Frank Ocean has returned with a special Christmas segment of blonded RADIO. The episode premiered on Apple Music 1 earlier today and featured an intimate conversation between the rapper and the motivational speaker and extreme athlete Wim “Iceman” Hof about dealing with grief. Ocean’s younger brother, Ryan Breaux, passed away in August 2020.
After the discussion wrapped, Ocean debuted a new song, saying that he had begun working on it during the summer of 2020 and then recently returned to it to add more verses.
Clocking in at a little over eight minutes, the unnamed track essentially sounds like a thoughtful freestyle laid over a simple piano melody.
“Me and @iceman_hof had a conversation some time ago when I was in the earlier stages of grief,” Frank wrote on his Instagram story, per Pitchfork.
“I remember marveling at how his energy blasted through the phone,” he continued. “So much vim in this Wim.”
“We spoke for a while about his work, the purpose of grief, and how going into the cold water changed his life. It reminded me of conversations in the studio with players I know. Freewheeling, psychedelic, emotionally charged, intelligent, and generous. I enjoyed listening to him, so in this edit I just let him speak uninterrupted. Me, @coryhenry, and @dylanpatricewiggins, played some sounds underneath to heighten the feeling. I added some writing at the end that I did a single take of w Cory in the summer of 2020. I came back and added a few words and parts over the top of that take more recently. Felt like it fit the wabi sabi of Wim’s words. Merry Xmas everyone.”
Listen to Frank Ocean’s new song in the clip above.
In other music news, Kodak Black dropped a new single “Nightmare Before Christmas.”
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