Tag Archives: Frank Ocean

The Self-Hating Hipster’s Top 50 Albums of 2013

26 Mar

2013 Albums
Two years ago (and change) I compiled a list of  the Top 11 Albums of 2011.  Last year I put together the Top 12 Albums of 2012.  Both articles were compiled of selections culled from lists of approximately 40 albums respectively.  After not publishing an article in six months I decided that those once dedicated SHH readers deserved something much more comprehensive for 2013.  Instead of publishing a predictably titled Self-Hating Hipster’s Top 13 Albums of 2013 three weeks into January of 2014 I would, as I am wont to do, aim way too high and likely disappoint myself–a Top 50!

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The 55th Annual Grammy Awards

27 Feb

Grammy Award

While most of you are likely past agruing about the Academy Awards with coworkers, I’m still aghast at this year’s Grammys.  February 10th saw the 55th Annual Grammy Awards and to borrow a title from Joy Division it was an atrocity exhibition.  I myself didn’t watch the program, not so much an act of defiance as the absence of cable in my apartment, but after seeing the list of winners Continue reading

The Self-Hating Hipster’s Top 52 Tracks of 2012

8 Feb

You may notice that this list is all over the place.  I could have picked two or three songs off of each album on my Top 12 Albums of 2012, but that would have taken up over half of the list.  So it became my intention to spread the love and highlight as many album peaks as possible.   Continue reading

Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE

24 Jul

The long awaited solo effort from the silky-voiced Frank Ocean was big enough.  Add to the fever his announcement/note/whatever it was that Frank once loved (like, love loved) another man changed this from a record release, to a seismic shift in macho hip-hop culture, not to mention giving his crew, Odd Future, a new air of legitimacy and complexity in the face of all their blatant gay-bashing.

Somehow, lost in all of this, was the record. Ocean’s first release “Novacaine” left many wanting more, including Jay-Z and Kanye West.  Ocean would be tapped to sing the refrain on both “Made it in America,” and “No Church in the Wild” on the duo’s epic collaboration Watch the Throne. He would release two more singles, “Swim Good” and “Thinkin’ Bout You,” the latter being the lead track to his major label debut, Channel Orange. Continue reading