I’ve been on a bit of an r&b kick lately- in particular, Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, and Drake. I touched on Drake in a previous post so I’m going to focus here on Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.

Frank Ocean is the resident R&B singer for OFWKGTA. He’s written songs for John Legend, Beyonce, and Justin Beiber. In February he released Nostalgia/Ultra, a sort of singer’s mixtape, where he sings over the music of other artists such as MGMT and Coldplay. The strength of his music is definitely his songwriting. It is personal, honest, and able to escape many modern r&b cliches. “Songs for Women”, for instance, is about how he writes loves songs to attract girls who eventually leave him because he spends so much time working on these songs. Very cool.

The Weeknd (yes, missing that ‘e’) is a mysterious Toronto-based r&b project. With the support of fellow Toronto native Drake, they recently released the House of Balloons ep online. At first listen it sounds very similar to Drake, but upon further review there is something else at work, something more sinister. It is really dark and haunting music, crafting tales of a scary/creepy nightlife informed by drugs and vice. It’s really haunting and really interesting to listen to. “The Morning” and “Wicked Games” and highlights.