


Ocean glorifies the Vegas high-roller lifestyle and successfully creates a track encompasses the flashing splendor of the city. Ocean softly sings about his girl, who is “workin’ at the pyramid” while he gambles on the strip to keep the “bills paid.” When listening, you can’t help but feel connected to the glamour, scandal, and riches of Sin City. A flawless transition leads into one of the best sections of r&b I’ve heard in a very long time. Ocean breaks the song down and introduces a fluttering beat. This foggy place is where the track transitions into its second phase and leads into the juiciest part of the song. The synth is heavily utilized in “Pyramids” and gives the piece a sound that is not normally paired with r&b, but more frequently should be.Īt around the five minute mark, the song digresses and turns into dreamy and haz interlude. His serenade is broken by frequent synthesizer breakdowns.
#CLEOPATRA PYRAMIDS FRANK OCEAN FULL#
It begins softly, with Ocean passionately yet effortlessly showing his full range as he sings about a girl he calls, “Cleopatra”. The song “Pyramids” is a self-produced, multidimensional piece that begins with one rhyme pattern and beat, and finishes with another. It takes just one listen to understand why the album influenced so many after it, and why I, three years later, have decided to share it with you. The track “Pyramids” from his 2012 release Channel Orange is an example of a song much different than what contemporary r&b is used to. Ocean has not only been successful with his solo work, but has become a major authority in the music industry by producing work that has restructured the hip-hop/r&b genre overall. Frank Ocean appears to be above such pitfalls, and can easily withstand the pressure of the spotlight without any sort of support. However, while they could easily grasp the attention of the media, record labels, and listeners from their Odd Future peers, when solo they quickly fell into the shadows of much more talented artists. Artists like Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt were obvious standouts from the beginning of the group’s career.
#CLEOPATRA PYRAMIDS FRANK OCEAN MAC#
Take a bunch of middle-class kids with a passion for hip-hop, a mac computer, and some pure talent, and you’ve got yourself one of the most sickly artistic rap groups the game has ever seen. Imagine lots of dry ice, a velvet-covered rotating stage and the entire front row sighing, “I love you, Frank”.There’s something creatively beautiful about the story of Frank Ocean and the Odd Future group. “Playing ‘Pyramids’ on the road is gonna be my favourite part,” he wrote on Twitter recently. Does writing for Beyoncé not pay like it used to? Although it’s possible he’ll splurge more lyrics, videos and songs on his must-follow Tumblr at any moment, for now all we know is that the new album ‘Channel Orange’ is coming out on July 17, that his preoccupation with the road is likely to influence it (the ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ car appears in a teaser trailer) and this song will definitely get an outing on his upcoming US tour. Coming in at almost 10 minutes long and featuring sexy Simpsons characters on the cover (warning: may result in some new, confusing feelings) it’s an R&B odyssey slinking from ancient Egypt – where wild cheetahs are on the loose and Cleopatra meets a snakey doom – to the present day where Frank is living that sleazy motel room life. This week alone, NME has spent at least two days having our minds freaked on by its space funk swirl. Like Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’, Frank Ocean’s ‘Pyramids’ is the kind of track you’ll lose hours and hours of your life to.
