Okay—this is my first love letter to an album, but definitely not the last. Blonde had to be the first one though.

"Why?"

Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you.

A woman with curly hair, wearing a red and black jacket and gray sweatpants, standing and observing a large photograph of a person with short, textured hair and dark skin, covering part of their face with their hand in an art gallery setting.
A woman with curly hair in a red and black jacket and gray sweatpants looking at a large photographic portrait of a person with a green buzz cut, artistic water droplets on their skin, and their hand covering part of their face, displayed on a white wall.
A woman with long curly hair, wearing a black and red jacket and gray sweatpants, stands in front of a large photograph of a person with green hair, covering their face with their hand.

Blonde came out in August 2016.

I was ten, about to turn eleven, spending my summer in Algeria like I did every year.

I remember opening my grandpa’s computer and seeing the cover in Apple Music’s “New Releases” section.

“Oh my God, Frank dropped again?!”

Yep—Endless had just come out the day before, and then this.

A black and white cat lying stretched out on a patterned tile floor in front of a glass display window with various hair and skincare products inside.
A man watching children play soccer on a dirt street in a neighborhood with old buildings and laundry hanging outside.
An elderly man with white hair, smiling, sitting outside on a black plastic chair in front of a white building with windows and greenery.

At first, I thought he was trolling.

But no—here it was.


Blonde.


 17 tracks. 1 hour.

Cover art of a book or magazine titled 'blond' featuring a person with bright green hair, covering their face with one hand. The background has tiled walls, and there is a barcode along with a parental advisory label.

So no, I’m not going to talk about the first time I listened to it.

Why?

1. It’s boring.

2. I WAS TEN! I didn’t relate to shit.

What I do want to talk about is how I understand it now, at 19.

And to be honest, that understanding is only going to deepen with time. The more life I live, the more I'll relate.

So who knows—maybe I’ll write a totally different version of this in ten years.

A person in a pink hoodie and red pants adjusting their black and red racing helmet on a race track with cloudy sky in the background.

At 19, I’ve been through a lot of bullshit.

I’ve felt every kind of emotion… except one: Love. Yes I know, corny asf.

I’ve never been in love. I’ve had crushes, been obsessed, been attached—but not in love. And honestly, I’m not stressed about it. I’m still young.

But Blonde talks a lot about love, and somehow, I still relate.
“How?” you might ask.

A smiling man sitting at a table, holding a photograph while looking at it. There are several photographs spread out on the table.

Well, because this album isn’t just about romantic love.

It’s about feeling love, losing it, missing it, craving it.

And that, I do understand.

With time—and a few tears—I’ve come to realise love can be the best thing ever, but also the most painful.

It lifts you up, makes you feel seen, full, alive. But it also makes you vulnerable.

And we’re all scared of that.

To me, Blonde is a mirror album. I didn’t invent the theory, but I fully believe Frank meant it that way. The song Nights literally marks the exact middle of the album—its beat switch splits Day and Night. You could end one side with the first half, and start the other with the second.

A list of song titles on a black background, including titles like Nike, Ivy, Pink + White, Be Yourself, Solo, Skyline To, Self Control, Good Guy, and Nights.
A screenshot of a playlist or music track list on a digital device, showing songs titled 'Nights, Solo (Reprise), Pretty Sweet, Facebook Story, Close to You, White Ferrari, Seigfried, Godspeed, Futura Free' with numbered positions from 9 to 17, some with 'E' icons indicating explicit content.

rain

“Every night fucks every day up.”

You can mirror each track:

Pink + White with Pretty Sweet,

Be Yourself with Facebook Story,

Solo with Close to You…

That duality runs through everything

Day/Night, Young/Old, Life/Death...

glitter

Yes. Frank is a genius.

Two men at a celebration with balloons and a drink, taking a selfie.

The first half feels bittersweet (even though, let’s be honest, the whole album is sad). But it leans more on the hopeful side.

Frank reflects on childhood, teenage memories—friends, lovers…
There’s nostalgia, but also an awareness that things didn’t end well.

For example

“I thought I was dreaming when you said you loved me.”

Sweet, right?

“The start of nothing.”

Bruh

I think any situation can be experienced from at least 2 completely different points of view.

Like grief for example.

You can focus on the pain, or choose to remember the good.

A person holding a smartphone taking a selfie of a man with a beard wearing a yellow camouflage shirt, smiling at the camera.

The first half is Frank trying to stay optimistic—especially on Pink + White. It’s sad, but he’s trying.

(probably the only thing he isn’t good at.)

A man wearing headphones and a white t-shirt standing next to DJ equipment in a room decorated with sports jerseys.

But then comes the second half.

Darker. Heavier.

“Every night fucks every day up.”

Exactly.

Music player screen playing the song "Pink + White" by Frank Ocean with album cover showing a shirtless person with green hair covering their face, in front of tiled wall. Text on the album cover says "blond."

On Pretty Sweet—which mirrors Pink + White—he’s no longer reminiscing.

The people are gone.

For good.

That hits home for me. I tend to reflect, to cherish memories, to believe they’re in a better place.

But then—like the Nights beat switch—grief just hits.

And all I can think is: they’re gone.

Music player screen showing the song "Pretty Sweet" by Frank Ocean, album cover featuring a shirtless man with his hand covering his face and a barcode at the bottom, song progress at 1:06 out of 1:33, with play/pause, skip, favorite, and volume controls, and connected to Alya Baya's AirPods Max.
Three screenshots of a music player app showing the song "Nights" by Frank Ocean, from the album "blond". The left screenshot shows the beginning of the song, the middle shows the song playing at 3:30, and the right shows the end of the song at 8:19.

Throughout the album, there’s also this other story: a failed relationship.


Frank sings about many breakups, sure, but one seems to follow us the whole way.

To me, the album traces that one relationship—like a curve. From Nikes (the beginning) to the first half of Nights (the high point), he falls deeper and deeper. Then from the second half of Nights to Futura Free, it all collapses.

Even the production reflects that descent.

Anyway…

You’re probably wondering what my favorite track is.

Right now?

A digital screen displaying a quote: 'I wish I could sleep without being like dead but forever at the same time,' with music playlist info including 'Futura Free' by Frank Ocean on Apple Music.
Music album cover displaying the text, 'I came to visit, 'cause you see me like a UFO,' with the song titled 'Self Control' by Frank Ocean.

But 16 year-old-me…

11 year-old-me…

A screenshot of a music app showing the song "Nights" by Frank Ocean, with lyrics"Every night fucks every day up, Every day patches the night up."

and 29 year-old me will probably have a different one as well.

Maybe she’ll read this and laugh at how little I knew.

Or maybe not.

We’ll see

Frank, thank you for these 60 minutes of freedom. 

I hope I get to tell you this in person someday.

Until then—

Hey Siri,

play Blonde by Frank Ocean.

Colorful abstract digital artwork with glowing, translucent shapes inside a sphere.