The Minimalist Approach of Frank Ocean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6CCJNs-Iso
Following a four year hiatus, in 2016 Frank Ocean made his highly anticipated return. Frank Ocean would release two albums within two days of one another. These albums would both be follow-ups to Channel Orange, the Grammy winning alternative R&B album released in July of 2012. Sonically, this album was very grand in its presence. The album as a whole was very story driven and created a universe that could only be imagined by the listener who followed the melodies and listened Frank's imagery. Channel Orange was a rather board album with something that could appeal to even the most average R&B listener and even had radio appeal.
With Ocean's return in 2016 his sound would shift completely. From a once grand and monumental presentation to a minimalist sound that hides its's beauties within the tiniest idiosyncrasies. This sound appealed to a considerably smaller audience but its beauty resonated on a much deeper level this time around. Endless, the first of the two albums Ocean released in 2016 is a very technically made album. Sitting just under 40 mins, Endless gives a full range of emotions to be experienced. Starting off with a Isley Brothers cover of At Your Best (You Are Love), this album is notably different from Channel Orange. The technical and at times glitchy sound of Endless allows for a completely different artistic approach for Ocean. This time around Ocean take a rather brash approach to storytelling, bluntly gives takes on experiences with deception and munipulation from past lovers. Ocean's story telling still revolved around relationships, but this time around its a much more raw and unfiltered experience.

The Importance of Swimming

Mac Miller, an acclaimed rapper, producer, guitarist, much more released an album by the name of "SWIMMING" August 3rd. The musician would be releasing his album along with rappers YG and Travis Scott. This album would end up being Miller's final effort as he would pass away September 7th. This album was one of great importance and a standout from the rest of Mac's discography. The body of work featured production from J. Cole and guitar solo from John Mayer as well as a bass feature from Thundercat. Mac Miller's untimely death came as result of an overdose at the age of 26. Mac struggled with addiction throughout his career and was very transparent about his struggles with addiction, most notably on his 2014 effort titled Faces. Swimming is an important staple in Mac Miller's career, because for the first time in his music it became obvious that he had made peace with his struggles with mental health and learned to cope with said struggles. The album is a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences synthesized into a tight 13 song tracklist. The album's importance is held within its underlying song messages and the attempts to carryout these messages while still maintaining the overall analogy of keeping your head above water (swimming) to the shore.

The Beauty Behind Depression Cherry

Beach House is a dream pop, indie rock band based out of Baltimore, MD. The band has been releasing albums since 2006, but did not begin receiving critical acclaim until their third album "Teen Dream". Since then, Beach House has continued to push boundaries in indie rock as well as paving their own lane in dream pop. Witty songwriting, sharp use of instrumentation, and beautiful chord progressions have allowed for Beach House to become a powerhouse within the indie rock scene. With their fifth album, Depression Cherry, Beach House would attempt something they hadn't done before. A shift in direction in terms of songwriting and instrumentation would be evident at the very beginning of the album. The band was known in the past for its use of piano melodies and drum patterns. This album on the other hand relied very heavily on synths and drawn out guitar chords with very heavily layered electronic beat loops. The change in sound would be paired with Victoria Legrand's high pitched singing and at times heavenly background vocals blending perfectly with the synth leads. The vulnerability of the lyrics would act as a shift in direction as well. What was once pop ballads about the thought of a blossoming relationship would evolve into harmonious songs about falling out of love and the effects it can have on one's judgment. Legrand's mellowed singing style along with the openness of the lyrics makes for a beautiful pairing that resulted in the band's most popular album to date.

Tame Impala's Progression

Tame Impala, a psychedelic rock band based out of Australia that was created by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. Parker initially started the band as a home-recording project, but the project would soon grow into much more. Tame Impala released their first album in 2010 titled "Innerspeaker". The album received decent reviews and garnered the attention of psychedelic rock listeners across Australia, but mainstream listeners in other countries had yet to find out about the rock outfit. One critique many critics had in common was the obvious influence of The Beatles on Tame Impala's sound. Overall the project lacked originality. The band's sophomore effort titled "Lonerism" was released in 2012. This album shot to the top of rock charts around the world with breakout hits including "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" and "Elephant". With this project Tame Impala proved to critics and fans that they did not depend on their influences for material and could create their own lane within psychedelic rock. With the success of their sophomore project, the pressure was on and expectations were high for their third album. This pressure would lead to a three year hiatus. Tame Impala would wait three years to release their third project "Currents" which was a step in a completely different direction then their previous efforts and somehow topped expectations. This album would be their largest to date featuring hits like "The Less I Know The Better" and "New Person, Same Old Mistakes". As expectations have reached an all-time high Kevin Parker and his band resorted to what is now a routine hiatus as fans wait for a follow-up album.

The Essence of Friendship

Mid90s, the directorial debut for acclaimed actor Jonah Hill, began playing in theaters October 19th.  Since it's release it has garnered the attention of skaters and indie movie lovers alike. On the surface, mid90s is a skater film set in you guessed it, the mid 90s. When layers are peeled back and viewers are given context it turns out to be much more. This film encapsulates what it means to find friendship.
The film captures the essence of friendship in such a way it makes the viewer feel as though they are there with them. Mid90s is centered around a teenage boy by the name of Stevie who finds himself looking for an escape from his rough home life. The film follows Stevie as he picks up skating and befriends some older teenagers who are already well-versed in skating. The progression of the film is focused around the growth of the friendships. The film stays true to it's roots and is refreshing to see.

Mac Miller's Artistic Progression

Mac Miller was a rapper, singer-songwriter, and producer among many other talents. The Pittsburgh native was only 26 when he died of an accidental overdose just a little over a month following the release of his album, "SWIMMING". Miller started off as what some would describe as a 'backpack rapper'. Early on his sound revolved around his everyday experiences with girls and parties. This sound appealed mainly to high school students and college students. At the time Miller would be unknowingly creating a lane within mainstream rap exclusively for this style of rapping. Pop rap aka frat rap was not a prominent sub-genre until Miller's explosion onto the mainstream. Though the style of rapping was popular among college students and high school students it was very frowned upon by critics and was deemed shallow and lacking of any real substance. The critical response to this style of rapping would reach Miller and result in a change in sound. Seeing as 2009 was the start of Miller's rap career, 2011 would mark the end of Miller's pop rap phase. 2012 marked a new chapter in the rapper's career as he would become more involved with heavier drugs and become an alternative rapper, rapping on rather unorthodox beats speaking on topics such as his drug use and experiences with failed relationships.
Miller was very open about his drug use and how it effected him musically. Miller's fan base found him to be more introspective and revealing in his music. From 2012 to 2014 Miller's sound can be described as left-field alternative rap. After his highly acclaimed mixtape Faces, Miller's fans would be forced to wait nearly 17 months for a return as Miller struggled with rehabbing and getting clean. September 2015 Miller would make his return more clear headed than ever. GO:OD Am marked a new chapter, seeing Miller in a new light as he discusses his battle with drugs and his new found confidence in his rapping abilities. The project received some of his most positive reviews to date from critics. From 2015 to 2018 Miller would experiment topics ranging from introspection regarding life experiences to the process of falling in love. Due to his untimely death, Miller fans will never know what would follow SWIMMING.