Going Blonde

On August 20th 2016, Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Cooksey; October 28, 1987) an American singer-songwriter-record producer released his long awaited follow up album to Channel orange, Blond. 

In just weeks, Blonde debuted at Number 1 for Billboard’s top 200 albums chart, along with 5 songs debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album accumulated many achievements along with being named “Album of the decade” by Pitchfork. 

Blonde is undoubtedly my favorite album of all time.

The album goes through many waves of emotions from different places throughout life. The depth of Blonde is as deep as the dark web, layered with multiple hidden meanings, themes and different perspectives of life and the situations that we are placed in. The quality of Blonde is shown, from the beat switch on Nights, symbolizing not only the halfway mark on the album, but also Frank’s life, to the multiple meanings and spellings of the title, Blonde. 

The two spellings of Blonde, (Blonde and Blond) represent two different sides of Frank. But that’s not the only meaning. It is theorized by many that the reason why the album is named Blonde, is because when all children are first born, we all have blonde hair. This signifies and represents innocence, youthfulness and first beginnings, all common themes on Frank Ocean’s album. 

It’s because of this, the phrase “going blonde” sticks with me. Going blonde doesn’t mean deciding to bleach your hair on a whim because someone broke up with you. And it doesn’t necessarily mean becoming an innocent young person again, but instead represents a first. A first in a different setting, a first on a new beginning.

The word “New” is usually either scary or exciting. A first time is usually scary because it is unknown, but soon after the experience is usually differentiated into two categories. Difficult or a piece of cake. For some people, when they try something for the first time, it doesn’t seem like it’s their first time and instead seems like they’ve been doing it for multiple years. While the other half struggles like it’s their first time because it is. 

Quarantine was a first time. 

Quarantine brought many new challenges for the world. It affected work, school and a trip to the grocery market. Everyone faced this challenge in their own unique way. Some conquered the change with ease while others put up a stubborn fight when adapting. 

If we’re talking about school life, I would say I adapted with ease. Quarantine forced all levels of education from kindergarten to college, to move into what’s known as “distance learning.” With this, teachers and students communicate online and are assigned assignments virtually through a computer. I did constantly wish to see my friends in person and I could see why some people would struggle with this form of learning. Everyone’s home-life is different, and it’s easier to get distracted at home versus a classroom, or maybe online assignments are just not your thing. But for me personally, I feel as if I accelerate more in this type of environment. I enjoy the comfort of my own home and being able to learn on my own schedule. Online learning could be a little tricky to manage at first, but I would say I got the hang of it pretty fast. I was getting 8+ hours of sleep every night, compared to when I was waking up at 6am every morning only for 4-5 hours of sleep. The test taking environment has changed drastically. I feel more comfortable taking a test with just me and the screen in front of me in my home versus the still quietness of a classroom that increases pressure and anxiety. 

I would say this new change in this timeframe of my education has broadened not only mine, but my classmates’ horizons. It provided a challenge that brought us all closer together even when we are far away from each other. It required a team effort and cooperation from everyone. I would say we all learned something new from this experience and I would say this style of learning during our time in quarantine is the most efficient in which we benefit the most from.

I would say going Blonde was a good thing.