“Chanel” takes second best on ‘Pigeons & Planes’ best of 2017 list

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Pigeons & Planes has released their list of 2017's top songs. "Chanel" takes #2 in the countdown of 50 tracks that made the year.

After a few years of silence, Frank Ocean swept back into our lives in 2016 with two albums, a video, and a magazine. Many of us assumed he'd quickly return to the shadows, but with a series of festival headlining sets and the Blonded radio shows on Beats 1, he rarely left the conversation in 2017.

Sharing new and old music from around the world on Blonded with the help of co-hosts Vegyn and Roof Access, and regularly debuting new music, the show is essential live listening—if you catch it, that it is, as there is no regular schedule and shows are often announced only hours before they start. "Chanel" was debuted on Blonded 002 in March, and it was a special moment.

The new track was played for an hour, with a version featuring ASAP Rocky appearing on occasion, and this hypnotic loop was the perfect introduction to a song that touches on themes like duality and Frank's bisexuality. On "Chanel" we get all of Frank's talents on full display—he's singing and rapping, he's painting vivid images and making direct statements, and pop culture references are littered throughout, from filmmaker Gaspar Noé to 21 Savage.

Frank Ocean continued to surprise us with new music after "Chanel," and "Biking (Solo)," "Lens," and "Provider" could all have made it onto this list. In the interest of sharing as wide a variety of music as possible we only chose one song from each artist, and "Chanel" just edged the others out. Whichever track is your favorite, we can all agree on one thing: Frank Ocean had a stellar 2017. —Alex Gardner

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