Frank Ocean, one of our generation's best self-guided and innovative R&B artists. Many have described his music and Frank Ocean himself as "idiosyncratic" (being peculiar/ individual). What amazes me most is his way of using R&B rhythm as his base and inspiration, and finding creative ways of branching out.
The secret in Ocean's music is using simple rhythms but adding complex and different beats to them. Generally, he produces his own music, mostly using his electric keyboard. His songs rarely move faster than midtempo, and he keeps the rhythm section subdued. Having simple rhythms as his base in his songs allows him to be extremely creative and innovative in other aspects of his music. One of his most beautifully created songs is Nights. In this song you can hear the basic rhythm but with very dramatic, and elaborate beat changes. On behalf of most Frank Ocean fans I can confirm that from 2:50 to 3:30 in Nights, Ocean created one of the most odd yet beautiful musical transitions of his career.
Listening to Ocean's music, I learned that his simple and subdued rhythms can make way for new takes of the traditional idea of R&B music.
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