RADIO on Apple Music.