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"For months now, I&amp;#39;ve been discussing with friends how R&amp;amp;B in the way it used to exist, is sadly no longer.\n(Like: Marvin Gaye, Jodeci, frickin&amp;#39; En Vogue (EN VOGUE!!!)) My friends and I all agree that the ladies and the fellas of rhythm-and-blues truly held their own, especially in the &amp;#39;90s.\nEverybody knows that in the &amp;#39;90s the effortlessly CrazySexyCool TLC reigned supreme, wearing their &amp;quot;hats to the back&amp;quot; and matching silk pajamas!!! while shooing away &amp;quot;scrubs&amp;quot; and empowering many, many women (Men, too! Drake,* you betta sang &amp;quot;FanMail!&amp;quot;*) along the way.\nSo, RIP/cheers to Left Eye :( and that wonderful time of wonderful music. CAN WE:\nNow that Throwback Tuesday is out of the way, let&amp;#39;s segue to this week&amp;#39;s review. 24-year-old Frank Ocean, as some of you may know, is the velvet-voiced, &amp;quot;prog-R&amp;amp;B&amp;quot; portion of the young and fiercely talented Odd Future collective, who stirred up lots of Internet buzz and controversy last year through a series of explicit, musically challenging mixtapes and their dynamite-and-occasionally-offensive off-wax personalities (mainly: 20-year-old Tyler, the Creator, Odd Future&amp;#39;s head founder).\nOcean has always remained relatively above the fray; last year, his excellent breakout mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra earned him universal acclaim. With Nostalgia, many critics identified promise in Ocean, suggesting that he, with his startlingly-honest lyrics and skilled, nuanced singing would reflect and comment on the everybody&amp;#39;s-got-a-story era we are now living in.\nSomething pretty amazing happened a few weeks ago, as if to confirm critics&amp;#39; early votes for Frank Ocean to single-handedly reignite R&amp;amp;B&amp;#39;s alleged fallen torch. Ocean came out on his Tumblr (very poignantly; his story wasn&amp;#39;t &amp;quot;everyone&amp;#39;s story,&amp;quot; but his own). Since then, much has been opined over what Ocean&amp;#39;s coming out means for hip-hop; how the tiring masculine trope of the &amp;quot;real black man&amp;quot; can be finally laid to rest. And as a gay African-American male who loves pop, hip-hop, and pretty much everything else, Ocean&amp;#39;s &amp;quot;coming out&amp;quot; means a lot to me. Today&amp;#39;s release of his first proper debut, Channel Orange, coming on the heels of this, feels somewhat celebratory for mankind. And, the album is simply excellent.\nFor instance, the spare, bewitching lead single &amp;quot;Thinkin&amp;#39; &amp;#39;Bout You&amp;quot; soars when Ocean croons in a falsetto: &amp;quot;Or do you not think so far ahead/&amp;#39;Cause I&amp;#39;ve been thinkin&amp;#39; &amp;#39;bout forever.&amp;quot; It is a touching, universal sentiment for any of you who&amp;#39;ve ever had sleepless nights or even midday bouts of lovelorn restlessness. See the zombie-filled mania below:\nBut there&amp;#39;s more for everyone on Channel Orange, too.\nFor you karaoke-bar stars, the beat to &amp;quot;Super Rich Kids&amp;quot; cops a fierce &amp;quot;Bennie and the Jets&amp;quot; &amp;#39;tude, bemoaning the oft-vacuous lifestyles of, well, super rich kids with nannies, yachts, fake friends, and absent parents. And &amp;quot;Bad Religion&amp;quot; finds our hero spilling his guts to an unsympathetic cab driver (He did a gorgeous string-section version of this on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week, btw!)\nTo be honest, I really could go on for more space than I&amp;#39;m allowed about what this album does and how the songs function. But I think that would extract from the magic of Channel Orange. It works because it is warm, inviting, and cohesive, yes. But its complex tales of love, spirituality, and human nature also break the rules of male-driven traditionalist R&amp;amp;B: Frank Ocean does not particularly seduce us to his boudoir, rather he bravely invites us into the grey matter of his heart with a &amp;quot;hello&amp;quot; and, if you listen closely, a half-smile.\nAlso out today: Matisyahu--Spark Seeker; Missy Higgins--The Ol&amp;#39; Razzle Dazzle; Nas--Life Is GoodFrank Ocean is an artist who will make an impact on many, and I&amp;#39;m so happy he&amp;#39;s around! What do ya&amp;#39;ll think of him, darlings?\nMore music...\nFellow Mandy Moore Fangirls, Rejoice: Here&amp;#39;s the Awesome Deal With Her Next Album\nMorning Jam: Start Your Day Right With Paloma Faith&amp;#39;s &amp;quot;Picking Up the Pieces&amp;quot;\nYou Know Her From the Hunger Games Soundtrack, Now Hear Up-and-Coming Pop Star Jayme Dee&amp;#39;s Next Big Single!\nYouTube"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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