Just set aside your generic allegiances and try to appreciate what Frank Ocean is achieving on this enigmatic, unpredictable song. Instead of trying to parse all of that (and more) in the space of a few paragraphs, it may be better to let the track speak for itself. “Pyramids” has so much going on that it’s overwhelming for a short-form write-up like this: the Michael Jackson lilt in Ocean’s delivery during the early section, the structural metamorphosis from thumping single into a restrained dissolve, its toying with Top 40 lyrical conventions, the extended and evolving titular metaphor, the layers of instrumentation. While all of that is well and good, in the end it’s all beside the point because this track is its own star.
He’s written songs for vocalists ranging from Justin Bieber to John Legend, is an associate of the trailblazing Odd Future collective, has thrown down a set at Coachella, and appeared on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne album last year.
Remember the first time you heard “Bombs Over Baghdad” and thought, “Whoa–what is this?” That’s how “Pyramids” feels: the unmistakeable sound of boundaries being redefined, of genres being pushed around.įor a twenty-four year old, Frank Ocean already has a ridiculous resumé. Each spin of “Pyramids” moves my thinking more toward the latter option but either way, one can’t help but feel that the sound here is the sound of the future. Kelly or if he’s into something more insidious, exploding those conventions in an undercover operation. working one's way up to the divine, the top of the pyramid. It also sounds sometimes like the chorus is saying 'working up the pyramid tonight', possibly referencing Kabbalah again, i.e. Now, many listens later, it’s still difficult to pinpoint whether Ocean is celebrating slow-jam forerunners like R. Ocean also looks to be alternately horrified at the scene and laughing with glee at the strippers shakin it. The first time I listened to Frank Ocean‘s nearly ten-minute suite–the first taste of his upcoming Channel Orange debut LP–I was intrigued the second time, I was sold on its genius. So conclusively, it can even be argued that part of the reason that she is “lost” is because the singer himself does not have the wherewithal to release her from this lifestyle.Is “Pyramids” an affirmation of contemporary R&B or a complete refutation of it? Now the reason we can vaguely classify this as a love song is because the primary sentiment being expressed throughout is Frank’s concern for this lady. In other words, she has gotten so deep into the game that now, as the title implies, he has come to notice that she is “lost” in it. Indeed the situation has gotten to the point where he is convinced that one day she will be selling drugs more along the lines of being a boss than an employee. So in a way, it can be said that he wants to take her out of the game. But at the same, himself being her employer, he has developed a financial dependency on her criminal skills. So she’s basically involved in “cooking” and smuggling “weight” globally. And in that regard he says she has been to places as diverse as Asia and Europe in order to move his product. In this case Frank Ocean is portraying the role of a drug dealer. And the subject of the song, as in the lady he is singing about, reads as if it is a romantic interest. But more to the point is that he has her engaged in the illicit drug trade. Frank Ocean’s “Lost” is a love song, if you will, based on an unconventional storyline.
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