Solo Erykah Badu Analysis

Blond is meant to be intricate, encompassing and exploring many themes from a micro and macro perspective, but the final result is shoddy: overwhelming in duration, insipid in impact. Impactful records aren 't made with the intent of being so; they 're just made as a result of experience and brilliance. Among other reasons, it 's hard to take Ocean 's overbearing, unctuous lyrics and tone serious when you can 't fully make out what he 's trying to say (both in meaning and in enunciation). In the words of Erykah Badu, "What good do your words do, if they don 't understand you?" Even after hearing it a few times, you don 't walk away feeling a change or like anything was actually discussed because he never takes a definitive stance. It could be

The record 's biggest--and the most re-playable--highlight is Andre 3000 's "Solo (Reprise)" interlude, where he elaborately and effectually conveys the frustration and conflicts of blackness and racism in America, and approaches materialism, personal restlessness, lyricism in hip hop, and the contradictory perceptions men have of women. His trigger-happy delivery in this barely 1-minute reprise single-handedly outdoes Ocean 's entire attempts at the same topics, which isn 't shocking since Andre 3000 has been in the industry for 20 years, has a clearly developed identity, and the capacity to push the limits without going over his intended audiences ' heads. Ocean does have his shining moments, such as the harmonies that accompany the barely audible, low-throbbing bass at the end of "Skyline To." Musically, the second-half of "Nights" is the closest he gets to commercial, but there 's enough edge in the piano jazz chords and bass synths to feel fresh. "Self Control" is the most beautiful track: it has a certain vulnerability, hopelessness and wrongness in the lyrics and vocal delivery, along with a palpable guitar accompaniment. The low synth, violins, muffled guitar solo, and layered 3-part harmonies echoing, “I know you gotta leave...” fill the sonic space with an almost ethereal quality. It 's an invigorating shift from the static structure of the prior songs that go hardly anywhere