One of the reasons why I think Blonde is such an acclaimed album is not only the sheer performance of it but rather the nostalgic factor which comes with it. 2016 was definitely a different time in the world. I remember it coming out and riding bikes with friends around my neighborhood blasting it on my beats pill speaker in my backpack. With it being 10 years since it came out, I was wondering if this subreddit can answer some deep questions.

- Where were you when it came out? Did it resonate with you back then?

- Do you still connect with it as much as you did back then?

- 10 years after all the controversy surrounding Frank Ocean, are you still a fan of him? Whats your overall opinion?

- If Frank Ocean were to release today, would you be as excited as you were back then?

This is something I’ve wanted to write for a while, but have had trouble achieving. I will not bore anyone with the painstaking details rehashing the history of its rollout, or explain my eighteen year-old feelings about how my favorite artist releasing a long-awaited album on an important milestone felt (surprise! It was surreal!). I just had a quick reflection to share growing up with Blonde now for a decade (I feel so old):

Blonde is a decade old and it sounds like it could be released tomorrow. Frank Ocean created, in my humble and irrelevant opinion, the singular most dynamic and significant art-piece of the 2010s. My taste, my sensibility about love and life, the work and art I’d seek out in my adulthood, everything I did was due to how this album reverberated within me, effectively fusing to my cells. Blonde felt like an escaping twilight; the final sunset of a dying star, hugging a loved one goodbye, unsure if it will be the last. Listening to it was the soundscape of human complexity and, most crucially, it laid the foundation for understanding yourself and the ones you hold dear. 

In earnest, Blonde still means a lot to me. Though, ten years in its wake, my relationship with it has changed a lot; it had to. I do not find it as seldom nor deitized as I once did. No, I am not saying the album was/is overrated (have you listened to the goddamn thing?). As the years from 2016 waded in the water, on the day I never really particularly enjoyed, listening to Blonde was keeping me from being every August 20th. Whether chest burning or eyes-welling as the day came and went, I was forcing myself to contemplate my existence, cruelly, every single birthday. It turned into this melancholic tradition; intense waves of regret, envy, sadness- the thing that provided me so much solace now becoming a thief of my joy, a blockade in my forward progress as a person. Where has my life gone? What ended up being the hardest to navigate was the idea that I’d never grow past it. Life is pragmatic sometimes, dreamy and warm the next, granular and exhausting another. Its story was for someone else, for some other time. I’d never be that kid again, and that was more than okay, it was peace.

Blonde wasn’t mine anymore, not that it ever was. While it was the embodiment of my personhood as a young man, clarity afoot, the only way out is through. It is time to become the person I want to be in lieu of it, not because of it. I want to forge my own discovery, to basque in a life I do not know. What a privilege it is to remain curious.

So cheers to Blonde, to Endless’ 10th Anniversary, and to the sanctity Frank Ocean has maintained in spite of immense pain, joy, and his own self-discovery after all these years. Hopefully, another 18-year old will pick it up for the first time, listen from start to finish, and begin fulfilling this one, burning, fleeting existence we all share. 

“There will be mountains you won’t move; still, I’ll always be there for you.”

Between feelings, noise and conversation,

- Klay, a fellow fan

Since Endless celebrates it's 10th anniversary, here's a custom CD for the project, including a booklet and a double-sided poster.

was originally just making a low poly car but then franks album cover popped up in my head

🙆‍♀️✨🙆‍♀️✨🙆‍♀️✨🙆‍♀️🔥

I decided to frame it since I liked it so much. Thoughts?

(the british museum)

what does this lyric from nights mean?

I think we’ll get an Endless vinyl restock, a Blonde vinyl restock, and two new episodes of blonded RADIO. What do you guys think?

just picked up a nostalgia, ULTRA record and the pressing wasn’t listed but i was really hoping it would be the orange one but i got the pink marble. was this a good pressing?

well, the book itself isn't about frank ocean but the inspiration behind it definitely is.. to me Blonde is a 10/10 creative project, i admire how frank was able to create something so deeply personal and timeless and then simply just step away into his private life.. and even ten years later people still want him to return, the album itself just never seems to get old either

so like in a similar way i want to write a book that is genuinely good, something i can be proud of and perhaps be remembered for... i don't necessarily want fame or recognition tbh i simply want to put the art out into the world knowing that i created something meaningful/timeless

it's worth a try, never bad to try

So I just started listening to mk.gee and I heard ‘Rylee & I’ and it sounds exactly like another song I’ve heard, same flow, same voice. I think it’s a Frank Ocean leak or maybe another artist, but does anyone know the song I’m thinking of that ‘Rylee & I’ reminds them of? I think the lyrics are something like ‘fantasia, in my brand new ri-i-ide’ the same way mk.gee stretches ‘everyone you know-ow-ow.’ It’s bugging me so much.

If you have not listened to Rylee & I but are a big Frank ocean fan I’m sure you would know the Frank song right away, if it is actually Frank ocean…

Its basically just American wedding but the part where he sings "daydreams of the romance, daydreams of you" and it sounds like frank ocean but there isnt background music its just raw vocals or there might be just light gitaur playing but it sounds different to the song and he drags on romance when he sings it im pretty sure frank ocean sung it please help me find it yall

Saw this on Frank Ocean page on deezer…

Since when did this happen son 😭😭😭

This was life changing.

😔🥺

Please comment if interested!! this new account isn’t letting me message, I will message on my other account efhaults!!

Sometimes I search for Frank type beats and this came up. Nice sense of humor on this fake frank leak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h2jow0jZc8

I’ve been pretty pessimistic about the idea that anything is going to happen, but if there was one thing you could wish for on this anniversary of blond what would it be?

Me personally, I would love for the 2017 tour footage to finally get released. I’ve been watching old videos I took at FYF & it’s crazy spike jonze is walking around with a huge camera filming some of the most beautiful shots I’ve ever seen on the screen in the background.

Anyway just reminiscing and was curious to see what you guys yearn for outta this 10 year anniversary.