Last week, Frank Ocean released his highly anticipated debut album, “channel ORANGE” — anticipated for two very different reasons. The first reason is because he’s a gifted songwriter and rapper/singer, and the road to this album has been a long one. The second reason is because the week before he released this album, he announced that he was gay.

But let’s not focus on the latter, let’s focus on the music.

For those interested, here’s a great intro interview that Ocean recorded with the BBC:

We’ve listened to the album and it’s a refreshing mix of the playfulness of Usher, the honey-dripped pipes of Jill Scott, and the lyrical quirkiness of Kayne West — all mixed into an intelligent, interesting young man, eager for life, experience, and love.

The hype surrounding both Ocean and this album is justified — it’s a stunning debut from an artist we hope to see a lot more of. He’s blazing a trail both musically and culturally, so support for this kind of progress is tantamount.

“channel ORANGE” is available in shops and digitally now, so be sure to check it out…

-B