Frank Ocean reveals ‘Blonde’ lore on lyrics foldout
The lyrics foldout accompanying the 2022 Blonde LP features an enigmatic message from Frank Ocean that spans the entire sheet. It details the cost of securing ownership over the master recordings of his 2016 studio album, Blonde, and his apparent struggle with a record executive known as the “Chairman,” played by actor Jeremy Strong.
Instagram story (@blonded, 2022-12-17).
After listing the vinyl for sale on blonded.co in December 2022, Ocean shared a snippet of the lyrics foldout on his Instagram story with a disclaimer about its contents:
*This is a work of fiction.
It would later become clear what Ocean was referring to when orders began arriving in January 2023, when fans unfolded the insert to discover a story written across the paper. The narrative appears to be a creative retelling of Ocean’s real efforts to exit his album contract with Def Jam, allowing him to independently release Blonde in August 2016.
The foldout appears to be based on a functional lyric sheet that Ocean instead transformed into visual and written art. It functions like an itemized receipt that effectively “whites out” the transcription of Blonde beneath it, stressing the price of ownership and creative freedom. It details the financial, physical, and emotional expenditures involved with creating Blonde and Ocean’s negotiations with the “Chairman,” a character likely based on an amalgamation of the people in charge of his former record label. The costs also include his visual album Endless, which ultimately fulfilled his Def Jam contract.
A full transcript of the “Cost of Master Recordings” letter is provided below, along with scans of the 12” × 36” lyrics foldout. An annotated version by blonded.blog’s Odysseus is also available on Genius.
Cost of master recordings: two Nike gym bags full of unmarked bills, 4 hours on hold with The Chairman’s secretary, 2 (two) approximately 8-minute conversations with The Chairman (as played by Jeremy Strong), $360,000 in retainer fees for King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP (since paid), 1 (one) 45-minute LP entitled “Endless” made to the spec of recording agreement, 8 pounds of muscle, 720 nights at Mercer Hotel, 365 twelve-hour blocks at Abbey Road Studios, EastWest Studios, Electric Lady Studios, Shangri-La, Capitol Recording Studios, Question de Son, and seedier establishments that will remain unnamed (or forgotten), 1 liver filtering 492 liters of alcohol at the bar of Plastic People, $13,000 on all-black designer clothing, 18 flights to Berlin for club, 2 (two) devastating heartbreaks (the third wasn’t devastating).
Scans:
Select a photo to enlarge.
Blonde 2022 LP product photo, via blonded.co.
The Chairman & Recording Artist:
Blonded released the 2022 vinyl alongside two double-sided posters titled “ThinkPad” and “Chairman.” The backs of both standalone posters feature another cryptic missive from Ocean, detailing a separate story involving the Chairman and foreshadowing the future plans of “The Recording Artist.”
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